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RubberSoulokay now for a much better question:
would it be dangerous for my buddy to bring a rope onto the lift with him, tie it to the seat, and drop it down so i could use it as a rope tow to the top and uphill-shred the liftline terrain?
Bum.LifeI hope you're kidding.
ObeseBunnySometimes I enjoy a little rest time on the lift, and it's nice to watch others throw down while you take a breather.
cannonballerLift technology is quiet. HSQs, new loading belts, etc. They just keep increasing uphill capacity without you even noticing all that much.
But be careful what you ask for. Increased uphill capacity = increased people on the slopes. Slow lifts preserve powder better than just about anything.
RandelSkisAssuming you are also from Wisconsin like me, you get short 1-5 minute runs. The lift the park at my local hill AV is 1 minute up 1 minute down(excluding lines). Lift is fast, but the runs are small. You need to look at location too bud. Based on skiing in Wisconsin having a new high tech lift put in will not change your skiing to on the lift time by that much. High speed quads are about the extent of what we'll see here. On a positive note we get 200+ runs in a day with out much cool downtime. So kinda of a win.
MRodenThis issue hasn't been ignored at all. Its something that has been taken for granted as most of us probably don't remember a time without high speed detachable grip chairs. We could run chairs at at their maximum feet/meters per minute, but theres this thing called ANSI that that limits us. Rope speed has to be proportional to the unload time at the top of the hill.
Ill put it this way. We can run a 300 fpm chair at 500 fpm, but thats loading a chair every 4 seconds which in turn is unloading a chair every 4 seconds. This creates a shit show of people falling all the time, making "slower" lifts more efficient. When it comes to high speed chairs, they go around 1200 fpm, we can run them well over that. But when the grip detaches from the haul rope at the top terminal at a high velocity, prepare to get flung off the chair.
In short, slow lifts are much more efficient.
CheeFboyne
[BP]dude, they have heated lifts, with leather seats and covers that keep the wind and sun out Now, its like the best thing ever and its way better than gondolas. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?