This lift was the third LST T-Bar built in the United States. Near the end of construction, LST rebranded as MND Ropeways.A T imported from Europe.View from the unloading point.Return bullwheel up top.Tower 8.The top bullwheel is in the trees above where riders unload.Tower 7.Another spring box T.Upper part of the lift line.Tower 6.Lower lift line.An angled tower with lifting frame and lights.Side view of a tower.The drive-tension terminal.This station is quite a ways below the base lodge.Loading area and lift line.Drive equipment.View of the track.Lower station overview.
An angled tower on a T Bar moves the uphill ski track away from the towers so , a groomer can groom and set the track with less danger of the groomer hitting the tower as well. Also there is less change of uphill travelling T Bar riders colliding with the tower. Probably done for the grooming reason.
The angled tower is the Dopplmayr standard setup since it replaced lattice portal tower around 1970. See above for the rationale. North American setups might have been different to avoid importing the towers from Europe or building very special parts of the few new T-Bars in North Americas since then.
LST was a German company specializing on surface lifts, simple fixed grip chairs and various retrofits of older ropeways, and has been around since 1989. When the founder die it was sold to the MND group, and eventually the German sites were more or less closed down. MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.
MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.
I searched for documentation of these comments and have trouble finding anything. I am also writing a piece on the lift companies available to market and would this took me by surprise. Can you elaborate on your source or experience?
“MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.”
I searched for documentation of these comments and have trouble finding anything. I am also writing a piece on the lift companies available to market and would this took me by surprise. Can you elaborate on your source or experience?
That is of course just judgement. But they badly botched trying to build detachable lifts and lost a lot of money on their barely working installation. They then got a lot of money injections from China and through french government grants, just to finally close down their development of detachable lifts (or possibly all, not sure) and instead to resell technology from BMF. Sufag also pretty much died after they bought them. So maybe shady is a little harsh, but they don’t seem to be doing to well.
OK. I did some research too and found out that the detachable installation at LaPlagne France is indeed fully functional. The mgmet at LaPlagne said MND had previously agreed with them that the lift would be the Beta test model, All new tech detachables go through a testing period of years to see what works well and what does not. They said this has been the plan from the start and actually felt good about the install all things considered. They continue to manufacture and sell conveyors, surface lifts and fixed grips. They also are not just reselling BArtholet but sharing manufacturing facilities. MND manufactures all the heavy steel components and Bartholet manufactures the grips and high tech.
I looked into SUFAG through a few sources in Austria and they have moved operations and manufacturing to France I guess and put everything under the MND Snow name. They had also acquired Areco and Snowstar in the deal and rolled them all into one. They produce fans that are a blend of Areco and Sufag technology and sticks that are mostly Snowstar with a bit of Sufag mixed in.
What info do you have that they are not doing very well? I cannot find any details on their overall corporate performance.
What is the point of the angled tower? I am confused
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An angled tower on a T Bar moves the uphill ski track away from the towers so , a groomer can groom and set the track with less danger of the groomer hitting the tower as well. Also there is less change of uphill travelling T Bar riders colliding with the tower. Probably done for the grooming reason.
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The angled tower is the Dopplmayr standard setup since it replaced lattice portal tower around 1970. See above for the rationale. North American setups might have been different to avoid importing the towers from Europe or building very special parts of the few new T-Bars in North Americas since then.
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In pic 16 you can see the lodge in the far left.
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I’ve always been confused about LST/MND and they seemed to kinda pop up out of nowhere, what’s their backstory?
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LST was a German company specializing on surface lifts, simple fixed grip chairs and various retrofits of older ropeways, and has been around since 1989. When the founder die it was sold to the MND group, and eventually the German sites were more or less closed down. MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.
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Thanks. Mind if I use your info in some lift brand history thing I’m writing up? I’ll cite u
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Well, I’m not really the primary source here. Better sources are e.g. the old lst homepage, which is only in the google cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rG442IeeFzMJ:www.lst.eu/de/unternehmen/+&cd=1&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=at&client=firefox-b-e
The great seilbahnen.org website:
https://www.bergbahnen.org/lexikon/hersteller/loipolder.php
or the press release for the takeover:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi4p8SRgMnuAhWxlosKHeYKAYAQFjAJegQIDxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mnd-group.com%2Fdocuments%2Fpress%2F2012%252004_MND%2520und%2520Sergio%2520LIMA%2520%25C3%25BCbernehmen%2520die%2520Mehrheit%2520des%2520deutschen%2520Seilbahnherstellers%2520LST%2520Loipolder%2C%2520k%25C3%25BCnftig%2520LST%2520Ropeway%2520Systems_CP%2520LST%2520MND%2520DE.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0PIQF-s8YL-a6yWeCS0LcH
they are all in German, but online translators should be able to help you.
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MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.
I searched for documentation of these comments and have trouble finding anything. I am also writing a piece on the lift companies available to market and would this took me by surprise. Can you elaborate on your source or experience?
LikeLike
“MND is a somewhat shady french conglomerate, that also includes Sulfag, the formerly independent producer of snow making equipment. MND seems somewhat mismanaged and chaotic to put it mildly.”
I searched for documentation of these comments and have trouble finding anything. I am also writing a piece on the lift companies available to market and would this took me by surprise. Can you elaborate on your source or experience?
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That is of course just judgement. But they badly botched trying to build detachable lifts and lost a lot of money on their barely working installation. They then got a lot of money injections from China and through french government grants, just to finally close down their development of detachable lifts (or possibly all, not sure) and instead to resell technology from BMF. Sufag also pretty much died after they bought them. So maybe shady is a little harsh, but they don’t seem to be doing to well.
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OK. I did some research too and found out that the detachable installation at LaPlagne France is indeed fully functional. The mgmet at LaPlagne said MND had previously agreed with them that the lift would be the Beta test model, All new tech detachables go through a testing period of years to see what works well and what does not. They said this has been the plan from the start and actually felt good about the install all things considered. They continue to manufacture and sell conveyors, surface lifts and fixed grips. They also are not just reselling BArtholet but sharing manufacturing facilities. MND manufactures all the heavy steel components and Bartholet manufactures the grips and high tech.
I looked into SUFAG through a few sources in Austria and they have moved operations and manufacturing to France I guess and put everything under the MND Snow name. They had also acquired Areco and Snowstar in the deal and rolled them all into one. They produce fans that are a blend of Areco and Sufag technology and sticks that are mostly Snowstar with a bit of Sufag mixed in.
What info do you have that they are not doing very well? I cannot find any details on their overall corporate performance.
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This was my first T-bar and it was fun but it is hard to get off of because the t gets caught on your leg and pulls you along.
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