You are NOT Logged in.
Chat about all aspects of snowsports, backcountry, climbing and mountaineering.
Goto Thread: PreviousNext
Goto: Forum ListMessage ListNew TopicSearchLog In
Goto Page:  Previous12345Next
Current Page:4 of 5
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 14.52hrs on Thu 14 Feb 13
From the various photos there appears to be five chairs bunched up in a 2 and a 3.

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 15.02hrs on Thu 14 Feb 13
This report from the Strathy has a more detailed statement from The Lecht:

[www.strathspey-herald.co.uk]

Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 16.55hrs on Thu 14 Feb 13
As it's been mentioned above, people might be interested to read this report of the Whistler Quicksilver accident. The manufacturer (Lift Engineering aka Yan) had installed scores of lifts in N.america, and were an early installer of detachables.

[www.coloradoskihistory.com]



David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 10.51hrs on Fri 15 Feb 13
For perspective ... three chairlift derailment incidents (which are quite rare) in the USA in recent years. All seem to have involved gusts of wind. There was one three weeks ago at Smugglers' Notch in Vermont:
[www.fox44abc22yourvoice.com]

And in Sugarloaf, Vermont [correction: Maine], 27 December 2010:
[www.boston.com]

A week later, this detailed report on possible causes of the Sugarloaf incident appeared:
[www.pressherald.com]

Another report stressed the rarity of fatalities caused by chairlift failures:
[www.csmonitor.com]

Finally, a freak accident involving an airborne airbag derailed a chairlift at Kirkwood in California last April (2012):
[www.tahoedailytribune.com]



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 15.49hrs Sat 16 Feb 13 by David Goldsmith.

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 15.05hrs on Fri 15 Feb 13
A couple more chairlift derailments:

3 Jan 2008 above Grindelwald and Wengen, Switzerland
[en.wikinews.org]

May 2006 at Mornington Peninsula, Australia
[www.theage.com.au]

ros


Posts: 6
Joined: Nov 2007
Last Visited: 07:39
30th Nov 2013
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 19.59hrs on Fri 15 Feb 13
As someone who witnessed the derailment (though I was not on the lift), I can confirm that there seemed to be a lot of bouncing immediately prior to the derail, then even more bouncing afterwards. The chairs are higher in the photo, presumably due to unloading.

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 09.36hrs on Sun 17 Feb 13
Here's a third photo of the derailed Lecht chairlift, again showing the two groups of stacked chairs on the cable ...



Source: [www.thecourier.co.uk]

Two other photos are on page 3 of this thread.



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 09.41hrs Sun 17 Feb 13 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: Lecht chairlift - 3.jpg (103kB)  
David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 14.48hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
This 2008 chairlift incident in Australia seems to have at least one similarity to The Lecht, in that chairs collided with each other ...

[www.workplaceohs.com.au]

This chairlift at Ruapehu, New Zealand reportedly suffered "more than 100 derails" in five years, due to ice problems ...

[www.nbr.co.nz]

Only marginally related, but this article warns of the risks of chairlift derailment when ski bikes/bobs are carried ...

[coloradoskibikerskibikingblog.blogspot.co.uk]

teleshred


Posts: 55
Joined: Dec 2011
Last Visited: 13:22
10th Mar 2020
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 20.13hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
HSE inspection today. Chairs now have the go ahead to come off the wire.

cammyammy


Posts: 1362
Joined: Jul 2010
Last Visited: 21:43
8th Dec 2014
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 20.27hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
From the photos I've seen. The obvious reason for the actual derailment is that the tower/sheave assembly got so twisted that they no longer supported the rope. In other words, the damage to the tower looked catastrophic.

Just wondering what sort of time scale we are looking at for the chairlift to be operational again. I wonder if they might need an entire replacement tower?

teleshred


Posts: 55
Joined: Dec 2011
Last Visited: 13:22
10th Mar 2020
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 20.37hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
From speaking to people who were there they said the pylon was vibrating violently just prior to derailment which would mean that its probably been weakened and replacement is likely. They have three spare pylons at the garage so if necessary can assemble one of them. cammyammy, knowing Tosh, he'll be looking to have it spinning by Thursday!

ColinTheCop


Posts: 525
Joined: Mar 2007
Last Visited: 18:44
16th Jul 2019
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 21.44hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
teleshred Wrote:
knowing Tosh, he'll be looking to have it spinning by Thursday!


If they do I'll be taking the kids up at the weekend....



(and no, not for any possible compensation incase it fails again smiling smiley )

pe4u


Posts: 12
Joined: Mar 2011
Last Visited: 10:42
29th Feb 2020
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 22.50hrs on Mon 18 Feb 13
Seeing the HSE guys up the tower today - would say that the running gear on the up side of the tower is shot - from the grouse Poma tower does Look slightly out of line - word at the Lecht today was that once the HSE boys and girl have gone they will dismantle - so it may be Friday before its spinning again!

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 12.17hrs on Wed 20 Feb 13
No sign of chair removal today.



I'm not sure if these are exactly the right questions, but here goes ...

Do we have a clearer idea of whether the derail caused the first chair to tangle with the tower mechanism?

Did the derail result from some fault on the tower?

Or did the derail itself cause the damage to the tower?

Did the cable derail because of a gust of wind or someone swinging/bouncing a chair?



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 12.20hrs Wed 20 Feb 13 by David Goldsmith.

Attachments: Lecht chairlift.JPG (59kB)  
geeo


Posts: 426
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 20:04
7th Feb 2019
Re: Chairlift derails
Date Posted: 12.29hrs on Wed 20 Feb 13
why dont you just wait 5 mins and let the relevant people do their jobs then we will get those answers, or do you prefer to stoke idle internet speculation based on a couple of webcam pics and hearsay.



Goto Page:  Previous12345Next
Current Page:4 of 5
Your Name: 
Your Email: 
Subject: