Doppelmayr Spacejet return terminal.Lift line with six-pack chairs.Bottom station at Tamarack Lodge.Chair parking rail and work chair.Side view of the return station.Lift line view.Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.Upper part of the line seen from Big Easy.Spacejet top terminal.Side view of the top terminal.EJ chairs with DT grips.Middle part of the line.Tamarack next to its namesake lodge.Riding up.Breakover towers.Unload and buried operator house.
I guess what’s stranger is that there used to be footrests on all three handles, in the Doppelmayr Worldbook photo. But the outside footrests have been cut off completely, and the middle one had the part of the footrest where equipment rests removed.
That’s just a stopper to keep the comfort bar from going back too far because then it would be out of reach for someone sitting in the middle of the chair. There are no footrests, nor were there ever.
To my knowledge, they’ve never put gondola cabins on this lift. Originally the plans called for a gondola parking building between the current top of the gondola and the bottom of Tamarack so they could easily transfer from one lift to the other. Their master plan included a lodge/restaurant at the top of this chair that was also never built, which would be why they wanted to put gondola cabins on Tamarack originally. With no restaurant at the top, there’s not much need for cabins.
This was the first six pack chairlift I have ever ridden in my life!
I wonder if there will ever be a day that a restaurant gets built at the top and this lift will use gondola cabins. It would certainly have a better view than what’s currently at the top of the Gondola, since that area is a sort of small valley.
I’m going to say the odds of them building the Sand Dunes Lodge at the top of Tamarack are very slim at this point. They already had the restaurant at Lakeview Lodge operating at the top of the Tram until a few years ago so if there wasn’t enough demand for that, I doubt they could justify building another restaurant. I think the argument for Sand Dunes though, is that Heavenly’s summer operations are at Tamarack so it would be easier to operate year round.
That’s a shame, I remember going to the restaurant right at the top of the Tram, coincidentally also on my first visit to Heavenly when I first experienced six pack detachables, this and Powder Bowl Express, and my first gondola ride!
This was mine also, but for some reason I remember the terrain being a lot flatter and there being a lot more trees. Obviously the terrain is the smae buy maybe there was more trees there previously.
I rarely ride Tamarack because it is so short, and the high percentage of visitors and infrequent riders that access the mountain from the Village and Gondola. But when I do, I cannot help but question the “wisdom” of HSS chairs. Despite frequent lines here, you almost never see the chairs filled to capacity, unless there’s an employee specifically tasked with “forcing” people to fill every seat. Most people seem to have no problem filling HSQ’s without prompting, but will almost always resist filling a HSS voluntarily. So, do they really increase uphill capacity by very much?
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I’m curious why the outer footrests were cut off while the middle one was left intact.
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That’s how the bar is resting on the chair, so that you can actually reach it. If you zoom in, there aren’t actually footrests.
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I guess what’s stranger is that there used to be footrests on all three handles, in the Doppelmayr Worldbook photo. But the outside footrests have been cut off completely, and the middle one had the part of the footrest where equipment rests removed.
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That’s just a stopper to keep the comfort bar from going back too far because then it would be out of reach for someone sitting in the middle of the chair. There are no footrests, nor were there ever.
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The Doppelmayr entry says the lift is configured to potentially hold gondola cabins. Has that ever been done?
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To my knowledge, they’ve never put gondola cabins on this lift. Originally the plans called for a gondola parking building between the current top of the gondola and the bottom of Tamarack so they could easily transfer from one lift to the other. Their master plan included a lodge/restaurant at the top of this chair that was also never built, which would be why they wanted to put gondola cabins on Tamarack originally. With no restaurant at the top, there’s not much need for cabins.
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A six pack with Spacejet terminals – you don’t see these very often!
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Only others that I’m aware of are Summit Six at Alpine Meadows, Chinook and Forest Queen at Crystal, and American at Stratton.
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Plenty more outside the US.
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American Express, Stratton, VT. First detachable I ever rode.
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Europe has spacejets with 8 seater chairs! Here’s an example: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd8-foisching-doppelmayr-2818.html#
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This was the first six pack chairlift I have ever ridden in my life!
I wonder if there will ever be a day that a restaurant gets built at the top and this lift will use gondola cabins. It would certainly have a better view than what’s currently at the top of the Gondola, since that area is a sort of small valley.
LikeLike
I’m going to say the odds of them building the Sand Dunes Lodge at the top of Tamarack are very slim at this point. They already had the restaurant at Lakeview Lodge operating at the top of the Tram until a few years ago so if there wasn’t enough demand for that, I doubt they could justify building another restaurant. I think the argument for Sand Dunes though, is that Heavenly’s summer operations are at Tamarack so it would be easier to operate year round.
LikeLike
That’s a shame, I remember going to the restaurant right at the top of the Tram, coincidentally also on my first visit to Heavenly when I first experienced six pack detachables, this and Powder Bowl Express, and my first gondola ride!
LikeLike
This was mine also, but for some reason I remember the terrain being a lot flatter and there being a lot more trees. Obviously the terrain is the smae buy maybe there was more trees there previously.
LikeLike
I rarely ride Tamarack because it is so short, and the high percentage of visitors and infrequent riders that access the mountain from the Village and Gondola. But when I do, I cannot help but question the “wisdom” of HSS chairs. Despite frequent lines here, you almost never see the chairs filled to capacity, unless there’s an employee specifically tasked with “forcing” people to fill every seat. Most people seem to have no problem filling HSQ’s without prompting, but will almost always resist filling a HSS voluntarily. So, do they really increase uphill capacity by very much?
LikeLiked by 1 person