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Lift Basics
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Lift Basics
The Riblet Tramway Company designs, manufactures, and installs
Double, Triple, and Quad fixed-grip chairlifts. Fixed grip chairlifts have some simple
relationships between capacity, chair interval, chair spacing, speed, and chair type:
Chair interval is dependent only upon the number of passengers per
chair and the capacity. For a given capacity and chair interval, a slower lift simply has
the chairs more closely spaced.
The following table outlines some of the typical design parameters
for a fixed-grip chairlift.
| |
Double |
Triple |
Quad |
| Capacity, ski and snowboard, pass. per hour: |
800 - 1200 (1440*) |
1200 - 1800 |
1600 - 2400 |
| Capacity, foot passengers and tourists: |
300 - 1200 |
600 - 1200 |
1000 - 1800 |
| Speed, ski, snowboard novice, ft./min, (m./sec.) |
250 - 400 (1.3 - 2.0) |
250 - 375 (1.3 - 1.9) |
250 - 375 (1.3-1.9) |
| Speed, ski, snowboard, experienced: |
450 - 500 (2.3 - 2.5) |
400 - 475 (2.0 - 2.4) |
400 - 450 (2.0 -2.3) |
| Speed, foot pass. & tourists, ft./min, (m./sec.) |
200 - 250 (1.0 - 1.3) |
200 - 250 (1.0 - 1.3) |
200 - 250 (1.0 - 1.3) |
* 1440 pph. results in a chair interval of 5.0 seconds, suitable for
experts only.
Given the above, here are some things to consider in choosing a new
Riblet chairlift:
- For a given capacity, speed and chair type have little effect on
power requirements.
- For a given capacity, a slower lift is more expensive than a faster
one (more chairs and towers).
- Decreasing speed and increasing chair interval make for easier
loading and unloading.
- For a given capacity, a slower lift will have more passengers on the
lift at a given time, a possible advantage for some trail systems.
- Consider slower speed for shorter hills.
- A high capacity lift designed for skiers and snowboarders may be
slowed to load and unload foot passengers.
- If long-term reduced speed operation is planned, provisions should be
made in initial design.
- If downhill capacity is required, provisions should be made in
initial design.
- Riblet offers restraint bars for chairs as standard in Canada and in
those states which require them for skiers and snowboarders, and as standard on lifts
designed for foot passengers. Restraint bars are offered as an option on all other Riblet
chairlifts, and are available for retrofit to existing lifts.
Click here for notes to help you to make a profile survey for a chairlift (use your
browser's "Back" button to return to this page). This document is in
".pdf" format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat reader, get it free here:
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