Peter, I think your numbers for Shirley Lake are incorrect – otherwise, it has the highest vertical feet per minute of any non-tram chairlift in North America, beating Teton and the others you mentioned.
Good eye, I just checked some maps and I think the vertical should be more like 720 feet instead of the listed 1109. Being listed with a higher vertical than Siberia just seemed wrong after thinking about it for half a second.
Your typical gondola cable is a single loop where it goes up and back down again. What makes a funitel special is that the rope goes up down up again and back down before finishing the loop, so it gives the illusion that the cabin is being held up by two different cables moving in parallel, but its actually the same cable. Think of them more as a super-gondola that is way more wind stable and can move a lot of people because of the bigger cabins, they’re not really the same style of lift as a tram.
Does anyone know where the high camp pulse gondola went? I was told by a lift mechanic that it was sold, along with the old Newport lift and the shell from the high camp ice rink, somewhere in the Philippines. I haven’t found anything online.
I’ve tried to figure that out myself, to no avail. I would love to see their (Pulse and Newport) current state they still exist. I agree, anyone have any idea?
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Peter, I think your numbers for Shirley Lake are incorrect – otherwise, it has the highest vertical feet per minute of any non-tram chairlift in North America, beating Teton and the others you mentioned.
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Good eye, I just checked some maps and I think the vertical should be more like 720 feet instead of the listed 1109. Being listed with a higher vertical than Siberia just seemed wrong after thinking about it for half a second.
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A six pack with a carrier interval of 6.75 sec. = 3200 pph.
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What exactly is a Funitel? Like a mix between a Gondola and a Tram?
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Your typical gondola cable is a single loop where it goes up and back down again. What makes a funitel special is that the rope goes up down up again and back down before finishing the loop, so it gives the illusion that the cabin is being held up by two different cables moving in parallel, but its actually the same cable. Think of them more as a super-gondola that is way more wind stable and can move a lot of people because of the bigger cabins, they’re not really the same style of lift as a tram.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funitel#/media/File:DLM_diagram.svg
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According to this website, the old pulse gondola had a turn.
http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ca-squawvalley/pulse/pulse.htm
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For anyone wondering about the history of Alpine Meadows infrastructure this wonderful article proves to be quite insightful
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The Remontees mecaniques doc has some really good photos of the old heron double, pictures of the funitel under construction, original Siberia express, and the tram with the old cabins
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/station-olympic-valley-ca-478.html
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and they got some photos of the east Broadway triple, if anyone is interested:
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsf3-east-broadway-yan-lift-engineering-3986.html
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Does anyone know where the high camp pulse gondola went? I was told by a lift mechanic that it was sold, along with the old Newport lift and the shell from the high camp ice rink, somewhere in the Philippines. I haven’t found anything online.
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I’ve tried to figure that out myself, to no avail. I would love to see their (Pulse and Newport) current state they still exist. I agree, anyone have any idea?
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I was lucky when i went there a couple weeks ago, i got to ride Olympic lady, Silverado, and broken arrow.
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The top terminal for the original Red dog Riblet is still standing
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This would be my master plan for palisades Tahoe:
Replace solitude with a HSQ and make it easier to access from Shirley lake
Replace granite chief with a HSQ
Replace resort with a HSQ
Put a lift going from somewhere around the bottom of Silverado to the top of land bridge
Alpine meadows:
Replace alpine bowl and yellow with a HSQ
Put a lift going from the bottom of Sherwood to ward peak, with some regrading and grooming you could probably put some intermediate runs there
Put a lift from the top of kangaroo to the top of beaver bowl
Put a lift from the base to the top of gentian gully
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I just found out that the old Pulse Gondola had a turn! Bigger than the one in Supreme at Alta.
http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ca-squawvalley/pulse/turn.jpg
More pictures and info here: Skilifts.org
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