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56-490: The 1000 metre long Poma lift was installed in 1981. It was purchased second hand from Whakapapa Ski Field and installed by volunteers. All the holes for the towers were dug by hand. The facilities are run by the Amuri Ski Club Inc, a volunteer non-profit sports club for locals and visitors, with all proceeds from receipts being put back into upgrading facilities each year. The ski field was established in 1957. A groomer

112-477: A Performance terminal with an Alpha drive unit at the far end. These early chairlifts also had vault drives which were located under the Performance terminal. The old (Colorado Superchair) at Breckenridge Ski Resort , and the (American Flyer) at Copper Mountain are two great examples of Performance terminals with vault drives. Very few lifts exist with this style to this day. Later on, the Performance drive terminal

168-408: A few minutes made the access road too dangerous to descend. They spent the night in relative comfort and all descended safely the next morning. Such rapidly changing conditions are typical of the weather on New Zealand mountains. Again on Saturday July 26, 2008, skiers and staff were trapped on the mountain overnight when a fast approaching storm caused the skifield to be closed at 10:30 am and made

224-487: A grip failure stacked two chairs together at Sierra-at-Tahoe , killing a 9-year-old boy. Finally, in 1995, 4 chairs plummeted from Whistler Blackcomb's Quicksilver lift while it was operating. A chair slipped from the steepest part of the lift, creating a domino effect involving 3 others. All four chairs fell 75 feet upon crashing into the sheaves on the nearest tower, killing 2 riders and injuring 8. Yan filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and has not operated since. Leitner-Poma

280-414: A high speed quad, DT-106 on a high speed six pack, or DT-108 on an eight-passenger gondola. The Torsion grip is still made today as Doppelmayr (North America) 's primary grip option. Unlike Poma 's grips, Doppelmayr grips are double position grips. When the chair enters a terminal, the angled roller is pushed down by a metal strip, which opens a grip jaw. The jaw remains open until the chair reattaches to

336-951: A peak height of 12,434 feet (3,790 m). CTEC built their first detachable in 1989 at Solitude Mountain Resort (named the Eagle express). In building this lift they had a rare partnership with Von Roll for their detachable technology. This also happened to be the first detachable quad in Utah. From 1990 on they partnered with Garaventa for their detachable technology before they merged in 1992. They have built detachable lifts at many resorts, such as Grand Targhee, Stevens Pass, Deer Valley, Park City, Snowbird, Alta, Palisades Tahoe, Stratton, and Attitash. They constructed lifts until 2002 when they merged with Doppelmayr. Some Garaventa designs are used to this day. Yan Lift , known in its later years as Lift Engineering, built 31 high speed quads between 1987 and 1994, mostly in

392-465: A powerful spring-loaded cable grip which detaches at terminals, allowing the chair to slow considerably for convenient loading and unloading at a typical speed of 200 ft/min (2 mph, 4 km/h, 1 m/s), a speed slower even than fixed-grip bunny chairlifts . They are now commonplace at all but the smallest of ski resorts . Some are installed at tourist attractions as well as for urban transportation. Another advantage of detaching chairs

448-443: A retractable acrylic glass dome to protect passengers from weather. An alternative system for reconciling slow boarding speeds with fast rope speeds is the carpet lift : the chairs move at full speed even through the terminal. Boarding passengers are progressively accelerated on a system of conveyor belts of carpet-like material until nearly matching the chair speed. On Sunday, 26 December 2004, Lech am Arlberg and Schröcken in

504-491: A ski area or resort is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Canterbury Region -related geography article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Whakapapa skifield Whakapapa skifield is a commercial skifield on the northern side of Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park , New Zealand. It is one of three skifields on the mountain, the others being Turoa , which

560-441: A variety of sizes, carrying from 1 to 8 passengers. All chairs on a given chairlift usually have the same capacity. Slang terms for the different sizes include "single", "double", "triple", "quad", "six pack", and "eight". Detachable chairlifts may also be described as "high speed" or "express", which results in terms such as "high speed six pack" and "express quad". Some detachable chairlifts have so-called bubble chairs , which add

616-456: Is a tubing park called 'the sliding zone'. It is a large area dedicated to tubing, and within walking distance from the base area. Offered in the summer months of the year, there is an option to view the volcanic crater lake at the top of the mountain. Visitors take a chairlift ride up to 2020m, from which a guide takes visitors on a 6-hour walk around the lake. Detachable chairlift A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift

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672-652: Is a Swiss maker of chairlifts and gondolas. While they are an important player in the European ski lift market, only a few of their lifts have been installed in Asia and South America. Sadly, there are currently no Bartholet detachable chairlifts in the United States. French MND has a history of Alpine manufacturing. The company formerly partnered with Bartholet for their grip technology. With this technology having been developed in Europe,

728-491: Is a feature of Whakapapa village . The first people to ski the slopes of Ruapehu were Bill Mead and Bernard Drake who purchased a pair of skis from Europe in 1913 and later formed the Ruapehu Ski Club. Bill Salt, Mead, Drake and others helped to then build the first hut on the skifield in 1923, a small corrugated iron shack which still stands to this day. Skiing slowly progressed on the skifield, hindered by World War 2 with

784-403: Is a large beginner's area at Whakapapa separated from the rest of the skifield in its own little valley and is considered one of the best in the country. The area has a cafe and ski hire facility, there is also a double chair lift, and 4 magic carpet lifts including a dedicated snow sledding area. Access to Happy Valley is by way of two glass-enclosed 26 person elevators which travel 22m down into

840-430: Is a type of passenger aerial lift , which, like a fixed-grip chairlift , consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope (called a haul rope ) that is strung between two (or more) terminals over intermediate towers. In contrast to the fixed-grip version, the chairs of a detachable chair lift detach from the haul rope for loading and unloading. The significance of detachable chairlift technology

896-631: Is also known for building some very unusual lifts, mostly at Breckenridge Ski Resort , which include North America's only double loading chairlift (Quicksilver Super6), the first high speed lift in Colorado with a midway load (Peak 8 SuperConnect), and the highest lift in North America (Imperial Express SuperChair) at 12,840 feet. It also built the new highest high speed six pack as of 2022 in North America (Lenawee Mountain Express), located at Arapahoe Basin , with

952-614: Is considerably cooler year-round with an average annual temperature of 5.5 °C. Maximum temperatures vary from 16.6 °C in February to 3.6 °C in July. Minimum temperatures range from 5.2 °C in February to -3.1 °C in July. The climate is classified as Cfc, or sub-polar oceanic. The driest month is February, with 196 mm of precipitation, and the wettest month is July, with 399 mm of precipitation. Annually, 3733 mm of precipitation falls on Iwikau. Across from Happy Valley

1008-549: Is now classified as a CLD-260 terminal. These and the older terminals were the only types of terminals to use chains instead of tires for contours. In 1989, the old design was officially retired with the addition of the Avanti high speed quad at Vail, and a new design, called the UNI , was introduced. This design was utilized from 1989 to the last year of the DS-104 grip in 1994. In 1992, the design

1064-419: Is on Ruapehu's south-western slopes and Tukino on the eastern slopes. The ski season is generally from late June to late October, depending on snow and weather conditions. The terrain at Whakapapa Skifield is divided up as 25% beginner, 50% intermediate and 25% advanced. Access to the skifield is by Bruce Road, a two-lane, 6 km (3.7-mile) sealed road. Limited accommodation and refreshments are available at

1120-406: Is primarily the speed and capacity. Detachable chairlifts move far faster than their fixed-grip brethren, averaging 1,000 feet per minute (11.3 mph, 18 km/h, 5.08 m/s) versus a typical fixed-grip speed of 500 ft/min (5.6 mph, 9 km/h, 2.54 m/s). Because the cable moves faster than most passengers could safely disembark and load, each chair is connected to the cable by

1176-471: Is the ability to remove chairs during severe weather in order to reduce stress on the rope and towers. Furthermore, operating the unladen rope during extreme weather is effective at preventing—or greatly reducing—ice and snow accumulation on the sheaves and rope. This saves considerable time, expense and hazard when opening the chair for operation, which would otherwise require workers to climb each tower and chip away ice and shovel snow. Chairlifts are made in

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1232-413: Is the present day version of Poma , as joint venture in the United States. In Europe, Poma and Leitner operate as separate ventures. They no longer make these types of detachable products: Arceaux Carrier, Arceaux version 2 Carrier, Performance Terminal, Challenger Terminal, Competition Terminal, Leitner Grip, Omega Terminal, and Omega grip. Now, Leitner-Poma has created an improved Omega carrier, along with

1288-679: Is used throughout the season which usually runs from the end of June until about mid September each year. There is a natural terrain park used by both skiers and snowboarders. The Hanmer Springs Ski Area was the first ski field to open in early June 2021 after a big snowfall brought snow to the field. Daily lessons are available and ski hire can be obtained from both the mountain and the village. A daily shuttle runs for those who are not confident on an alpine road, chains must be carried at all times and fitted when directed. 42°26′23″S 172°44′07″E  /  42.4398°S 172.7352°E  / -42.4398; 172.7352 This article about

1344-621: The COVID-19 pandemic . Efforts to secure additional funds from investors or the New Zealand government initially failed. However, in December 2022, the government provided a $ 6 million loan to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, to help ensure that both Ruapehu skifields could operate in winter 2023. This was in addition to $ 15 million provided in 2018 from the Provincial Growth Fund. In mid-March 2024,

1400-600: The "Adirondack Express", a high-speed triple, the only lift of its kind in the Eastern US, at Gore Mountain , NY in 1984. Then Poma built the first chairlift that went 1,100 feet per minute, the Green Mountain Express, at Sugarbush Resort , VT in 1990. The detachable chairlift didn't start with a chairlift, rather, it started with the Platter lift in 1908, as the sticks left the cable and attached when someone loaded onto

1456-427: The (Quicksilver Superchair's) installation. Although hard to prove, the earliest known Poma quads are from circa 1985, such as the (Coney Glade) at Snowmass , the (Liberator Express) at Mission Ridge (installed in 2005, formally known as (Summit Express), ran at Winter Park Resort from 1985 to 2005), and others. Many of the original high speed quads they built were known as Alpha Evolution lifts, because they utilized

1512-600: The 70s many of the rope tows were phased out for more comfortable poma lifts and eventually more chairlifts in the late 70s. The top half of the No.2 Chairlift was moved to run from the base of the Rockgarden, west to the Downhill Ski Club and a two seater chair replaced the Rockgarden single chair. The late 70s and early 80s signalled a period of fast growth for the ski area with snow groomers purchased in 1977, A double chairlift up

1568-637: The Bregenzerwald, became the first chairlifts to have heated seats when five Doppelmayr detachable chairlifts offer skiers the added luxury of a warm seat on the uphill trip. Doppelmayr (North America) built the first detachable quad chair in the world, the Quicksilver SuperChair, in 1981 at Breckenridge, CO. This chair was later replaced by the Quicksilver Super6, a detachable six person chairlift, by Poma in 1999. Von Roll Habegger installed

1624-512: The Government agreed to a final NZ$ 7 million bail out of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts to allow the 2024 ski season to proceed at Whakapapa. In addition, the Government agreed to provide NZ$ 3.05 million in equity and loan funding to enable the sale of the adjacent Tūroa skifield . Ruapehu accommodation and ski-hire business owner Sam Clarkson criticised the bailout as wasteful, stating that the company lacked people who knew how to run skifields. Happy Valley

1680-570: The No.2 T-Bar moved up the mountain to become the current Far West T-Bar and the first snowmaking system installed in Happy Valley in 1990. In 1995, skiers were evacuated from the skifield when a small volcanic eruption occurred at the crater lake, ejecting rocks, ash and steam. In 2002 the snowmaking was expanded to cover the Rockgarden and in 2005 a pump station was built under the Waterfall Express lower terminal to facilitate snowmaking all

1736-533: The Torsion grip today. Doppelmayr in the U.S. is starting to discontinue the Garaventa carriers, and replacing them with Doppelmayr EJ carriers. Doppelmayr is known for building the first high speed quad, building the first 8-passenger gondola at Steamboat Ski Resort and having a good relationship with Big Sky Resort , Vail Ski Resort , Beaver Creek Resort , Steamboat Ski Resort , and many other ski resorts. Bartholet

Hanmer Springs Ski Area - Misplaced Pages Continue

1792-602: The U.S. to have rectangular tower heads. The Orient Express was also the first Doppelmayr chairlift in the U.S. to have 800 horsepower. The original grip was slightly modified later before the Vail quads were built. Known as the Spring Series, these grips were known as DS-104 grips on high speed quads and DS-108s on eight passenger gondolas. In 1995, a newer grip was introduced called the Torsion series . Torsion grips were called DT-104 if on

1848-462: The United States and Canada. The detachable grips were of an unusual design, in which a steel bar with V-shaped troughs sat atop the haul rope and were held in place by tensioning assembly with rubber springs. These grips relied more on gravity and friction than raw grip force, and were much weaker than other designs. The grips were notorious for slipping, and often required realignment. Yan stopped building detachables after two fatal accidents. In 1993,

1904-425: The cable upon departing the terminal. Grip clamping force is measured just prior to the double position grips reattaching to the haul rope while a carrier (chair) is exiting the terminal, in contrast to Poma's grips, in which grip force can be measured as the grip travels through the contour. Insufficient grip force triggers an alarm and brings the lift to a halt before the carrier reaches the first breakover tower after

1960-618: The canyon. There is a new lift systems that has been proposed. The Knoll ridge Express will replace the Knoll Ridge T-Bar and possible the Valley T-Bar as well, starting from the top of the Rangatira Express and ending in a similar spot to where the Knoll Ridge T-Bar's top terminal is. If the plan goes ahead it will be a six seater with a top speed of 5 meters per second and the ability to transport 3,200 people per hour. A new gondola

2016-520: The company installed their first U.S. system at Waterville Valley New Hampshire . The lift is called the Tecumseh Express , and is a detachable six-person bubble chairlift. In late 2023, Bartholet cancelled its MND partnership when it was purchased by HTI Group (the parent company of Poma, Leitner, Leitner Poma of America and many others). In April of 2024 MND revealed its Orizon line. A new model of Terminals, Grips and carriers. The carriers include

2072-519: The company purchase the license from Haensli, installing the first chairlift in New Zealand in 1954. This chairlift was built by GMD Müller and was a single seater Diesel-Electric driven lift capable of taking 350 people an hour up to Hut Flat. Sir Edmund Hillary officially opened the chairlift on August 1, 1954. A year later the Staircase T-Bar extended up the Staircase slopes until it was removed in

2128-410: The entry to the skifield, and elsewhere on the mountain. Alpine huts are provided for trampers and climbers. Ruapehu's two skifields are collectively the largest ski resort in New Zealand. Turoa has a slightly longer season, generally opening a week before Whakapapa and closing early November. Both are operated by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts. Chateau Tongariro , which has appeared on several New Zealand stamps,

2184-406: The grip travels through the contour, and for the lift to come to a stop before the grip is reattached to the haul rope if insufficient grip force is detected. Unlike Doppelmayr lifts that check grip force while a grip and carrier are leaving the terminal, most Poma detachable lifts are not built to operate in reverse because a grip force failed grip can be brought to a halt within the terminal. Poma

2240-666: The late 1990s. Following on from the success, the No.2 Chairlift was opened in May 1956 extending from Hut Flat to the top of Knoll Ridge. This lift was destroyed by an ice storm a week later due to the extreme build-up of rime ice - common in Ruapehu's maritime climate. Over the following years more ski companies opened up and Ski Enterprises Ltd opened a rope tow then a T-Bar on the National Downhill slopes while Happy Ski Valley Ltd commenced operations of rope tows going up Meads Wall. During

2296-505: The loop road. Many of these clubs have been around for over 50 years and have anywhere between 200-1000 members. The clubs often have either a custodian who is in charge of coordinating the lodge during the winter season and cooking meals, while others operate on a member system where they are in charge of cooking meals or providing personal food. Accommodation is provided in combined bunkroom style and on average 32 beds per club. Being more than 400 metres higher than Whakapapa Village, Iwikau

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2352-578: The new LPA grip, and a new version of the Omega terminal. Leitner-Poma has good relationships with Breckenridge Ski Resort , Vail Ski Resort , Winter Park Resort , Snowmass , Aspen Mountain , Buttermilk , Aspen Highlands , Okemo , Mount Snow , Sugarbush Resort and many other ski resorts. Doppelmayr (North America) , formally known as Doppelmayr CTEC is the merger of CTEC, Garaventa, and Doppelmayr globally. They continue to make Garaventa and Dopplemayr Carriers, their UNI-GS/UNI-G (Europe) terminals, and

2408-505: The new Omega T-Grip came out and a new terminal known as the Omega was introduced for it. It was replaced by a newer variant that mainly modified the windows on the ends in 2003. Unlike Doppelmayr, the Poma grips are single position. In such method, they are pressed down, which opens the jaws to detach the chair, and then the jaws close and the spring is released. The process is reversed for attachment. This design allows grip force to be measured as

2464-679: The old chalet. In 2016 the Rangatira Express built by Leitner Poma replaced the Centennial and Rockgarden chairs and the second hand Delta Quad replaced the Waterfall T-Bar. In 2019, after a NZD $ 15m grant from the government Provincial Growth Fund the Sky Waka Gondola was built from the Top of the Bruce up to Knoll Ridge. In the process of doing this, the Waterfall Express which had begun to show its age

2520-468: The road expanded in the 1930s to accommodate more traffic. Some small rope tows were built before the first ski lifts, the first being installed in 1938 at Scoria Flat by the Tourist Department and a further 5-6 more over the following years. By 1951 skiing had become quite popular and Walter Haensli was granted a license to operate a ski lift at Whakapapa. In 1953 Ruapehu Alpine Lifts was formed and

2576-469: The road too dangerous for cars without chains or 4WD to leave the area. By 3pm there were still over 100 cars in the Whakapapa car park and those who had not been able to leave by that point were told to settle in for the night. All cars were able to leave safely the next morning. There are a total of 47 Ski Clubs located between the Top of the Bruce and Hut Flat, with the majority of them being located around

2632-603: The staircase slopes and the first T-Bar on the upper mountain. 1981, 1982 and 1983 saw the installation of the Te Heuheu Valley T-Bar, Knoll Ridge T-Bar and the National Downhill No.2 T-Bar and Double Chairlift. In 1987 the Staircase double chair was moved down to serve the Rockgarden slopes and New Zealand's first High Speed Detachable Quad was installed by Doppelmayr and named the Waterfall Express. The late 80s saw RAL purchase Happy Ski Valley and their license,

2688-702: The stick. A detachable two person chairlift called White Lady was installed in Cairngorm Mountain, Scotland in 1961. In 1981, the first ever high speed detachable quad in the world was installed, the Doppelmayr-built Quicksilver SuperChair at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado . This lift was relocated in 1999 to the Owl's Head Ski area in Quebec as "Le Lac", and was dismantled in 2019 after 38 seasons in two countries. This first detachable chairlift

2744-519: The terminal. Because of this design, most Doppelmayr detachable lifts are designed to allow operation in reverse. This allows a grip force-alarmed grip and carrier to be backed into the terminal for inspection or removal. The original terminals on the Quicksilver Quad were all completely enclosed, but in 1985, in time for the Vail Ski Resort high speed quads, the terminal design changed to what

2800-462: The way up the staircase slopes to the base of the Waterfall T-Bar. On 13 February 2009 arson destroyed two buildings at the skifield: the main chalet and an implement shed containing three snow groomers. The damage was estimated at $ 11 to 12.5 million. The main chalet, the Knoll Ridge Cafe was replaced by a new, more modern, facility slightly lower down the mountain with less visual impact than

2856-418: The years, including a party of soldiers undergoing winter survival training in 1990. The same storm also trapped a Japanese tourist when the weather unexpectedly closed in on him, but he built a snow cave and sheltered in it until he was rescued days later. On July 5, 2003, about 350 skiers and 70 skifield staff were trapped on the mountain overnight at Top o'the Bruce when a sudden snow storm blew up and within

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2912-640: Was changed slightly mainly in the entry funnels area. With the introduction of the Torsion series came the UNI-M terminal, which underwent a number of minor cosmetic changes between 1995 and 2002. Currently, two options are offered, the UNI-G terminal, and the UNI-GS terminal, which can be distinguished through the appearance of the end windows. The first UNI-GS chairlift, Panorama, debuted in 2003 at Gunstock Mountain Resort . Poma entered this market within two to three years of

2968-504: Was followed by a Doppelmayr detachable triple chair at Mt Bachelor in Oregon in 1983 and two detachable quads at Mt Buller , Victoria, Australia in 1984. Until 1985, Quicksilver was also the only detachable quad in Colorado when Vail Ski Resort installed four Doppelmayr high speed quads. In 1988, Vail Ski Resort opened up Orient Express Lift #21, which was the first Doppelmayr chairlift in

3024-499: Was installed for the 2019 season, called the Sky Waka, that can transport over 3000 people an hour from the base area at an elevation of 1630m to the Knoll Ridge Cafe at 2020m to provide access to the upper mountain. Weather conditions can be changeable over the day, and mountain visitors are advised to be prepared and carry basic survival equipment. Although severe weather is unusual and generally forecast, it has claimed several lives over

3080-485: Was modified to house the bullwheel machinery inside the main terminal structure itself, eliminating the need to run the cable through the terminal. Poma was also slower at introducing tire contours over chains, and it wasn't until 1992 that tire contours were used by the company with the introduction of the Challenger terminal. This terminal would undergo changes with the windows before officially retired in 1998. At that time,

3136-649: Was removed to make way from the new gondola, completing over 100,000 hours of run time in its 32 year lifespan. In 2022 following a poor snow season attributed largely to climate change , Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the parent company of both Whakapapa and Turoa skifields, entered voluntary administration in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy . The company is a not-for-profit business that was established by members of ski clubs in 1953. In August 2022, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts laid off 130 workers and its total debt climbed to over NZ$ 30 million. The financial situation of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts deteriorated rapidly following disruptions from

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