SAM Coverage
Lifts & Ropeways
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Construction Site
Wildwheels Pier Poma engineers had a rare respite from B77 when they coordinated design and placement of a fixed-grip triple chairlift with the simultaneous…
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Adults Learn to Ski Like Magic
Two years ago, at the NSAA trade show, Al Kryger, president of Greek Peak, N.Y., was searching for a better way to transport skiers…
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Preserving History
At the moment of creation, a new invention or variation may seem unimportant, but to those with a sense of history, such moments are…
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If You Build It, They Will Come
In many ways, the history of the ski industry is the history of ski lifts and vice-versa. Indeed, dates, such as the first documented…
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Rain Forest Gondola
Ropeway engineers can find themselves these days in amazing situations. Accustomed as they may be to the hazards and discomforts of snow and ice…
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Jigback Tops Lone Peak
Lone Peak is a signature mountain, towering alone at the head of West Fork Valley. The 11,166-foot mountain, with its elegant triangular lines, is…
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Lifts 1995
Total new lifts built in North America in 1995 was 41, of which 39 were chairlifts, one a gondola and one a surface lift—a…
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Are Your Lifts Driving You (And Your Neighbors) Crazy?
When Vail’s lift boss, Dave Larson, said: “OK Steve, let’s go for it,” I broke into a cold sweat. For over two years, I…
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Killington’s Dazzling New Gondola
“State-of-the-art” is a term routinely used in describing a new lift installation. But whose art is it a state of? In the case of…
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Belt Transmissions
In the first article on “Lift Basics,” (January 1992 SAM on gear ratios) I promised to explain the basics of belt drives and how…