With the start of another ski season at hand, the usual activity of new lift installations, old lift modifications, maintenance and inspections is in full swing. Area management is still seeking a method of holding off the snow and cold weather until these activities are complete but praying that the snow will come the day following the completion of all such work.
Wickwire has completed their annual program of re-inspection of wire ropes. One hundred and twenty areas were visited, and over three hundred lift cables inspected. The engineering staff of the ski rope division of Wickwire has been expanded to service the ever increasing number of lifts, and now comprises A. B. Whitlock, W. G. Harmon, Noel T. Kohn, and Leroy Patterson.
During the period from last winter’s activities until now several new firms have appeared in the lift picture.
Ski Lift International of Alexandria, Virginia, has Toni Wiedermann, of Badgastein, Austria as their Chief Design Engineer. Sam Bonasso, Chief Sales Engineer, reports that the first U.S.A. T-bar lift to carry four skiers per T-bar is being installed at The Homestead in Virginia.
Joe Sugarman, the firm’s sales director, has reported their entire stock of lifts and accessories for 1965 sold and orders booked for 1966.
Mohawk Designers, Inc. of Utica, N. Y. is featuring a bi-cable chairlift with detachable grips to permit stationary loading and unloading. Herbert L. Brill of Mohawk Designers reports the lift will have a minimum uphill capacity of 2400 skiers per hour.
Hopkins Engineering of Contoocook, New Hampshire, has taken over the rights and inventory of the Roebling lifts. New lift activity of this firm is limited to the construction and installation of a chair lift for the State of New Hampshire, built to design drawings and specifications furnished by the state. O. D. Hopkins, president, reports that his firm is busy in lift modification work. Both Mt. Tom Ski Area of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Snow Ridge of Turin, New York, are modifying chairlifts. Both are changing from center-post chairs to bail-type chairs. O. D. reports that they stock replacement parts for all Roebling lifts, and are available for lift servicing.
Swinging out to the West Coast, the Leckenby Company of Seattle, Wash. has become the U. S. distributor for Skima Ski Lifts of Switzerland. The lift line will include chairlifts, T-bars, and “Mini” lifts. Mr. Leckenby, Chairman of the Board, reports that the first of the “Mini” lifts will be erected at their plant.
Back East again, Otto Weber, representative for Stadeli Lifts of Switzerland, has announced a new surface lift which is called “Ski-Pony,” and intended for beginners’ areas. Otto reports that to date six of these lifts have been sold in the U. S. Otto recently became the eastern and midwestern representative for Bell, Ltd., of Kriens, Switzerland.
The Utran Company, located at Far Rockaway, New York, features a small surface lift of novel design. Irving Gould, of Utran, states that they have eight installations to date. The lift consists of two towing outfits, one on each side of the lift line. The lift has a reciprocating motion, so that when one towing outfit is traveling from the base to the upper terminal, the second is returning to the base station. Stationary loading and unloading are featured, and up to four skiers may be accommodated on each towing outfit. For a maximum length of 1000 feet, Gould claims hourly capacities in excess of 200 skiers can be carried.
