ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Weird that this happened 2 days ago but I'm only hearing about it now... Heavenly is run by Vail, not Boyne as might be expected for a lift failure. SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A chair fell from Heavenly Mountain Resort's North Bowl chairlift today, resulting in 65 people being stranded for two hours before being evacuated from the lift. Just before 11 a.m. on January 3, 2016, the unoccupied chair fell off the cable and the lift was immediately shut down. Lara Miller of South Lake Tahoe was among those stranded on the chairlift. She said the resort's ski patrol checked on the stranded skiers during the two hour ordeal. South Tahoe Now made a call to Heavenly's public relations team at 11:15 a.m. to check on the incident. At that time they said, "the mountain operations crew is looking into the lift issue." There have been no reported injuries. Miller was near Tower #7 on the North Bowl lift, and South Lake Tahoe local Matthew Collins was at Tower #23. They were communicating with themselves, and others, on Facebook as they were waiting for the lift to move. This is a fixed grip triple chair on the Nevada side of the South Shore resort near the Boulder Lodge. Their maintenance team will be evaluating what caused the chair to fall and will keep the lift out of service until it can be determined to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Will be interesting to hear the results of the investigation. Hope i live long enough. Any word on the lift manufacturer ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 (edited) According to this, it is a Riblet triple. Riblet seems to have various service bulletins about careful inspection of their chair clips or hangers. I haven't seen anything so far from Heavenly on an explanation. The famous destructive testing of a lift at Winter Park that we've seen on YouTube was an old Riblet double. Edited January 6, 2016 by ExcelsiorTheFathead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Ski Area Management Magazine reported that it is a Riblet installed in 1984 and using "insert clips" that are woven into the haul rope. I've seen these before, probably back at Stevens Pass. The Riblet service bulletins say that the clips have to be relocated in the haul rope every 2 years and must also be inspected periodically for cracks or other failures. The chair that failed fell from the downhill side of the lift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Over two weeks have passed and there is not a peep from Heavenly regarding this incident. They even removed their original blog post about it, so now there is nothing about it on any Heavenly web site. How long should it take to come up with a preliminary explanation of how a chair just falls off a lift? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 It never happened. Careful they don't come after you for spreading false rumors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 Lift status at Heavenly shows the North Bowl lift running again but I can find no press releases or news articles that provide an explanation for the original failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terekhov Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 there's TWO similar accidents in Russia on NY hoildays.... one my own home resort of Sheregesh, and second - on Kamchatka. seems like Jan-2016 anomaly over the globe :) ours: http://mustag.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59702&start=1020#p1082231 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowmatic Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) Was it a Doppelmayer chairlift crashing in Russia? Well, you know we had several falls of carriages on many Doppelmayer lifts the last Years. (Soelden Austria (gondola), Stubai Austria (gondola) last Season and so on). This doesn't matter. Doppelmayer of Austria is the Worldwide leading manufactor of gondolas and chairlifts. They have very much power! So much power, that they can take influence to the rules and laws of European Community. So they achieve to prohibit other coupling-system-to-the-rope on European minimal technical regulations for cablecars! So operators of that system had to replace that prohibited system (for sure by Doppelmayer chairlifts and gondolas). System Müller screw-on coupling system is now prohibited! There are many gondolas and chairlift with this type of coupling-to-the-rope system working since decades on the World. Even in Canada, Mexico, Great-Britain, Spain, New Zeland, Macau and so on. There are also some other companys using that system in licence around the World (e.g. Japan) The Müller ropeways system was highly reliable - no crashing carriages at all (it isn't Doppelmayer) I have knowledge about! So You see again, to have power like Doppelmayer can be the way to be on the winning horse. They keep others low. The companys with much better ideas turns to be the loosers. +-+-+-+-+ Even lazy Doppelmayer constructions became rusty like you can see here: Below the red line is a good old construction of a 2-seat chairlift from the Year 1970. 55 Years of good working, even with much higher charging since the last 18 Years. Because that masts from the Year 1970 are heavy duty made, the resort owner build up on that old masts a new Doppelmayer highspeed quad in 1997, thats what you see above the red line on picture. The masts from 1970 have no rust at all, since 55 Years now. The upper the red line part from Doppelmayer is now only 18 Years in operation, watch the difference. So believe in Doppelmayer or even not! It's Your live. Edited January 28, 2016 by snowmatic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) The good news is that these are empty chairs bouncing off when hitting the idlers. Last loaded chair I can remember falling off the cable was a YAN at Blackcomb and it didn't fall till it slid down the cable and struck the chair behind it. A good torque wrench reasonably competent people and good pay check will ensure everyone's safety. Maybe more than one lift manufacturer would help as well. Edited January 29, 2016 by lowrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terekhov Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Was it a Doppelmayer chairlift crashing in Russia? sure it is, with alternating cabin-chair loader. doppelmayers staff came after and do many kinds of checks and investigations, and got nothing: it is wind gust + loose signal cables (?), and definitely if people have been in that chair - it won't disengage.... so, that lift again have all checks & paperworks done and back in operation, but operating officers decided to use only cabins not chairs for now... it is rather unimportant (for local ski area) lift though, serving distant beginner slopes Edited February 1, 2016 by terekhov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Finally some news. I think all this info came from the USFS as Heavenly/Vail hasn't issued any press releases that I can find. I don't really understand the screw connection thing that is described. So this is great for Heavenly, but what about all of the other Riblets in the North American West? Is the Riblet that you ride in danger of shearing screws? ---------- Tahoe's Heavenly chairlift malfunction addressed by Forest Service SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Following a comprehensive assessment by four independent agencies, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit approved the reopening of Heavenly Mountain Resort’s North Bowl chairlift last month after a chair malfunction caused the closure. The chair was closed Jan. 3, when an equipment failure caused an unoccupied chair to fall from the lift cable during operations. The lift was immediately shut down following the incident, and ski patrol safely unloaded 65 guests using rope-aided evacuation techniques. Boulder chair, which is the same make and model fixed-grip triple chair as North Bowl, was also closed as a precautionary measure. Both were reopened to the public on Jan. 16, following significant corrective action. “This was a very thorough review,” Forest Service recreation special uses program manager Jonathan Cook-Fisher said. Cook-Fisher administrates Heavenly’s permit to operate on Forest Service lands. According to Forest Service’s report on the incident, part of the assembly that connected the fixed-grip chair to the lift cable failed, causing the chair to fall. Two screws, which served as part of the connection, sheared off during lift operations when the chair was between towers 4 and 5 on the downslope. “We couldn’t determine the ultimate causation of what sheered the screws,” Cook-Fisher said explaining that none of the other chairs showed a potential for a similar failure. After lift service teams from Heavenly, the Forest Service and two independent companies investigated, Heavenly replaced each of the chair connections on both lifts with a different groove pin system, which the Forest Service report described as “not as susceptible to shearing as the existing screw system.” “It’s a robust cotter pin that replaces the screws,” Cook-Fisher said, describing the new system. Both chairs will be subject to bi-monthly inspections going forward. All U.S. ski resort chairlifts are routinely examined through multiple annual safety inspections and maintenance, as well as daily inspection by mountain staff, in accord with special use agreements. “It’s an extensive process each and every day,” Heavenly spokesman Kevin Cooper said of their lift operations protocol. Speaking to the resolution of the chair incident, he added, “We’ve taken every precaution to ensure the safety of our guests. We investigated it. We worked with outside agencies and the Forest Service to ensure we did it right.” According to the National Ski Areas Association — a trade association that monitors ski industry statistics — lift-malfunction-related injuries or deaths are incredibly rare. Since 1973, 12 deaths have been attributed to lift-related failure. According to the NSAA, an estimated 16.3 billion lift rides were given by U.S. ski resorts during that time. The last fatality was in 1993. Based on data from the state of Colorado, falls from chairlifts due to skier error are far more likely, but also not common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) Hard to tell what the grip system looks like. If its positive grip or if it uses those clips that are wound into the cable. But looking at this is seems like the part that failed was the retainer that keeps the chair on the pin that it pivots on. The two bolts they are talking about could be a retaining cap. If the bolts were over torqued and plasticized then they could have sheared of due to a shock or just vibration. Second photo is a retaining system that uses a cotter pin... Edited February 8, 2016 by MikeC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Interesting... What is the specific background behind those two photos? Is the first an actual photo of the failed chair at Heavenly? Where is the photo of the Riblet rope detensioner (with the cotter pin) taken from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 I've seen that picture on a lift chat forum on "Riblet" lifts. The picture of the chair I haven't seen before but it appears to be without the grip. I make a habit of looking at the chair hardware when I ride different resorts. The only place I've seen missing bolts was at Mt Tremblant and the bolt was one of four holding the chair to the arm. Four bolts were overkill anyway ! Can't imagine it's much fun working with that clamp changing grips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 So it seems like the bolt(s) that failed were those holding the top sleeve of the chair hanger onto a big pin that comes out of the grip assembly. Once the bolt was lost, the chair could just wiggle its way off the pin. My uneducated wild-ass guess is that the failed bolts were over-tightened by a human until they mechanically (but not visibly) failed. Over time vibration caused the bolt to fall apart and come out of the hole, then the chair fell off. There is no way that a sheave or other piece of lift equipment sheared them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckmann AG Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 ^Might have been a locking collar fixed to the 'rope grabber' stub shaft with set screws, or a split collar clamped with socket head cap screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 These technical safety guys are like cops they really hate to share information. More educated eyes watching lifts and various parts would be a good thing wouldn't it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 I'd argue that the average public can't handle probabilities or risk. The general thought is that everything should be so overbuilt that it can NEVER fail. Imagine saying that the cotter pins need to be regularly inspected for wear, and the consequence of a cotter pin wearing through is a chair falling off. The headlines would read: "The big secret ski areas don't want you to know: a $0.50 pin is all that holds you from certain death!" Then they'd go on and on about misguided 'solutions' to this grievous problem that the profit-bound ski companies don't want to do because it'll affect their bottom line. Or, just have a good program and professionals to do the inspections and keep the paranoid public and media out of it. I like that option better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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