This is the main lift servicing the back side of Nub’s Nob.Riblet return terminal.Leaving the bottom station.Riding up the line.Classic Riblet tower head.T10.View back down the line.Nearing the summit.Tower with extra reinforcement.Bail style triple chair.Drive terminal without tensioning.Upper lift line.Angled tower 11.The final few towers.
The Orange lift was originally installed in 1978 when Nubs Nob South opened. The lift was extensively overhauled in 2002 when it received new chairs, new drive controls, drive motor, and a new lower terminal with hydraulic tensioning replacing the older counterweight system.
In more recent years, several of the sheave assemblies have been replaced.
I believe T-12 was removed at some point in the early 90s when the Bayview run was added.
This lift runs daily and at evenings for night skiing.
Here is a picture that shows the original lower terminal on the Orange lift that was rebuilt/replaced in 2002.
The lower bullwheel was on a carriage system. The counterweight inside a small enclosure on the right side of return terminal opposite the loading platform. The original lower terminal on the Green lift was of a similar design before it was rebuilt in 1996.
I haven’t been at Nubs on any days when Riblet Green was down, so I didn’t view the Green as being super obvious for replacement. It always felt like I was running well. The Orange, on the other hand, feels tired and old on recent visits, even accounting for that refresh/refurbish that was more than twenty years ago now.
I don’t want this to get replaced, but if it does, it can at least get relocated (hopefully in New Mexico). Sandia is proposing a Chair 6. They could use this one?
Lift Blog 
The Orange lift was originally installed in 1978 when Nubs Nob South opened. The lift was extensively overhauled in 2002 when it received new chairs, new drive controls, drive motor, and a new lower terminal with hydraulic tensioning replacing the older counterweight system.
In more recent years, several of the sheave assemblies have been replaced.
I believe T-12 was removed at some point in the early 90s when the Bayview run was added.
This lift runs daily and at evenings for night skiing.
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Where was the counterweight in the previous return terminal design? I cannot recall it, although I’ve been skiing Nubs since the early 1990s.
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Here is a picture that shows the original lower terminal on the Orange lift that was rebuilt/replaced in 2002.
The lower bullwheel was on a carriage system. The counterweight inside a small enclosure on the right side of return terminal opposite the loading platform. The original lower terminal on the Green lift was of a similar design before it was rebuilt in 1996.
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Yes, I remember that lattice structure now. Thanks for finding the photograph!
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They should’ve gone with a return terminal like the one in the picture below, instead of the lattice one
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Hearing that lift is tentatively slated to be replaced in Summer 2025 (after next ski season) with a Skytrac fixed grip quad.
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I haven’t been at Nubs on any days when Riblet Green was down, so I didn’t view the Green as being super obvious for replacement. It always felt like I was running well. The Orange, on the other hand, feels tired and old on recent visits, even accounting for that refresh/refurbish that was more than twenty years ago now.
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It’s not in 2025 new lifts…
I don’t want this to get replaced, but if it does, it can at least get relocated (hopefully in New Mexico). Sandia is proposing a Chair 6. They could use this one?
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Strong rumor this lift is being replaced in summer 2026…..
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