Bottom terminal with indoor cabin parking for every chair.Return terminal during summer sightseeing.Riding up.Tower 4.T5.Tower with avalanche guard.Towers 8-9.T10.Breakover towers 11-12.Arriving up top.Top terminal and last two towers on the edge.The breakover.View down line.Lower lift line.The chairs are parked nightly in winter and also have slatted backrests for wind tolerance.Arriving at the base.Looking into the cabin parking.Lift line in winter.Another view of the return at the top.Side view of the line.Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.
26 thoughts on “Peak Express – Whistler Blackcomb, BC”
Duncan N.January 12, 2018 / 8:58 am
The worldbook entry you put in states that the lift can run with gondolas in the summer, but it doesn’t look like there were any in your summer photos. Why is it that they didn’t use that?
I would imagine that these are some combination of terminals that allows it to run chairs and gondolas. I’m don’t know what it is exactly, but the DT grips that this lift operates with could mean it’s a combination of multiple stations, though it looks kind of like it’s a Spacejet combined with what could be an early version of a UNI-G which came out just 2 years after this lift’s construction.
Does anyone have photos of Franz’s when it ran as the Peak Chair? How exactly was the mid-unload configured (did it have a light side flyover on that stretch)?
Peter, in the second picture, you said the bottom is the return. Then, in the last picture before the worldbook entry, you said the top was the return.
When i went the whistler the guide i was with said that the Fitzimmons would be used for spare parts for this lift and Garbanzo, so its probably just a modified spacejet. Aussierob can verify that claim though, idk if he was right.
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The worldbook entry you put in states that the lift can run with gondolas in the summer, but it doesn’t look like there were any in your summer photos. Why is it that they didn’t use that?
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It doesn’t operate with gondolas anymore, though I’m not completely sure if it ever did in the first place. However, they did design it to be able to.
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does that also mean it could become a bubble chair at some point. It would make sense to have bubbles on this particular lift as well
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There’s too much wind exposure. Which is the reason why the chairs have slatted backrests.
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How much of an impact do the slats actually have on whether a lift runs or not?
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The slatted backrests have much less sail area than a traditional solid setback does.
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What kind of terminals?
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I would imagine that these are some combination of terminals that allows it to run chairs and gondolas. I’m don’t know what it is exactly, but the DT grips that this lift operates with could mean it’s a combination of multiple stations, though it looks kind of like it’s a Spacejet combined with what could be an early version of a UNI-G which came out just 2 years after this lift’s construction.
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It looks really similar to the UNI-M III terminals with maintenance bay, but this has glass sides. I’d call it a UNI-M III.
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I think this is just a custom terminal for this setting or because it can run with Gondola cabins. I haven’t seen this model anywhere else
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Doppelmayr built a nearly identical version of this terminal in Spain a few years earlier but replaced the side windows with wooden panelling
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There used to be a Poma triple on this lift line, which had a midway unload at I think where towers 8 and 9 on the current lift are located.
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That’s correct, the triple that used to run to peak is now Franz’s chair.
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Does anyone have photos of Franz’s when it ran as the Peak Chair? How exactly was the mid-unload configured (did it have a light side flyover on that stretch)?
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There is a video by Powder magazine with some photos of the old chair in it. The video also has stunning views of the HSQ!
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Went searching and found it!
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That midstation was definitely redundant after Harmony opened.
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This is the one lift I put the safety bar down…
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On those last two spans before the breakover, I would feel a bit uneasy having the bar up on that section.
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Peter, in the second picture, you said the bottom is the return. Then, in the last picture before the worldbook entry, you said the top was the return.
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The top is the return. The bottom is the drive.
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Tower 3 has been modified and is now a combi tower.
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You are an observant man Donald.
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This lift appears to be in excellent condition for its age, in no small part thanks to the indoor chair parking.
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When i went the whistler the guide i was with said that the Fitzimmons would be used for spare parts for this lift and Garbanzo, so its probably just a modified spacejet. Aussierob can verify that claim though, idk if he was right.
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Photo of the original triple:
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