The incredible leaps of three decades of technology evolution! Chairlift comparison (part 1/3)

In this video series, I'm comparing two chairlifts that are 10m, but over three decades apart. They are located at Lauchernalp and the ski domain's deputy technical manager dedicated an entire day to show me around, let me film everywhere and explain each of the ropeways in great detail.
In this part:
00:00 Introduction to the location and the chairlifts
03:15 The top stations
07:54 Clamps, clamps, clamps!
09:59 The bottom stations: Motors, breaks, emergency propulsion, counterweights
20:09 Teaser for part 2

[@mikepaul3959]

I've retired from 30 years as mountain manager/operations manager at several ski areas in the USA - which included lift operations and maintenance. Thank you for this outstanding video series.

[@alexheinrich855]

Never seen a detatchable three seater chairlift. Very cool.

[@florisbot]

Thank you. I’ve skied/snowboarded for 30-ish years and was always intrigued by the way the lifts work. This is an awesome insight that I didn’t know I existed and was really eager to find out about. Very thorough and still made in such a way many of us will understand it. Thanks again

[@Tupolev_Works]

Es freut mich immer wieder wenn ich eine 3-CLD sehe. Bin gerade wegen dieser Bahntype ja nach wie vor in großen Schritten auf dem Weg das ganze in 1:27,5 nachzubauen. Demnächst gehts an die Stationstechnik. Danke dir für deine Super Videos! Bringt auch wieder genügend inspiration für den Modellbau, da ich grad auf Bahntechnik Ende 80er/Anfang 90er gehen will kein Glattes UNI-G Massenprodukt.

[@josefsteffan3844]

Haha “if any American farm boys are watching” 🙋🏼‍♂️ yep you got me!

[@AG7-MTM]

U should do a video about the history of detachable ropeway grips. Especially the odd ones found in Europe

[@JakkeJakobsen]

Can you do an in-depth video of Poma lifts (surface detachable) sometime?😁 Grew up with those and I understand the basics, but the history and how it works exactly is pretty fuzzy to me.

[@WhiterockFTP]

he did now 🤩

[@Dave_Sisson]

Thanks, I've been fascinated by detachable lifts since 1984 when Dopplemayr built the 3rd and 4th detachable chairlifts in the world at Mt Buller, Australia, which is close to my home. Two years later Dopp built their first combination chairlift and gondola at the same ski resort and that lift is still operating. I have noticed how different modern detachable chairlifts are to those old ones and wondered about the changes. So thank you for explaining them.

[@weavermarquez1271]

Hadn't expected to be watching a video about this but it was very enlightening

[@nedt]

Outstanding video. Thankyou. And BIG thanks to the staff allowing this to happen. PS: the delay to your girlfriend was worth it for the clamping shots

[@1powercom]

love these videos , when i go skiing i'm always looking at the infrastructure ski lifts , snow making etc i find it very interesting . At mayrhofen they have combined chair and cabin lift with each on the same rope but loading in separate areas that is super interesting

[@samuelzackrisson8865]

this brings back so many good memories of skiing. I always loved looking at all the techonolgy of the lift and try to figure out what they did and what the purpose of everything was

[@TwinSkiingLiftsRides]

Why are these videos so satisfying to watch 😍

[@Vodhin]

You would have loved the ropeways built by Carlevaro-Savio at Mount Snow and Killington in Vermont. Mt. Snow was built as a futuristic winter resort which grew to include an outdoor heated pool, Ski-on/Ski-off "Telecabine" gondolas, and The Air-Car : a switchback tram themed right out of The Jetsons cartoon that flew over Snow Lake between the Eagle Lodge (Main Base Lodge) and Snow Lake Lodge (hotel). Killington also had (for a while) the longest Detachable Gondola in the world, complete with four stations serving three of the five peaks of Killington. The old Killington gondola was very advanced for the mid 1960's, with automatic doors and grip conveyors in the stations (which supposedly failed constantly because the pneumatic[hydraulic?] hoses used to drive them kept freezing and bursting). I was very young when I last rode it but I vaguely remember a lever in the gondola that passengers could use to select at which station the doors would open (always top and bottom, but you could choose to skip either or both of the mid stations, though that might have been something my dad fooled me with: "Don't touch that! We won't be able to get off!").

[@Josh.Davidson]

Incredible video!

[@jonathanjacobsen]

These videos are both fascinating and super satisfying to watch. Not as satisfying as skiing, of course, but I hope you will keep making them! I had no idea how complex a ropeway could be, as on the surface it appears to be a very simple concept.

[@joe7497]

Awesome video, super fascinating and greetings from Colorado, USA!

[@Bwyv55]

Love these videos. These types of lifts aren’t that common in the eastern US. Only one in my local ski places but I always wondered how it worked. These are by far the best videos on it.

[@gtraqs_]

I could easy watch another 15 minutes of just the clamping action!

[@somemean-side2202]

THIS IS AMAZING! ive always wonderd whats ender the main shaft. and im alwasy watching the tention station to see it its moving just amazing

[@me262omlett]

Oh, i love Garaventas Logo.

[@LF_63]

Sooo interesting !! Keep up the good work !

[@patrikskala8900]

cant wait for part 2

[@321Jarn]

Underrated channel

[@OMGWTFBBQSHEEP]

Wow this was really intresting!

[@daver7013]

Wow! I loved your video.

[@carlobenedicti]

excellent Video as always :)

[@lavina58]

New subscriber from CRO, perfect content 🙌🙌😊👍🙏🍀🇭🇷

[@PaulFisher]

This entire series is really cool! Both the old and the new systems are impressively engineered, and the crews at the mountain clearly put a lot of work into keeping them in beautiful shape. In the US (if not elsewhere) we would refer to the big wheels at each terminus of the ropeway as a “bullwheel”. So if you ever want a single “official” term for The Big Wheel, there you go! It’s such a fun word. Maybe you will enjoy it as much as I do, if you’re not already familiar.

[@sschueller]

Super video 👍

[@snaplash]

It's been about 40 years since I last went skiing. Back then, the chairs didn't detach and slow, which made getting off and away from the chair a bit frantic. I don't know if this lift type is still used today.

[@brianperkins6121]

Brakes, not Breaks in the text descriptions . otherwise great description of all the mechanical elements

[@markturner7229]

At 7:06 into the video the cable clamps are installed improperly. I was taught “never saddle a dead horse”

[@jimsheard5881]

Excellent video's, I'm familiar with 2 Doppelmayr grips (having been an operator for over 20 years on 2 installations, one installed in 1987 the other in 2023) something I find difficult to explain to people is the actual grip mechanism working (had considered trying to build a miniature grip they can play with). I found your videos of different grip systems fascinating but even when you point something out (including for an experienced Ropeway Operator) it's tricky to follow & fully understand what makes each one tick. From what I know of grips one side is fixed whilst the other side moves. A video explaination of this would be fantastic, particularly for different types of grips from different manufacturers & different eras. I'm not sure how you'd best do this, to understand the new lift I looked at a grip parked in maintenance, while the lift was running wasn't when I actually understood it.

[@sandro-here]

Thank you! I wish I could do animations like that. This weekend, I'm experimenting with animations with a friend, maybe in the future we can do like a joint venture!

[@monti3155]

Tolles Video! Ich hoffe es kommt ein Video über Eine Giovanola Gondelbahn bevor es zu spät ist.

[@brandywell44]

Before this most of what I knew about chairlifts was from the movie "Where Eagles Dare". Thankyou kalsan15

[@the_johnny_]

Ahhh Brown Boveri Company ☺

[@mech-E]

The lifts at my local mountain run diesel power for backup but they run at full speed and stay open even when the power is out

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

The brake stops the wheel, when you are tired you take a break.

[@sandro-here]

Oops! Thanks for reporting the typo! Too late to fix, unfortunately, parts 2 and 3 will be affected as well. Will keep in mind for the next project.

[@johnsmeith3913]

Question, why doesn’t the US have a domestic manufacturer of ski lifts. I know Yan was previously American, but it’s very odd that the worlds largest industrial power and one of the largest ski markets needs to source ski lifts from Austria and expensively ship all the components over to North America? I’m Canadian so it’s not a national pride issue, just curious Awesome video though, you’ve become one of my favourite channels on KZbin !

[@Dave_Sisson]

I'm Australian and have a webpage that covers the 500 ski lifts that have operated in my country, so I have investigated the history of lift makers across the world. In the United States there was a slow consolidation of lift makers. An example is that the American lift company Hall was taken over by Von Roll which in turn was taken over by Doppelmayr which then merged with Garaventa. A few American lift companies like Riblet avoided these mergers but didn't have the scale to compete when the more complex detachable chairlifts took over most of the market, so they closed down in 2003. Other American makers like Yan did build detachables, but they were not as good as the ones built by the two huge companies and there were safety issues, so Yan went broke in 1995. But both Doppelmayr-Garaventa and Leitner-Poma have factories in North America and build most components for North American lifts there.

[@johnsmeith3913]

@@Dave_Sisson Thanks for such a comprehensive answer man! Had no idea about all of the mergers, or that they built most of their American lifts in North America, but makes a lot of sense of why the skilift manufacturing industry is what it is today. Appreciate it!

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@johnsmeith3913 I only knew about different manufacturing locations because an Australian ski resort got the European and North American divisions of Leitner-Poma to bid against each other to build a chairlift and Falls Creek accepted the cheapest offer. But both Dopplemayr and Leitner-Poma have stopped that sort of thing and now we get lifts made in North America.

[@garypaisley]

Great video! And why not use Lamborghini diesel emergency tractor engines? Less reliable than John Deere?

[@davecardboard9567]

Some suggestions for question/topics for future videos... 1. Are the tyres used in these devices specially made for them or are they "off the shelf" road vehicle tyres...? 2. For use in ski resorts, are the tyres any kind of special compound to cope with the low temperature extremes (like snow/winter tyres for road vehicles?) 3. Finally, I once recall a rumour going around a resort that the overnight temperatures were so low, (less the -30C the year I was there) that the lift company kept the ropes running all night for fear they may freeze up. Does that really happen...?

[@Charlie_..]

To answer your last question, there are ropeways, which run the rope during some nights due to climatical conditions but the reason is to avoid ice formation on the rope…

[@Seilbahn77]

Very nice Videos do you do. I make the same thing on my KZbin channel. I want to see the people this very nice tecnic of ropways in the alps. I Filmd know 50 Ropway with technik.

[@Retikulum01]

even as a austrian i had a hard time understanding that accent.

[@sandro-here]

I can relate! Met some eastern Austrians and I was completely lost for the first few sentences 😀

[@jonathancook4022]

Hi Sandre, can you please contact me so I can share with you my own Ariel Ropeway knowledge and experience with you via email? Most of it is historical info.

[@sandro-here]

Sure, if you are ok with sharing your e-mail address publicly?