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Its a target. If you hit it with a snowball just right, it drops all the chairs to the ground.
It's worth noting that this is the only tower that had this. The other riblets at breck don't seem to have these on any of their towers, but they also appear to be a different riblet model as well
Vibration damper
Vibration damper
If that's the case (because this sounds reasonable) why aren't this on every tower?
'lollipops'
Is that the technical term?
" The technical term for this is a 'tuned mass damper'.
I put this question to a friend in the industry last week and just got a response. It's in line with the other guesses.
" The technical term for this is a 'tuned mass damper'. Check it out
on Wikipedia. The common term for them on Riblet chairlifts are
'lollipops'. Their purpose is to offset harmonic vibration that can
affect towers, communications cables, etc. They are found on some, but
not all
installations. There is a thread on Skilifts.org describing an issue
that Riblet had at one time with sheaves that were not bored exactly in
the center for the bearing, causing harmonic issues on the lifts. These
lollipops counteract the motion to minimize the reaction.
Variations are used on bridges, powerline towers, and tall
buildings."
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