This aptly-named T-Bar is one of the longest anywhere and opened along with the ski area in 1966.The lift is a GMD Mueller.Top station and unloading area.This lift is redundant with the Sundance/Tamarack combo and only runs occasionally.Mueller lattice towers with added lifting frame.View up the upper line.The towers aren’t numbered but there are a lot of them.Another view down the line.First few towers.Bottom terminal seen from above.Drive-tension unit.The first tower is a portal-style.
Why does this lift have chairlift style Mueller lattice towers instead of the portal towers that are seen on mostly all Mueller surface lifts? Does the lift’s profile affect the type of towers used on a surface lift? Despite the lift line being very steep, it looks to be possible for the classic portal towers to be installed on most of the lift line. Was this lift originally a chairlift and became converted?
However even I am a tad skeptical about how serious that idea was. Clearance off the ground is seemingly not enough for a chair, and raising those towers would’ve been expensive.
I read at work the other day that the original Thunder chair was a Mueller with lattice towers. The first batch of towers was too short and chars did not have enough clearance for Jackson Hole winters. The towers were raised after the first year.
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Why does this lift have chairlift style Mueller lattice towers instead of the portal towers that are seen on mostly all Mueller surface lifts? Does the lift’s profile affect the type of towers used on a surface lift? Despite the lift line being very steep, it looks to be possible for the classic portal towers to be installed on most of the lift line. Was this lift originally a chairlift and became converted?
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According to Peter in this post, it was originally intended to be converted into a chairlift- https://liftblog.com/2018/02/10/albertas-castle-mountain-looks-to-grow/
However even I am a tad skeptical about how serious that idea was. Clearance off the ground is seemingly not enough for a chair, and raising those towers would’ve been expensive.
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I read at work the other day that the original Thunder chair was a Mueller with lattice towers. The first batch of towers was too short and chars did not have enough clearance for Jackson Hole winters. The towers were raised after the first year.
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15 towers
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This is one of my favorite T-Bars. The name is great, it is very unique being so long with chairlift towers, and the green looks great on it
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Very true.
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