The new Supreme lift replaced two fixed-grip lifts and features an 8.1 degree turn to avoid private property that Alta does not own.The bend seen from below.There are 92 sheaves across 20 assemblies on one tower supported by three legs and three braces.Canted sheave assemblies.Another view of the bend.There are only a few towers below the bend, which are along a very flat section of the mountain.Breakover towers and carriers.Loading area.The drive terminal next to Alf’s restaurant.Unloading ramp.Arriving at the return terminal.View down the steep upper section of the line.Combo tower 10.Three-section T10.Flat section before the turn, near where the old Cecret lift ran.Leaving the bottom terminal.Upper line overview.Tower 16, the last one.Side view of the bottom station.Tower 11.The bend seen from T12.Top station overview.Side view of the upper station.A taco, hanger and LPA grip.Side view of the angle.
Canted sheaves are also on Baldy Express on the Snowbird side of the Altabird connect, Six Shooter at Big Sky, Silver Strike Express at Deer Valley, Lift 5 at Breckenridge, and countless others. (Silver Strike, Six Shooter and Baldy, like Supreme, have to use these turns to avoid private property lines; Lift 5 has canted sheaves right before the Alpine Slide midstation that were a result of the bottom terminal being relocated when the Colorado SuperChair was built in 1986).
They do sometimes, but it’s rare. For instance, Big Red has a light-side only half tower on the lower lift line because the light side has to clear a rock face that the heavy side doesn’t have to clear. Others, like this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKU8YYZVoo), don’t really have a reason for a half-tower.
High speed lifts with half-midstations also are known to have half-towers for the heavy side since the light side isn’t stopping. You see this on Orange Bubble, Heavenly Gondola, West Buttermilk Express, the Snowmass Village Express and a few others….
to my knowledge this lift seemed to have replaced a beginner and an expert lift, what I am wondering is how do the beginners access their terrain if this lift has no mid station where the old cecret lift dropped off.
Alta took a loss on beginner terrain by doing this. Cecret Chairlift was always a weird place to be anyways for beginners, even though it’s flat. I think the change was a positive one, even though there’s a little bit of a runout to the bottom of the lift. It also changed the traffic patterns (a lap on surpreme now takes you all the way down to Alf’s, mixing the traffic a bit), but ultimately significantly more capacity on this side of Alta.
It’s possible to get to Wildcat’s trails from the top of Collins, though not really practical. Often times due to avalanche control work there will be ropes making it impossible to traverse over there.
One fun run is to hike Mt. Baldy, ski the baldy shoulder, and then follow the ridgeline down to Westward Ho.
I have to admit the novelty of the angle has worn off some in terms of the ride experience. The roughness is amusing at first but becomes a bit annoying, as it is violent enough to shake out tooth fillings.
I was skiing at Alta today and noticed a new chair with more suspension on the parking rail at the base of the lift. I recall reading somewhere on here that they were planning to do something with the seat coushions to make the turn feel less bumpy. I assume they’re going to replace the chairs soon with this version soon, however that begs the question of what is going to happen to these chairs. Does anyone know any more information about this?
Also out of curioisity, can they remove the taco/hangar arm from the existing chairs and install these new hangar arms on the current bail/seat?
Lift Blog 
Is this the only lift with bars in all of Alta?
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Currently all high speed lifts at Alta have safety bars, they were added around 5 years ago. However there are no lifts with built in foot rests.
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Here’s a video of the lift in its entirety:
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Is this the first lift ever with canted sheaves?
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Canted sheaves are also on Baldy Express on the Snowbird side of the Altabird connect, Six Shooter at Big Sky, Silver Strike Express at Deer Valley, Lift 5 at Breckenridge, and countless others. (Silver Strike, Six Shooter and Baldy, like Supreme, have to use these turns to avoid private property lines; Lift 5 has canted sheaves right before the Alpine Slide midstation that were a result of the bottom terminal being relocated when the Colorado SuperChair was built in 1986).
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no, Southridge chair at Killington Vermont. No longer operational.
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I thought that South Ridge had a third bullwheel for its turn, not canted sheaves, but maybe I’m wrong.
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A third and fourth bullwheel to be exact. http://www.chairlift.org/pics/k/k58.jpg
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Is there a reason why detachable lifts don’t use half towers?
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Some do. I just think it depends on the topography of the land. If a regular tower can’t be placed, then the engineers have to get creative.
https://skiliftblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/whistler-trip-208.jpg?w=768&h=1024
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They do sometimes, but it’s rare. For instance, Big Red has a light-side only half tower on the lower lift line because the light side has to clear a rock face that the heavy side doesn’t have to clear. Others, like this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKU8YYZVoo), don’t really have a reason for a half-tower.
High speed lifts with half-midstations also are known to have half-towers for the heavy side since the light side isn’t stopping. You see this on Orange Bubble, Heavenly Gondola, West Buttermilk Express, the Snowmass Village Express and a few others….
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to my knowledge this lift seemed to have replaced a beginner and an expert lift, what I am wondering is how do the beginners access their terrain if this lift has no mid station where the old cecret lift dropped off.
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Those green trails were redesignated as blue runs.
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Alta took a loss on beginner terrain by doing this. Cecret Chairlift was always a weird place to be anyways for beginners, even though it’s flat. I think the change was a positive one, even though there’s a little bit of a runout to the bottom of the lift. It also changed the traffic patterns (a lap on surpreme now takes you all the way down to Alf’s, mixing the traffic a bit), but ultimately significantly more capacity on this side of Alta.
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It had the side effect of Alta becoming almost 100% detachable lift serviced, the only trails not detachable accessible being Wildcat’s trails.
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ALTA = Another Long Traverse Ahead ;)
It’s possible to get to Wildcat’s trails from the top of Collins, though not really practical. Often times due to avalanche control work there will be ropes making it impossible to traverse over there.
One fun run is to hike Mt. Baldy, ski the baldy shoulder, and then follow the ridgeline down to Westward Ho.
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Most of the towers above the turn reuse the foundations from the Supreme triple.
In addition, things look very different when there’s no light side flyovers:
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I have to admit the novelty of the angle has worn off some in terms of the ride experience. The roughness is amusing at first but becomes a bit annoying, as it is violent enough to shake out tooth fillings.
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It didn’t seem that rough when I rode it last year. Certainly not rough enough to shake out tooth fillings
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So I’ve heard this lift has been down a lot this year, can anyone confirm or deny?
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I was skiing at Alta today and noticed a new chair with more suspension on the parking rail at the base of the lift. I recall reading somewhere on here that they were planning to do something with the seat coushions to make the turn feel less bumpy. I assume they’re going to replace the chairs soon with this version soon, however that begs the question of what is going to happen to these chairs. Does anyone know any more information about this?
Also out of curioisity, can they remove the taco/hangar arm from the existing chairs and install these new hangar arms on the current bail/seat?
New chair: https://imgur.com/a/71eClah
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