The entire purpose of this study is to develop a complete file on every chair or surface lift grip presently being used in the industry, along with some of the obsolete grips that have previously been used. With this information we are simply trying to develop service instructions, maintenance requirements and history of problems that will be available for the ski industry.
It is rather disheartening to realize that with approximately 30 different chair grips currently being used in the industry, we have complete information on only one-third of them.
As a measure of how important the grip problem can be, consider what some very recent inspections have shown: 1) On one chairlift on the west coast, the area experienced almost a 70 per cent rejection rate when the chair grips were magnetic fluxed this past summer; 2) On one chairlift in the east, the ski area experienced almost a 90 per cent rejection when the grips were x-rayed; 3) In the midwest, one ski area experienced a large percentage of grip replacement when it was found their grips could no longer hold onto the cable due to failure of component parts.
If the beginning of wisdom is knowledge, then we are on the right track in trying to develop every bit of knowledge possible on grips. Although we have received detailed information on the four grips mentioned above, there are four other manufacturers who have sent us nothing, and what information we have on their grips we have had to glean from areas which have had experience with them, and from maintenance instructions that have been available to those areas.
Sad to relate, we have found many ski areas with chair and surface lifts on which they have no service and maintenance information whatsoever on their grips.
The Spring issue of SAM will carry Part II of this continuing research. We welcome any information that might be available from any ski area or manufacturer, with the understanding that the information be made available to ski areas only. H.A.
