SkiingInABlueDream
Active member
All the recent Snowbird chatter reminds me of something really interesting (to me at least) about the Baldy chair.
Has anyone else who's ridden it noticed that it's line kinks slightly rightward near the top? With pretty much every ski lift I've ever ridden, the towers are all exactly aligned. (I'm excluding atypical lifts like the old South Ridge chair at Kton which turned via bullwheels, or lifts that detach at a midstation like the Kton gondola or Alta Collins.)
But the Baldy chair, the lift's line distinctly turns to the right at one point. It's subtle but noticeable in this picture:
http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ut-snowbird/baldy/liftline.jpg
From what I could tell, it works because the sheave wheels on (IIRC) 2 towers are slightly tilted from vertical. This slight tilt enables the wheels to support horizontal load created from the lift's path turning.
I had never seen anything like that before. Has anyone else noticed this? Sorry but I thought it was really cool!
Has anyone else who's ridden it noticed that it's line kinks slightly rightward near the top? With pretty much every ski lift I've ever ridden, the towers are all exactly aligned. (I'm excluding atypical lifts like the old South Ridge chair at Kton which turned via bullwheels, or lifts that detach at a midstation like the Kton gondola or Alta Collins.)
But the Baldy chair, the lift's line distinctly turns to the right at one point. It's subtle but noticeable in this picture:
http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ut-snowbird/baldy/liftline.jpg
From what I could tell, it works because the sheave wheels on (IIRC) 2 towers are slightly tilted from vertical. This slight tilt enables the wheels to support horizontal load created from the lift's path turning.
I had never seen anything like that before. Has anyone else noticed this? Sorry but I thought it was really cool!