The country's first double-loading six-passenger lift is replacing the world's first high-speed quad on Peak 9.

From an article in SAM, November 1999
By Jim Felton, communications manager, with Jon Mauch, lift manager at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado.

After three years of monitoring user patterns and analyzing the growing demands skiers placed on the aging Quicksilver Super Chair at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colo., resort managers decided to replace it with the country's first double-loading six-passenger lift. The $4 million Poma-designed lift, dubbed the "Quicksilver Super6," replaces the world's first high-speed quad, introduced in 1981, at the base of Peak 9.

Though it has a design capacity of 4,200 pph, the double-loading six-pack is expected to operate at 3,600 pph during its inaugural season and becomes the highest-capacity chairlift in the country. The key to the increased capacity is a "switch rail" allowing empty chairs coming into the bottom terminal to leave the cable on alternating paths to pick up groups of riders in two separate, side-by-side loading areas. Once loaded, the dual queues of chairs are lined up and then fed back onto the cable in the order they entered the terminal to take skiers up the mountain.

"The lift can disperse people from the highest concentration of lodging to a point on the mountain that is great not only for beginners and ski school, but for helping more advanced skiers get to Peaks 7, 8 and 10," says Jon Mauch, lift manager at Breckenridge, who directed the new lift's installation.

Mauch says he "imported" the technology from the immense Val Thorens ski resort in France, where four such lifts serve millions of skiers each winter in the immense Trois Valleés region. He was one of several Vail Resorts officials who made a trip to France last season to investigate Poma's engineering firsthand. He said that while the technology is certainly a marvel, the most impressive thing about the double-loading system (DLS) at Val Thorens is its ability move vast numbers of people while keeping the loading experience stress-free. He saw that the DLS would translate perfectly to Breckenridge's high-traffic Peak 9 base area.
"This gives us the capability to take the next step in increasing capacity and keeps the human aspect comfortable." Mauch says.

How it all works
"The double-loading lift works by dividing the chairs as they arrive at the lower terminal into two separate loading zones positioned side by side," says Mauch. The two queues of chairs are swung on two separate ellipses, the outside queue swinging wide so two rows of skiers, six abreast can load in comfort. Loading takes place at 90 degrees to the direction of the lift going up the mountain and the loaded chairs then continue to turn around the back of the terminal before converging and lining up before being reattached to the haul rope. "Separating them allows for twice the normal loading interval," says Mauch. This also means the chairs can be paired close together because the outside chair will not interfere with the inside loading interval."

Mauch points out that, while true double loading intervals occur in the outside load queue, the inside loading interval is 1.5 seconds slower because the outside chair has to move a greater distance and passes by its paired inside chair. In order to pair the chairs, the contour conveyance tires are powered by seven gear motors controlled by individual variable frequency drives. This allows for changing the speeds of the chairs throughout the contours all while the haul rope moves at a constant speed.

During an anti-collision stop or during an emergency stop the conveyance tires will stop more quickly than the rest of the lift system, meaning greater control of the closely spaced paired chairs is required. "In any such event, this means the chairs in the loading contour area will become 'mis-spaced' or bunched," Mauch explains. "When the lift receives a start command, those chairs will first be re-ordered in their proper spacing by the gear motors before the lift begins to move."

"The design team at Poma of America has done a phenomenal job of developing this system."

One of the added benefits of the new system is the interval between chairs on the loading platform, according to Mauch. He says the intervals will be about 12 seconds, slightly more than double the interval on standard high-speed quads, a side effect that should be most appreciated by the 400 to 500 never-ever skiers riding the new lift daily.

Call (970 241-4442) or e-mail info@poa.pomagroup.com for more information on this or other lift systems.