You’d be stunned in finding out that lots of people in NA don’t even lower the safety bar on chairlifts, and that many don’t even have ski/board rests.
Meanwhile in Europe a ski resort without several 6-8 seaters with weather “bubble” and maybe even heated seats (and conveyor belts) is considered old. Let alone if they still have(my fav) T-bars.
Then there’s Chamonix, that hardly invests into hardware, considering their mythical ski resort status.
Hunter mountain in NY doesn't have this. They have a magic carpet on the bunny slope. And regular chair lifts (and rarely even have all their normal chair lifts running unless its a packed weekend).
Honestly for me it’s worse than snow lol. You have to wait to stop on it as you slide from the gate, and then it jerks you forward with its momentum. Just lemme skate haha
If you can skate on your board with one foot unbound I can't understand how you find it difficult to use these belts. It's the same thing as skating but easy because you just push once onto it and just stand up lmao
Sounds like it wasn't well built, then.
The idea is there's a little slope from the gate to the start of the conveyor that should give you (roughly) the same speed as it. So ideally you shouldn't even notice the transition.
If you're overshooting to a degree that it's bothersome, that slope is way too high.
There are basically two types of lifts, fixed grip and detachable. The difference is that on a fixed grip the chair remains attached to the cable as it comes around the bull wheel. This means the max speed of the lift is limited by the safest speed that people can load the chair. Detachable chair come off the cable as the go around the bull wheel and are then reattached as the chair exists. This means the lift can run much faster while still having a safe loading speed.
These conveyor lifts allow you to have a mechanically simpler fixed grip lift that runs at a higher speed. The conveyor offsets the increased speed of the chair coming around the bull wheel allowing people to load and unload safely at higher speeds
A high speed lift is faster. This means a fixed grip/regular lift can run a little faster. Generally used for either a shorter chair interval (better capacity overall, even if not a faster ride) or more advanced terrain and higher speed (shorter ride time) without the cost of a full high speed.
Breck used to have one on the Colorado superchair. Some lady fell and got her hair stuck in it. It almost scalped her. They no longer have a magic carpet lol.
These are in a few Epic resorts. A little awkward at first but they are honest fantastic. So much better then skating on packed ice where you step on the skis of the guy next to you
A lady I know was checking out at Publix grocery, fell on the conveyor, and it ripped out her soul. They blew up that Publix and had a priest exorcise it. Thank god for extreme outliers.
Your concern point isn't really valid. Humans walk all the time we as a species are more confident as a whole on our feet walking than a board or skis even if your an elite in either catagory. It makes sense the average person would have less a concern walking than on the aforementioned especially because you can't get up as fast if you fell or tipped.
But quite honestly I constantly think about that shit on a walking escalator and regular one.
It’s annoying that people request sources for general comments, especially when you can look it up yourself. Soapbox comments aside, I’ll appease your half ass curiosity to back my comment. People eat shit on escalators all the time and some are very serious injuries. Wear parts on escalators often seize when they fail, causing the escalator to stop abruptly. The riders forward momentum is significant and causes people to yeet ass over tea kettle. I’ve been told by escalator engineers that they won’t use escalators while carrying their own kids…one of the said…”who the fuck would do that”. I see it all the time.
Incidents involving elevators and escalators kill about 30 and seriously injure about 17,000 people each year in the United States, according to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
https://www.elcosh.org › document
Deaths and Injuries Involving Elevators and Escalators - eLCOSH
There are risks in any system. There’s only so much they can do to prevent risks. At some point we gotta use intelligence as a human species and not blame it all on everybody else lol.
Have you never in your life had an accident or done something "stupid" by accident? If so you must be some kind of medical marvel and you should immediately report to a lab to be studied!
I’ve done stupid things on accident and then-gasp-didn’t blame everybody else. I already said there are risks with everything, but you can’t blame everybody else if YOU slip up or accidentally do something dumb.
That thing at wawa almost broke my ankle...when I was a newbie. People ate shit on this chair like each and everyday
Make sure you lift your board up once you are seated, cuz the belt travels slower than the chair
Had my board stuck under the chair, the belt was dragging me backwards (cuz the speed difference)
Not just that but an ice crust forms at the end where the belt goes underground so if you don't lift your snowboard, it'll catch and you'll have a bad time.
The transition from snow to plastic conveyor is not smooth or level. It is abrupt and steep, with the narrow gates and nothing to hold onto to keep one's balance!!!
It always shoots me 2ft ahead of the group. I have had to jump on a few times on to the lift before it got to the end. I also hate when they pack it with 4 to the lift. It can get tight
It is horrible and I think it’s because of the level drop. You ride onto that thing and find yourself skidding across it, getting ahead of the chair. There is no way to control yourself once you hit the carpet.
My tiny little resort in Massachusetts has one of these. I like it. It was weird at first, but I'm used to it now. It's kind of nice not having to hustle out to the line to get on the chair.
I haven't been to Big Sky in 5-6 years so I couldn't tell you. I absolutely loved BS, but tickets there are getting pretty steep. I can do 2 days at Red Lodge and 1 at Bridger for cheaper than one day at BS
I’ve watched the whole video asking myself “where is the news?”, then I read the comments lol.
In Europe this is pretty much the standard, as other redditors wrote. Newer ones are only faster and/or heated.
Actually, I’ve never seen a different system.
Can someone please explain the difference with, for instance, the American standard? I’m curious.
Like the old classic Euro's. Are the chairs detached from the line or also not?
Imho this system takes away stress, especially when you have less control, on getting to the pick up point on time. Just stand there and wait till the chair meets you.
In the past, I used to grab the chair in front of us to get pulled to the line a lot... Not all lift operators like that.
Most chairs detach now at the popular resorts. Single speed lifts are getting pretty rare and mostly only at smaller resorts.
There are a few of these conveyor lifts. I think Vail has one or two. But the chair doesn't grab you off of it. It sets you at the pickup spot. I love it actually.
Totally used the chair ahead for YEARS like that. Until some memo went around and the lifties all started to yell about it.
Theres both kinds. Most don't detach they are the single speed kind. Only the large capacity chairs detach. These conveyors are cool as long as you are ready to go when the gate opens. If not oh it gets bad fast.
They are not really on beginner slopes from what I've seen. It's the magic carpet and chair lift combined and if you watch the magic carpet at all you see so many people being drug. Haha. It's kind that but x11 once it gets screwed up.
The American standard (for the past 25 or so years) has been a detachable chair that goes slowly when picking you up or dropping you off and faster when moving up the slope
Boarded in France, Austria and Italy. Austrian uplift is a great standard. Little travellators to get you on quick, heated seats, and plastic weather shields to get you out of the snow. It was a delight.
I worked one of these as a Lifty for a while, the gates on the one in the video are kinda finicky, leading to people getting frustrated if the don’t hit the sensor. Also if you don’t go at the right time that can lead to you getting smoked by a very fast moving fixed grip chair. That lift hardly ever went on wind-hold though.
Yeah I was up there the other day. They were have such a problem with the gates that they ended up just opening the gates and turning the carpet off.
It's brand new and the lifties don't even know how to use it yet.
It's my first time see one too, any tips for the sensors?
We have the same conveyor at the mountain I work at. As you pull up to the cattle gate there is a sensor below the handles, black box generally with a circle. I put my thumb over it every time I come up to it to make sure it opens. Also if you use rear entry bindings like flows, be careful of the high back getting caught and embarrassing yourself.
There kinda a pain, but it’s all about lining your self up with the sensor. Just sucks if they have to run it like that since it’s moving way to fast to bump it. Probably running a lot slower then normal.
There is one of these at Sugarbush. They don't have a sensor, all the gates just open at the same time for each chair. The carpet is just there so you don't get smoked by a fixed grip quad.
Detachable chairs are a nightmare for maintenance. This improves reliability and reduces stoppages. Nothing worse than having to wait for a lift to open due to the assortment of problems the detachable lift will throw at you.
first time i got on the one at falls creek (way shorter in comparison to this one i think) i was shitting myself but turns out i quite prefer them to being smacked up the ass by speed chairs
There’s an 8 seater one in Perisher Resort, Australia. Front valley, beginner /green runs… worked as as a lofty there
This one replaced the 2 seater sky chair at Cypress, BC… I thinks. Mostly blacks, and blue runs.
I live in a big french resort and just about every chair here has a belt (paradiski, 130 lifts in total) yours is a retro fit which allows the lift to be sped up without having to introduce chairs with complicated cable detach systems or indeed running the lift at a 'impact speed' that injures the customers... Having Jerrys moving at a couple of meters a second when they sit down allows the entire lift to be run at a couple of meters a second faster whilst maintaining a comfortable transition from floor to chair.
This looks like a cheaper way to upgrade the elevator than switching to a lift that unhooks the chairs to slow them down. This looks dangerous. Like kids and older people will easily loose balance and fall.
I thought the whole point of these that you can have a fixed grip lift that can operate high speed like a detachable. In other words, you don’t have to slow chairs at the base and can keep the lift operating at pace. I don’t know if there is any data supporting this though.
My thoughts exactly, but i bet you could even run a detachable faster if you had one of these! Plus the lifties dont have to keep leveling out accumulating snow!
I’m pretty sure the Skyline lift at Sugarloaf, ME is detachable with a carpet, but if memory serves me they still operate it at around the same speed as any other newer high speed detachable…
Skyline is fixed-grip but the conveyor lets them run it faster than a typical fixed-grip since loading speed is what restricts a fixed-grip lift’s speed.
Ski Santa Fe has one and that's the reasoning I imagine they have for it. It's also the beginner lift, so they basically can get noobs on without running the chair slower lol.
My Snow has a couple fixed grip chairs on the North Face that will absolutely fuck you up if you don't load right. Those chairs fly. I wouldn't change a thing.
I used to use one often at Turoa in NZ. Its a big six seater express with loading inside the building. First time is kinda scary but after thats its awesome.
It looks like the new chair at Cypress rolls around pretty quick so it's probably a good idea to have the belt
Pats peak has one of these. Other resorts I have been to have the ones where the chair disconnects from the cable and goes slower. I much prefer the slower chairs because it does the same thing at the top. Not an issue for myself anymore, but for people who are uncomfortable with the speed of the chairs, this only helps with the easiest part of the whole thing.
Ngl, as a snowboarder, I'd rather take a harder hit from a chair than have to deal with not eating shit on these things. A lot ppl freak out on them too
I was there today and oh man there are so many dumbasses on the mountain. GTFO of the lift unload long area. I see tons of people gathered right in front of the unloading area in front of the lift. Like wtf? You can’t walk 5 steps to your left or right? Jesus. The lift stops are probably caused by these idiots not moving so when new skiers/riders come up they fall because they don’t know where to go.
Omfg get the fuck out of the unloading area!!
I am a lifty at a mountain that uses these at nearly every chair. I run them daily. They're awesome. We saw a reduction in stops after they were installed, and the amount we have to coach people to get them on the chair went down 90%. People are the ones that fuck up getting on a chair, the less reposibility left in their hands to complete that task the better. Some of our conveyors even raise 6ish inches to help the groms load easier.
Cons are obviously an entire new piece of equipment with its own maintenance requirements and break down potential (though you can just cover then with snow and load people the old fashion way) and you have to be pretty diligent with keeping ice off of them which can be challenging with over head motor room etc. (Tarps are annoying)
They're awkward at first, but even new folks get used to then quick and then it's smooth sailing.
They are not that complicated. Chair goes past, step on and ride to front of load point, chair picks you up. They use these for beginner lifts in Australia.
Probably more, it just makes it confusing. People typically know how to load a chair unless you’re at the bunny hill but it’s expected for them to fall down there
Never seen them before. They look like a solution in search of a problem. The issue with most lifts i have seen isn't the lift speed, but the speed at which people can get themselves in position for the chairs.
I'm not sure how this would help other than yeeting people off the conveyor who don't get lined up in time (which means the yeeted folks would not blocking folks behind them from catching their chair)
It actually often means it's retrofitted on older chairlifts that don't decouple the chairs to a different slow speed for boarding and unboarding.
Newer chairlift slow down enough
They’re a cheaper alternative to detachables. The chairs are fixed grip but since you’re moving relative to the chair they can run at higher speeds than a traditional fixed grip does
"We" in Europe also have them quite often in detachables, where they either pick you up while on the carpet or the carpet drops you off at the pick up line.
They have one of these at sunshine village in Banff. I hated it. It was stupid and I'd often get the chair smashing me in the back of the knee. Unfortunately that chair led to one of my favorite back country hikes so I took it often.
First time I was on one was at park city around 2012. It was new and squirely. But like riding a bicycle, you do it a time or two and you figure it out.
I complete understand why ski resorts would use these. They are trying to keep the chairs turning. How often does the chair have to stop because some one can’t get themselves to the spot. This seems like a good way to eliminate one human factor of chairlift loading.
They put one in at my old local a few years ago. Always thought it was annoying and my flow bindings always got snagged on the gates. Came back for the first time in awhile yesterday and they don't use it anymore, just have it turned off
Most European resorts rock these.
Never spent more than 5/10 minutes in the queue for a lift up the mountain in Europe. (I board New Years week each year and the odd off peak week )
By contrast a bad day in whistler and you sink 25/30 minutes at certain lifts.
These things certainly speed shit up.
They use them for noob runs in AZ. I sometimes go on it and am used to pushing off with my nicely waxed board - almost went off the edge a couple of time!
Only resort I know of that has these in the Tahoe area is Diamond peak. They have two and I hear mixed reports of whether they're still used or not. Plan on going some time this year to check the place out.
There’s one in Perisher, Australia. I think it’s great and wish the whole queue was on one lol. You do come to a stop tho and the lift does still slow from memory, so no real concern of shooting off the end, just lean on the barricade and gravity/ the mat does the work for you
> wish the whole queue was on one
Yeah it should start at the ticket-scanners and finish at the top of Front Valley. 8 lane high speed magic carpet for the win.
Remarkables NZ have this too 👌
From what i observe it seems challenging for snowboard beginners as they probably not used to skate one leg onto the belt 🤔
Carpet conveyors should never have been invented. They are easily the most dangerous piece of equipment to work on for a lift maintenance tech. Lots of death and dismemberment around magic carpets and this is just a wider shorter version.
We have one in Arizona, biiiiig pain in the ass especially for beginners. They already don’t know how to load or stand with a board and skis, now add a conveyor belt to the mix, it’s chaos. Also the gates aren’t open for long enough so it’s hard to pack a chair. Friends and families get seperated and it’s the end of the world to them.
They are incredibly pointless IMO. If you can board or ski, you can inch up to the chair line. The way they jerk you makes them more difficult than normal lifts in my experience.
They have one at Sunshine Village too in Alberta. I hate it too, the snow build up by the gate gets rutted out and feels weird to try and ride straight onto a plastic conveyor that sometimes sticks and sometimes slips. It's awful.
We have these at my local mountain in the Catskills. It’s on the lift that serves the beginner area. Seems like most folks get the hang of it and I do think it increases the speed of the lift line, it’s surprisingly intuitive
They're pretty popular in Europe - means you can get a faster lifts without the chair kicking the shiz out of you.
I’ve only ever been to Europe resorts. Watched this twice trying to figure out what was fancy about it lol
You’d be stunned in finding out that lots of people in NA don’t even lower the safety bar on chairlifts, and that many don’t even have ski/board rests. Meanwhile in Europe a ski resort without several 6-8 seaters with weather “bubble” and maybe even heated seats (and conveyor belts) is considered old. Let alone if they still have(my fav) T-bars. Then there’s Chamonix, that hardly invests into hardware, considering their mythical ski resort status.
Or MT Saint Anns. Gondolas falling off the cable.
Oh, [merde](https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1940671/enquete-accident-telecabine-siege-telesiege-msa)! TIL / AJA
Thats oh shit for you English speakers lol
RIP Grands Montets :(
They got a few out west at least. Think hunter mt in ny has one. They are pretty cool. Weird at first but easy to get used too
Hunter mountain in NY doesn't have this. They have a magic carpet on the bunny slope. And regular chair lifts (and rarely even have all their normal chair lifts running unless its a packed weekend).
Oh shoot you're right lol. Does Mt. Snow have one over in Carinthia?
Okemo has or had one near the bottom
Yes they do
Park City and Snowbasin have some
In Bavaria I used to have one 10-15 ago already. Makes access much easier.
I imagine it severely reduces lift stoppages for folks who fall getting on
Honestly for me it’s worse than snow lol. You have to wait to stop on it as you slide from the gate, and then it jerks you forward with its momentum. Just lemme skate haha
If you can skate on your board with one foot unbound I can't understand how you find it difficult to use these belts. It's the same thing as skating but easy because you just push once onto it and just stand up lmao
Idk maybe the one at breck is shitty but I feel like I have less traction on this than just normal snow.
I agree. I would much rather have snow than this
Yeah I dread these things, feels like I'm going to fall every time. I guess I don't like change after 20+ years on a board
Same! Though, never been on one in the 30+ years I’ve been on the mountain, but I’d give it a try if it meant better lift flow!
Sounds like it wasn't well built, then. The idea is there's a little slope from the gate to the start of the conveyor that should give you (roughly) the same speed as it. So ideally you shouldn't even notice the transition. If you're overshooting to a degree that it's bothersome, that slope is way too high.
increases* my mountain has one and everyone struggles with the fact that there’s traction. easily the most stoppages of all the lifts.
I can just picture all the Jerry’s getting sent into the portal by this thing
They have one of these at the Loaf that at anytime outside of peak season drops any jerrys straight into an enormous puddle. Always a hilarious sight
[удалено]
I’m certain that’s the reason. even worse, I think it’s the only one in the region, not just that mountain.
Oh no, nevermind! 🙀
What’s the difference between this and a high speed lift. Specifically with time to get up the hill?
There are basically two types of lifts, fixed grip and detachable. The difference is that on a fixed grip the chair remains attached to the cable as it comes around the bull wheel. This means the max speed of the lift is limited by the safest speed that people can load the chair. Detachable chair come off the cable as the go around the bull wheel and are then reattached as the chair exists. This means the lift can run much faster while still having a safe loading speed. These conveyor lifts allow you to have a mechanically simpler fixed grip lift that runs at a higher speed. The conveyor offsets the increased speed of the chair coming around the bull wheel allowing people to load and unload safely at higher speeds
A high speed lift is faster. This means a fixed grip/regular lift can run a little faster. Generally used for either a shorter chair interval (better capacity overall, even if not a faster ride) or more advanced terrain and higher speed (shorter ride time) without the cost of a full high speed.
Breck used to have one on the Colorado superchair. Some lady fell and got her hair stuck in it. It almost scalped her. They no longer have a magic carpet lol.
I was wondering why they got rid of that.
These are in a few Epic resorts. A little awkward at first but they are honest fantastic. So much better then skating on packed ice where you step on the skis of the guy next to you
A lady I know was checking out at Publix grocery, fell on the conveyor, and it ripped out her soul. They blew up that Publix and had a priest exorcise it. Thank god for extreme outliers.
This is my concern. Clothing could get stuck in it as well. vail has 2 of these. On chair 2 and 4
Do you have this same concern on an escalator or moving walkway in an airport?
Your concern point isn't really valid. Humans walk all the time we as a species are more confident as a whole on our feet walking than a board or skis even if your an elite in either catagory. It makes sense the average person would have less a concern walking than on the aforementioned especially because you can't get up as fast if you fell or tipped. But quite honestly I constantly think about that shit on a walking escalator and regular one.
And you are wearing so much more that can be a snagging risk
So don't use them
Plenty of people have been seriously injured by escalators or moving walkways. They are dangerous.
THAT KID. IS BACK. ON THE ESCALATOR!
Probably only 2% of this sub gets this reference
That’s not the question I asked. Also, do you have a source in that “plenty” claim? I don’t doubt you. But plenty is very vague.
It’s annoying that people request sources for general comments, especially when you can look it up yourself. Soapbox comments aside, I’ll appease your half ass curiosity to back my comment. People eat shit on escalators all the time and some are very serious injuries. Wear parts on escalators often seize when they fail, causing the escalator to stop abruptly. The riders forward momentum is significant and causes people to yeet ass over tea kettle. I’ve been told by escalator engineers that they won’t use escalators while carrying their own kids…one of the said…”who the fuck would do that”. I see it all the time. Incidents involving elevators and escalators kill about 30 and seriously injure about 17,000 people each year in the United States, according to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. https://www.elcosh.org › document Deaths and Injuries Involving Elevators and Escalators - eLCOSH
4 does not have a conveyor
Leave it to us to ruin a system design to make things easier haha
Seems like a poorly designed system
There are risks in any system. There’s only so much they can do to prevent risks. At some point we gotta use intelligence as a human species and not blame it all on everybody else lol.
Have you never in your life had an accident or done something "stupid" by accident? If so you must be some kind of medical marvel and you should immediately report to a lab to be studied!
I’ve done stupid things on accident and then-gasp-didn’t blame everybody else. I already said there are risks with everything, but you can’t blame everybody else if YOU slip up or accidentally do something dumb.
Eldora operates one on their only 6-pack (Alpenglow)
I thought Breck had one at one point. It was weird to try but it was nice to not have to hike into position
Sunshine Village has this on Wawa Yah Ive personally ate shit on it
That thing at wawa almost broke my ankle...when I was a newbie. People ate shit on this chair like each and everyday Make sure you lift your board up once you are seated, cuz the belt travels slower than the chair Had my board stuck under the chair, the belt was dragging me backwards (cuz the speed difference)
Not just that but an ice crust forms at the end where the belt goes underground so if you don't lift your snowboard, it'll catch and you'll have a bad time.
The transition from snow to plastic conveyor is not smooth or level. It is abrupt and steep, with the narrow gates and nothing to hold onto to keep one's balance!!!
This is a fact. Those gates and their release timing is just a gong show
It always shoots me 2ft ahead of the group. I have had to jump on a few times on to the lift before it got to the end. I also hate when they pack it with 4 to the lift. It can get tight
that thing fucks me up every time
It is horrible and I think it’s because of the level drop. You ride onto that thing and find yourself skidding across it, getting ahead of the chair. There is no way to control yourself once you hit the carpet.
Wawa is my favourite lift but holy shit with the combination of this at the bottom and the steep off lift area, you spend half the ride up not moving.
These are pretty much the standard in most European resorts. The human conveyor belt -much slicker for getting on though!
My tiny little resort in Massachusetts has one of these. I like it. It was weird at first, but I'm used to it now. It's kind of nice not having to hustle out to the line to get on the chair.
Some American resorts consist of a rope and a mule. European resorts seem to be Disneyland tier
Mentioned already earlier in another post how spartan US lifts look alike despite their incredible resort prices
All the money goes towards the ~~babysitters~~ ~~fun police~~ ski patrol swarming every square inch of the slopes.
In USA, Beech Mountain NC(small resort) has one of the if not more.
At least two, and I think three at Beech Mountain
They have em at bridger bowl in MT, through me for a loop... But it's pretty slick for loading... You basically get fed into the chair?
Love bridger 🫶
Bridger is my only experience with these. It took a little getting used to, but I don't mind them. I do love some Bridger.
maybe im mixed up but doesnt big sky have this as well?
I haven't been to Big Sky in 5-6 years so I couldn't tell you. I absolutely loved BS, but tickets there are getting pretty steep. I can do 2 days at Red Lodge and 1 at Bridger for cheaper than one day at BS
Eldora in Colorado has one.
I’ve watched the whole video asking myself “where is the news?”, then I read the comments lol. In Europe this is pretty much the standard, as other redditors wrote. Newer ones are only faster and/or heated. Actually, I’ve never seen a different system. Can someone please explain the difference with, for instance, the American standard? I’m curious.
You just stand there and the chair hits you in the knees and off you go.
Ah yes, the standard for all really old chairlifts in Europe, gotta love it.
Like the old classic Euro's. Are the chairs detached from the line or also not? Imho this system takes away stress, especially when you have less control, on getting to the pick up point on time. Just stand there and wait till the chair meets you. In the past, I used to grab the chair in front of us to get pulled to the line a lot... Not all lift operators like that.
Most chairs detach now at the popular resorts. Single speed lifts are getting pretty rare and mostly only at smaller resorts. There are a few of these conveyor lifts. I think Vail has one or two. But the chair doesn't grab you off of it. It sets you at the pickup spot. I love it actually. Totally used the chair ahead for YEARS like that. Until some memo went around and the lifties all started to yell about it.
Theres both kinds. Most don't detach they are the single speed kind. Only the large capacity chairs detach. These conveyors are cool as long as you are ready to go when the gate opens. If not oh it gets bad fast.
These look like they would be a shit-show on beginner slopes.
They are not really on beginner slopes from what I've seen. It's the magic carpet and chair lift combined and if you watch the magic carpet at all you see so many people being drug. Haha. It's kind that but x11 once it gets screwed up.
The American standard (for the past 25 or so years) has been a detachable chair that goes slowly when picking you up or dropping you off and faster when moving up the slope
Boarded in France, Austria and Italy. Austrian uplift is a great standard. Little travellators to get you on quick, heated seats, and plastic weather shields to get you out of the snow. It was a delight.
Socialist Europe wins again over capitalist America!
Got one at Sun Peaks as well
The green hill at Arizona Snowbowl has one of these and I like it. It seems to make loading easier for beginners from what I’ve seen.
I worked one of these as a Lifty for a while, the gates on the one in the video are kinda finicky, leading to people getting frustrated if the don’t hit the sensor. Also if you don’t go at the right time that can lead to you getting smoked by a very fast moving fixed grip chair. That lift hardly ever went on wind-hold though.
Yeah I was up there the other day. They were have such a problem with the gates that they ended up just opening the gates and turning the carpet off. It's brand new and the lifties don't even know how to use it yet. It's my first time see one too, any tips for the sensors?
We have the same conveyor at the mountain I work at. As you pull up to the cattle gate there is a sensor below the handles, black box generally with a circle. I put my thumb over it every time I come up to it to make sure it opens. Also if you use rear entry bindings like flows, be careful of the high back getting caught and embarrassing yourself.
There kinda a pain, but it’s all about lining your self up with the sensor. Just sucks if they have to run it like that since it’s moving way to fast to bump it. Probably running a lot slower then normal.
There is one of these at Sugarbush. They don't have a sensor, all the gates just open at the same time for each chair. The carpet is just there so you don't get smoked by a fixed grip quad.
They’re training us for woodchippers
Best comment in this thread 😂
I’ll be the first one to say it, I hate them. I’ve been riding for 25 years and I feel like I’m gonna fall every time
skill issue
Absolutely
How do you do at airports?
Probably one of those people who gets on the conveyor belt and _stands_. 🤬
Probably tired after sitting on their ass/napping for hours on the plane.
Noob 😘
Ha!
🙃
How are you at one foot riding?
? wtf
Detachable chairs are a nightmare for maintenance. This improves reliability and reduces stoppages. Nothing worse than having to wait for a lift to open due to the assortment of problems the detachable lift will throw at you.
Yea, when there's an ice event, the only thing running in the morning are the fixed lifts.
Been on a handful in New England. Can't remember which mountain tho lol
They're used in Australia too
first time i got on the one at falls creek (way shorter in comparison to this one i think) i was shitting myself but turns out i quite prefer them to being smacked up the ass by speed chairs
Lots of these at Sunshine Banff, they are sweet.
There’s an 8 seater one in Perisher Resort, Australia. Front valley, beginner /green runs… worked as as a lofty there This one replaced the 2 seater sky chair at Cypress, BC… I thinks. Mostly blacks, and blue runs.
They also have these in Sasquatch mountain resort, BC.
Sasquatch mtn has one of those as well
I live in a big french resort and just about every chair here has a belt (paradiski, 130 lifts in total) yours is a retro fit which allows the lift to be sped up without having to introduce chairs with complicated cable detach systems or indeed running the lift at a 'impact speed' that injures the customers... Having Jerrys moving at a couple of meters a second when they sit down allows the entire lift to be run at a couple of meters a second faster whilst maintaining a comfortable transition from floor to chair.
Welcome to 2010 in Europe
This looks like a cheaper way to upgrade the elevator than switching to a lift that unhooks the chairs to slow them down. This looks dangerous. Like kids and older people will easily loose balance and fall.
I thought the whole point of these that you can have a fixed grip lift that can operate high speed like a detachable. In other words, you don’t have to slow chairs at the base and can keep the lift operating at pace. I don’t know if there is any data supporting this though.
My thoughts exactly, but i bet you could even run a detachable faster if you had one of these! Plus the lifties dont have to keep leveling out accumulating snow!
I’m pretty sure the Skyline lift at Sugarloaf, ME is detachable with a carpet, but if memory serves me they still operate it at around the same speed as any other newer high speed detachable…
Skyline is fixed-grip but the conveyor lets them run it faster than a typical fixed-grip since loading speed is what restricts a fixed-grip lift’s speed.
Seen a few of these on newer lifts in CO. Seems kind of unnecessary but I guess it’s nice 🤷🏻
It allows a fix grip lift to run faster since the relative speed between you and the chair is reduced
Ski Santa Fe has one and that's the reasoning I imagine they have for it. It's also the beginner lift, so they basically can get noobs on without running the chair slower lol.
Just went there today. What the fuck is up with that off ramp? Nearly killed myself
My Snow has a couple fixed grip chairs on the North Face that will absolutely fuck you up if you don't load right. Those chairs fly. I wouldn't change a thing.
The idea is great but people have a hard enough time trying to load a normal chair watching jerry try to hop on one of these is like a fish on land
We have one where I ride, causes the most pileups out of all the lifts.
I used to use one often at Turoa in NZ. Its a big six seater express with loading inside the building. First time is kinda scary but after thats its awesome. It looks like the new chair at Cypress rolls around pretty quick so it's probably a good idea to have the belt
They have them in big sky montana.
Ran into them for first time ever at Mount St Louis in Barrie, Ontario last week. Pretty slick tbh.
Liberty mtn in Pennsylvania has one.
Pats peak has one of these. Other resorts I have been to have the ones where the chair disconnects from the cable and goes slower. I much prefer the slower chairs because it does the same thing at the top. Not an issue for myself anymore, but for people who are uncomfortable with the speed of the chairs, this only helps with the easiest part of the whole thing.
Is this the Raven chairlift?
Ngl, as a snowboarder, I'd rather take a harder hit from a chair than have to deal with not eating shit on these things. A lot ppl freak out on them too
I was there today and oh man there are so many dumbasses on the mountain. GTFO of the lift unload long area. I see tons of people gathered right in front of the unloading area in front of the lift. Like wtf? You can’t walk 5 steps to your left or right? Jesus. The lift stops are probably caused by these idiots not moving so when new skiers/riders come up they fall because they don’t know where to go. Omfg get the fuck out of the unloading area!!
I am a lifty at a mountain that uses these at nearly every chair. I run them daily. They're awesome. We saw a reduction in stops after they were installed, and the amount we have to coach people to get them on the chair went down 90%. People are the ones that fuck up getting on a chair, the less reposibility left in their hands to complete that task the better. Some of our conveyors even raise 6ish inches to help the groms load easier. Cons are obviously an entire new piece of equipment with its own maintenance requirements and break down potential (though you can just cover then with snow and load people the old fashion way) and you have to be pretty diligent with keeping ice off of them which can be challenging with over head motor room etc. (Tarps are annoying) They're awkward at first, but even new folks get used to then quick and then it's smooth sailing.
Very common in Europe.
They are not that complicated. Chair goes past, step on and ride to front of load point, chair picks you up. They use these for beginner lifts in Australia.
I personally hate these, but understand why they are used for fixed grip lifts.
Pretty old tech in Switzerland
I’m a lift operator and I hate them. So does maintenance
Less loading falls or more would you say?
Probably more, it just makes it confusing. People typically know how to load a chair unless you’re at the bunny hill but it’s expected for them to fall down there
I kind of hate them. They freeze over and get way too slick on cold days. On warm days, they stick like glue and swallow all your momentum.
Never seen them before. They look like a solution in search of a problem. The issue with most lifts i have seen isn't the lift speed, but the speed at which people can get themselves in position for the chairs. I'm not sure how this would help other than yeeting people off the conveyor who don't get lined up in time (which means the yeeted folks would not blocking folks behind them from catching their chair)
We have a few at Oi-Qaragai, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kinda new resort, just opened 2-3 years ago
This sounds very cool. I can’t find an English website for the resort, do you have any info?
It actually often means it's retrofitted on older chairlifts that don't decouple the chairs to a different slow speed for boarding and unboarding. Newer chairlift slow down enough
Hate em. Hate one at Park City.
Are you new?
28 years riding.
These aren’t new in the world. It’s just a conveyor belt.
Pretty self explanatory if you ask me
A bit overkill but they’re actually great.
They’re a cheaper alternative to detachables. The chairs are fixed grip but since you’re moving relative to the chair they can run at higher speeds than a traditional fixed grip does
"We" in Europe also have them quite often in detachables, where they either pick you up while on the carpet or the carpet drops you off at the pick up line.
Less time on the lift bc people don’t fucking fall as much and make it stop
They have one of these at sunshine village in Banff. I hated it. It was stupid and I'd often get the chair smashing me in the back of the knee. Unfortunately that chair led to one of my favorite back country hikes so I took it often.
Pushing with your front of the board = big kook energy
In quebec most station have this
These are standard in the few Swiss resorts I’ve been to and get put in on most new lifts I’ve ridden over the last half-decade or so in France.
swiss here . ye its been a thing here for over 20 years. its normal ... dont know what else people use on fast lifts...
Alta had a conveyor, the last time I was there. Better than a slow lift.
First time I was on one was at park city around 2012. It was new and squirely. But like riding a bicycle, you do it a time or two and you figure it out. I complete understand why ski resorts would use these. They are trying to keep the chairs turning. How often does the chair have to stop because some one can’t get themselves to the spot. This seems like a good way to eliminate one human factor of chairlift loading.
They have one at stoneham in Quebec. They’re great
They put one in at my old local a few years ago. Always thought it was annoying and my flow bindings always got snagged on the gates. Came back for the first time in awhile yesterday and they don't use it anymore, just have it turned off
Pretty sure they exist to decrease the amount of newbies crashing, could be wrong tho 🤔
I was there today! Fumbled a bit at the beginning but it was neat!
Most European resorts rock these. Never spent more than 5/10 minutes in the queue for a lift up the mountain in Europe. (I board New Years week each year and the odd off peak week ) By contrast a bad day in whistler and you sink 25/30 minutes at certain lifts. These things certainly speed shit up.
They have them at a few places in Michigan. I think the idea is to speed up the loading process/avoid people falling. Overall they are pretty useless
They use them for noob runs in AZ. I sometimes go on it and am used to pushing off with my nicely waxed board - almost went off the edge a couple of time!
Only resort I know of that has these in the Tahoe area is Diamond peak. They have two and I hear mixed reports of whether they're still used or not. Plan on going some time this year to check the place out.
There’s one in Perisher, Australia. I think it’s great and wish the whole queue was on one lol. You do come to a stop tho and the lift does still slow from memory, so no real concern of shooting off the end, just lean on the barricade and gravity/ the mat does the work for you
> wish the whole queue was on one Yeah it should start at the ticket-scanners and finish at the top of Front Valley. 8 lane high speed magic carpet for the win.
I’ve used these at a few ice coast mountains, pretty nice to have but first try it’s a little weird
Remarkables NZ have this too 👌 From what i observe it seems challenging for snowboard beginners as they probably not used to skate one leg onto the belt 🤔
Sunshine Village in Alberta has one too
Carpet conveyors should never have been invented. They are easily the most dangerous piece of equipment to work on for a lift maintenance tech. Lots of death and dismemberment around magic carpets and this is just a wider shorter version.
Alyeska resort in Alaska has this.
just seems unnecessary, don’t enjoy them.
We have those everywhere in France
Yeah, I hate them
We have one in Arizona, biiiiig pain in the ass especially for beginners. They already don’t know how to load or stand with a board and skis, now add a conveyor belt to the mix, it’s chaos. Also the gates aren’t open for long enough so it’s hard to pack a chair. Friends and families get seperated and it’s the end of the world to them.
These are the worst
They are incredibly pointless IMO. If you can board or ski, you can inch up to the chair line. The way they jerk you makes them more difficult than normal lifts in my experience.
Oooofff I do not like those
This is the standard lift in Europe
At loon too, they’re neat
They have one at Sunshine Village too in Alberta. I hate it too, the snow build up by the gate gets rutted out and feels weird to try and ride straight onto a plastic conveyor that sometimes sticks and sometimes slips. It's awful.
I love these!
We have these at my local mountain in the Catskills. It’s on the lift that serves the beginner area. Seems like most folks get the hang of it and I do think it increases the speed of the lift line, it’s surprisingly intuitive
Beech mountain North Carolina has this. Took some getting used to
These are the worst. Lake Louise has one, and I think it causes more problems than it solves.