A new chairlift is a very exciting thing for skiers and snowboarders, often increasing speed, comfort, and reliability in getting up their favorite mountain. But before a new chairlift can open to the public, the resort needs to do some tests to make sure it’s safe. This video from Alpental shows how they went about testing their new Chair 2.
It doesn’t seem like that complicated of a process to load test. You just put weight on the chairs to simulate a full lift and give it a whirl, taking a look vibration, tower movement, sheave alignment, and everything else required to make sure the chair is safe. Of course actually checking all those things requires some serious expertise.
The new Chair 2 replaces the original Edelweiss lift, installed back in 1967. The new chair is a fixed-grip triple chairlift from Doppelmayr, increasing capacity to 1,395 people per hour and traveling up to 500 feet per minute. It runs for 2,604 feet and has a vertical rise of 1,100 feet.
