Hybrid lift
Encyclopedia
Ski lift
The term ski lift generally refers to any transport device that carries skiers up a hill. A ski lift may fall into one of the following three main classes:-Lift systems and networks:...
that combines the elements of a chairlift
Chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
and a gondola
Gondola
The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times the iconic boats still have a role in public transport in...
. First introduced by Poma
Poma
Poma, also known as Pomagalski S.A. is a French company, specialising in construction of cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed more than 7800 devices on five continents,...
, who refers to them as Telemix, they have since been copied by most lift manufacturers who refer to them by a variety of names; Doppelmayr
Doppelmayr
The Doppelmayr Garaventa Group is an Austrian-Swiss company that manufactures chairlifts, cable cars, gondolas, surface tows for ski and amusement parks as well as urban people movers and material handling systems. To date, Doppelmayr and Garaventa have produced over 13,700 installations in 78...
refers to them as combined installations, while the more generic terms chondola and telecombi are also common.
Both chairs and gondolas have advantages for lift operations.
Gondolas are heavier and have lower wind restrictions, but offer protection from the elements and are particularly useful in rain or very cold conditions. They can also be used during the summer for walk-on guests, cyclists or wheelchairs, and in the winter for snowshoers. In the winter, gondolas require skiers and snowboarders to remove their equipment and walk into the cabin, which can slow the speed of operation at the ends of the lift and requires the riders to stand for the duration of the lift. Chairs are lighter and can be operated in higher winds, while also generally being more comfortable and easier to board for skiers.
A hybrid lift allows cabins and chairs to be used on the same lift line, changing them as the rider load, season and weather conditions demand. To allow safe loading and unloading, stations have separate areas for the different carrier types, resembling a gondola station followed by a chairlift station, or vice versa. The overall length of the boarding area can be reduced by folding the station so that the gondolas are loaded on the "downhill" side of the ends of the lift, and the chairs on the uphill side. On most hybrid lifts, there will usually be more chairs from cabins, i.e., Sunday River (Maine)'s Chondola has 64 chairs and 16 cabins, with four chairs in between each cabin.
Hybrid lifts offer year-round versatility, increasingly important as ski resorts add summertime activities like downhill cycling
Downhill cycling
Downhill biking is a gravity-assisted time trial mountain biking event. Riders race against the clock, usually starting at intervals of 30 seconds , on courses which typically take two to five minutes to complete. Riders come from all around the world. Riders are timed with equipment similar to...
and nature hiking trails.
Sweden
Sweden's first hybrid lift was installed in Åre ski resortÅre (ski area)
Åre is an alpine ski area in Sweden, founded in 1909. It is located in Åre Municipality, Jämtland, just outside and above the village of Åre, approximately 80 km from the city of Östersund. The ski lift system is on the Åreskutan mountain, at an elevation of 1420 meters ; its absolute summit...
in Åre
Åre
Åre is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,260 inhabitants in 2005. It is however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the municipal industry is based on tourism, most notably the downhill...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The new hybrid lift is was named 'VM 8:an' and replace the former four passenger chair lift 'Olympialiften'. The lift was installed by Poma in 2006 and consist of 16 eight passenger gondola cabin, and 68 eight passenger chairs.
France
In France, Poma has installed at least seven hybrid lifts, and Doppelmayr three. One being the "Mont Rond", which consist of one eight passenger gondola cabin, and three six passenger chairs. "Le Grand Cerf" in Les 7 Laux, France consists of a six passenger chair and an eight passenger gondola.Switzerland
In VerbierVerbier
Verbier is a village located in southwestern Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is one of the largest holiday resort and ski areas in the Swiss Alps, is recognized as one of the premiere "off-piste" locations in the world...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, lift manufacturer Leitner Ropeways
Leitner Group
Leitner Group is an Italian conglomerate, based in the province of South Tyrol, that owns and runs several industrial and equipment companies....
installed a hybrid lift, "La Chaux Express", in 2005. The 60 cabins, manufactured by CWA, each hold 8 passengers whilst the 20 chairlifts can each hold up to 6. The result is a maximum capacity of 1950 to 2400 persons per hour. The lift also has multiple stations; the valley station at 2200m, the middle at 2484m which angles the route of the lift, allowing the second lower station at 2260m. The middle station is most commonly disembarked during the ski season as it lies in the 'middle' of the slopes. This provides a connection for skiers not willing to ascend entirely, for instance, to the Col des Gentianes (2950m).
United States
Most recently, the Sunday River Resort has built one of these lifts, dubbing it the chondola. This particular lift consist of four six-passenger chairs, followed by one eight-passenger gondola cabin, four more chairs, another cabin, and so on.Chondolas also exist at Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
(hybrid between a high speed six chair and a high speed eight person gondola) and at Telluride Ski Resort
Telluride Ski Resort
Telluride Ski Resort is a ski resort located in Mountain Village, Colorado right next to Telluride.The resort was founded by Joseph T. Zoline who hoped to build a "world class resort" from scratch. Telluride's remoteness, Zoline acknowledged, is also what makes the resort special. Weekend warrior...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
(hybrid between a high speed quad chair and a four person gondola).
Also in the United States are several lifts that can be converted as needed into gondola operations, e.g., Winter Park Resort
Winter Park Resort
Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in Winter Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. Located just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about an hour and a half's drive from Denver, Colorado....
in Colorado has a high speed quad that can run gondola cabins at night. The main lift at Whitefish Mountain Resort
Whitefish Mountain Resort
Whitefish Mountain Resort is a ski resort located at The Big Mountain in northwestern Montana, located west of Glacier National Park in the Flathead National Forest...
in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
runs with all chairs in the winter but runs with chairs and cabins during the summer. Wildcat ski area in New Hampshire converts their quad chair to a gondola during the summer months.
Austria
The "Sun Jet" was finished in 2008 on the mountain of HochwurzenHochwurzen
Hochwurzen is a ski area located in Austria. It is part of the Schladminger 4-Berge-Schaukel, which are four inter-connected mountains....
, Schladming
Schladming
Schladming is a small mining town in the Austrian state of Styria, that is now very popular with tourists. It has become a large ski resort and has held various skiing competitions recently. The shopping area has lots of cafes, restaurant and a variety of shops and caters well for tourists.As of...
.
Australia
Australia has two ski lifts that mix gondolas and chairs. The Horse Hill Express at Mount Buller in the state of Victoria was the first, built in 1986. It has 106 chairs and 20 gondolas. The second was the 1860 metre long Crackenback (since renamed Kosciusko Express), built in 1990 at ThredboThredbo, New South Wales
Thredbo Village and ski resort is in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, and a part of the Snowy River Shire.Thredbo is about 500 kilometres south of Sydney, accessible by the Alpine Way via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne...
ski resort in New South Wales. Both the hybrid ski lifts in Australia are Doppelmayrs.
External links
See also
- Ski liftSki liftThe term ski lift generally refers to any transport device that carries skiers up a hill. A ski lift may fall into one of the following three main classes:-Lift systems and networks:...
s - List of aerial lift manufacturers