This lift debuted in 2022 as the first MND Group detachable lift in the United States or Canada.The bottom terminal houses both the drive and tensioning along with a parking facility.View riding up the middle part of the line.Ropeway equipment designed in partnership with Bartholet.The old lift had 25 towers while the new has only 13 which are taller and further apart.View riding up.Nearing the summit.Upper lift line.View down the line.A support tower.View down the line near tower 7.View up the middle part of the line.Lower lift line.The alignment is very dynamic with steep and low angle sections.Lower station with parking adjacent.Bartholet designed drive terminal.Contour loading.Inside the parking barn.Tower head.Drive terminal equipment.A grip in the station.The terminal is not only long but also very wide.John Deere evacuation engine.Tower 1 adjacent to the bottom terminal.View riding out of the base area.Six passenger bubble chair.Tower 13.Unloading area.Compact return terminal with exposed bullwheel.Side view of the return station.Downhill end of the top station.View from tower 12.Back of a bubble chair.View down toward Snow’s Mountain.Looking up from the base area.A Bartholet chair.Lower section of the line.The top terminal seen from sister MND lift High Country.
I find it funny that the tower numbers are formatted as 008, 009, 010, 011, etc. Like it’s common for them to build a ski lift with more than 99 towers so they label towers on every lift with 3 digits.
Interesting carrier design with the top of the bail above the lowest point of the hanger arm. It looks like you ride way closer to the haul rope than you would on most detachables, especially recent Leitner Poma lifts. The bail itself is interesting too, it’s not just a single round tube with multiple bends like on most carriers we see
Samson built a high-speed double at Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC, Carlevaro & Savio built detachable bubble doubles at Beech Mountain, NC, and Mt. Snow, VT, and Mohawk built at least two detachables (for example, the world’s first HSQ – a side-seat) in Western New York.
There was also a company named Mohawk who made the first detachable lift in America at Val Bialas in New York. It must have not worked well though, as it was replaced only 5 years after it was built. https://skiinghistory.org/news/first-flopped
Anyone else wondering why there are no automatic opening/closing rails for the bubbles, or if there are they aren’t in use? I’ve heard people complaining about wind holds on this lift and the previous one and having the downhill side bubbles open the whole time probably doesn’t help with wind resistance.
Lift looks nice, but the incident with the terminal covers being blown off a couple weeks into operations, is pretty questionable design on MND’s part, I understand it was windy, but Mont Ste Marie’s two 1989 Poma Competition High speed quads, both with pancake design non covered upper tension terminals, have never had a single one of the terminal covers blown off, and the winds at the top of Cheval Blanc can get pretty brutal. Not sure if that’s Poma over engineering, or MND under engineering, but still a rough look for MND. Heres a video of them in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf6GqP43bAE&ab_channel=SlopeEdge
To be fair, after looking at it closer, the panels on this lift are a lot larger than the ones on Cheval Blanc and Vanier express, and look a lot easier to blow off, so wasnt exactly the fairest of comparisons. My bad
In my opinion, this is the best looking new bubble chair this year. It’s relatively unobtrusive and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. I like the compact return terminal.
Rode the lift for the first time today. It’s a nice lift, but I’m not sure why the mechanism to lower the return bubbles isn’t there from the launch? The chair did stop often today, and sometime running at half speed for extended periods. The running joke on the lift was whether we would make it up without stopping. When it is running at full speed, it does get people up the hill quick. I hope they get the bugs worked out soon.
I have to say these seem like the best looking detachable terminals on the market in the US. I would hope more resorts start buying them as I am not a big fan of the competition.
From what I found the lift design here is actually from the manufacture Bartholet which merged with LST in 2020 to form MND. It seems like they have been improving and making this design since the mid 2000s.
Lift Blog 
Stunning machine. Engineering improvements over the years must be at least partly reasonable for halving the number of towers needed.
LikeLike
Look at that line sag. Wow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chair 1 @ Sandia Peak once had it in between towers 17 and 18 but is now partially removed.
LikeLike
The drive terminal underskin looks like its counterpart on Kanc8’s top terminal. Does anyone think that this is a coincidence?
LikeLike
Looks great. I wonder if Yan was still around, their lifts would look like this. How comfy were the seats, Peter?
LikeLike
I find it funny that the tower numbers are formatted as 008, 009, 010, 011, etc. Like it’s common for them to build a ski lift with more than 99 towers so they label towers on every lift with 3 digits.
Interesting carrier design with the top of the bail above the lowest point of the hanger arm. It looks like you ride way closer to the haul rope than you would on most detachables, especially recent Leitner Poma lifts. The bail itself is interesting too, it’s not just a single round tube with multiple bends like on most carriers we see
LikeLiked by 1 person
The minimalistic design of the upper terminal reminds me of the minimalistic return stations on some UNIs.
As well as the return stations on Leitner detachables:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hear, hear!
Vanier and Cheval Blanc at Mont Sainte-Marie fit this, too:
LikeLike
The lower terminal looks slick (and vaguely reminiscent of D-Line), not a fan of the upper terminal.
So, are these all the companies that have ever built a detach chairlift in North America?
– Doppelmayr
– CTEC, later Garaventa/CTEC (did Garaventa ever build their own?)
– Poma
– Leitner
– Yan (RIP)
– now MND/Bartholet
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually, it looks like VonRoll built Gore’s high-speed triple (the Adirondack Express).
LikeLiked by 1 person
VonRoll also built the Eagle Express at Solitude.
LikeLike
Samson built a high-speed double at Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC, Carlevaro & Savio built detachable bubble doubles at Beech Mountain, NC, and Mt. Snow, VT, and Mohawk built at least two detachables (for example, the world’s first HSQ – a side-seat) in Western New York.
LikeLike
Garaventa built the Funitel at Palisades Tahoe.
LikeLike
There was also a company named Mohawk who made the first detachable lift in America at Val Bialas in New York. It must have not worked well though, as it was replaced only 5 years after it was built.
https://skiinghistory.org/news/first-flopped
LikeLike
Hall lifts also built some with Von Roll.
LikeLike
Anyone else wondering why there are no automatic opening/closing rails for the bubbles, or if there are they aren’t in use? I’ve heard people complaining about wind holds on this lift and the previous one and having the downhill side bubbles open the whole time probably doesn’t help with wind resistance.
LikeLike
The current situation is temporary. The bubbles have cables for automatic lowering and the sensors are in place. Soon.
LikeLike
Lift looks nice, but the incident with the terminal covers being blown off a couple weeks into operations, is pretty questionable design on MND’s part, I understand it was windy, but Mont Ste Marie’s two 1989 Poma Competition High speed quads, both with pancake design non covered upper tension terminals, have never had a single one of the terminal covers blown off, and the winds at the top of Cheval Blanc can get pretty brutal. Not sure if that’s Poma over engineering, or MND under engineering, but still a rough look for MND. Heres a video of them in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf6GqP43bAE&ab_channel=SlopeEdge
LikeLike
To be fair, after looking at it closer, the panels on this lift are a lot larger than the ones on Cheval Blanc and Vanier express, and look a lot easier to blow off, so wasnt exactly the fairest of comparisons. My bad
LikeLike
The drives on Cheval Blanc and Vanier look somewhat like White Peaks Express’s .
LikeLike
In my opinion, this is the best looking new bubble chair this year. It’s relatively unobtrusive and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. I like the compact return terminal.
LikeLike
Looks like that on Bethlehem Express at Bretton Woods, NH.
LikeLike
Yes, I believe that was the standard return terminal for Doppelmay Unis. Yan also had similar compact terminals.
LikeLike
Why on earth did they replace a top drive lift with a bottom drive lift!?
LikeLike
Wow… Those are some of the prettiest terminals I’ve seen in a long time. I’m a BIG fan of UNI-G, and these feel like a more refined version of that.
LikeLike
The return looks like a modernized UNI, while the drive looks like a cross between a UNI-G and a D-Line.
LikeLike
The return reminds me of the compact Leitner returns like Northstar Express at Kimberly.
LikeLike
Rode the lift for the first time today. It’s a nice lift, but I’m not sure why the mechanism to lower the return bubbles isn’t there from the launch? The chair did stop often today, and sometime running at half speed for extended periods. The running joke on the lift was whether we would make it up without stopping. When it is running at full speed, it does get people up the hill quick. I hope they get the bugs worked out soon.
LikeLike
Peter has already commented that the current situation re: the bubbles is temporary.
LikeLike
I have to say these seem like the best looking detachable terminals on the market in the US. I would hope more resorts start buying them as I am not a big fan of the competition.
LikeLike
From what I found the lift design here is actually from the manufacture Bartholet which merged with LST in 2020 to form MND. It seems like they have been improving and making this design since the mid 2000s.
LikeLike