Homage to the Fixed-Grip Chair

[Mothertucker]

This thread needs a picture. Top terminal of #23 @ Mammoth.

 

[DanoT]

Opened in 1961, the centre post Burfield chair at Tod Mountain (now called Sun Peaks) rose almost 3k vertical and was over 10k feet long. Lift capacity was 360/hour and it was the longest 2 seat fixed grip chair in North America. It was a 18 minute ride for its first 15 years of life and then slowed to 20 minutes later in life to help reduce wear and tear and outright breakdowns.

Replaced in the mid 90s by a slightly longer fixed grip quad it has a slower than normal drive system (its a long story) and takes 22 minutes bottom to top. It is likely the longest, slowest quad in existence. Most people ride it once and never return so The Burf is loved only by the long time locals as it creates our own private non busy ski area while all the Gorbs are skiing out of the SP village, a couple kms away.

 

[crgildart]

Replaced in the mid 90s by a slightly longer fixed grip quad it has a slower than normal drive system (its a long story) and takes 22 minutes bottom to top. It is likely the longest, slowest quad in existence. Most people ride it once and never return so The Burf is loved only by the long time locals as it creates our own private non busy ski area while all the Gorbs are skiing out of the SP village, a couple kms away.

I could probably ski an additional 2 hours with mandatory 22 minute sit down breaks between the runs. My legs are toast after 2 hours of 4 minute 1K laps on a high speed lift when there are no crowds.. Riding a fixed grip lifts with longer sit down breaks increases my ski time and vert skied before calling it a day or taking a very long break inside..

 

[Novaloafah]

Good way to get in a food break and let the legs rest.

 

[wyowindrunner]

A picture from the Challenger double at Big Sky - December 2012. Busy place huh? Cold day.

Have not been back since moving to Idaho. Heard it has been replaced?

 

[DanoT]

I could probably ski an additional 2 hours with mandatory 22 minute sit down breaks between the runs. My legs are toast after 2 hours of 4 minute 1K laps on a high speed lift when there are no crowds.. Riding a fixed grip lifts with longer sit down breaks increases my ski time and vert skied before calling it a day or taking a very long break inside..

I had a ski buddy who before he quit drinking, cold turkey, used to speed ahead of me down the run so he could swing by the lodge and get a single off sale beer for the The Burf chair ride.

 

[crgildart]

I had a ski buddy who before he quit drinking, cold turkey, used to speed ahead of me down the run so he could swing by the lodge and get a single off sale beer for the The Burf chair ride.

Some places sell beer and burgers/hot dogs at the front of the corral by the base on super busy days.

 

[DanoT]

Some places sell beer and burgers/hot dogs at the front of the corral by the base on super busy days.

Yeah but only the Burfield chairlift gives you enough time to enjoy a beer, a hot dog, and hamburger all on one ride.

 

[Tony]

On my one day lifetime at Sun Peaks in Feb 2016, I skied Back in Time run from the top of Mt Morrisey to the bottom of the Burfield chair.

Not only did I have time for a beer while riding the Burf, but I went far enough back in time that ad on the lift was for 2015 Outback. I also noticed that chairs were spaced unusually far apart.

I posted a trip report that I see I never added more pictures to even though I prepared some for posting. I must have gotten too busy.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Before anyone gets the idea that I hate fixed-grip chairs....two of my favorite rides are the Wonderland single chair at Niseko Higashiyama and its counterpart farther north on the mountain at Hirafu. On a nice day they're both enjoyable & restful (well, except for the coffee grinder screeching of the Hirafu chair) rides and keep the skier count down.

 

[crgildart]

There is one kind of fixed grip lift I'm not all that fond of... a looooooong right with NO FOOTREST!

 

[tch]

I could probably ski an additional 2 hours with mandatory 22 minute sit down breaks between the runs. My legs are toast after 2 hours of 4 minute 1K laps on a high speed lift when there are no crowds.. Riding a fixed grip lifts with longer sit down breaks increases my ski time and vert skied before calling it a day or taking a very long break inside..

QFT.
Last year, my first day involved 27K of vert by 12:30. !
1,000' groomer runs served by a detachable quad that ran so fast my eyes watered if I lifted my goggles. I could barely walk to my car.

Along the same line, I rode the old Porcupine lift at Snowbasin with my son at the end of a long day of freshies two winters ago. After we got on and realized how slow it was going, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, "no matter how long it takes to get to the top, it won't be long enough"!

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

I haven't read the entire thread but fixed grip rules! Especially on a busy day. When it's empty and time is of the essence than detachable hi speed for quick laps. On a busy weekend at 7 Springs, the backside hi speed 6 corral is stuffed and lifties are lining up for max packment but the old fixed grip triple is ski right on. Both top out side by side at the summit. Laurel's new lift is a fixed grip quad that moves more than the old, very slow 1980s quad and the original 1967 double.

 

[KingGrump]

About five years back, on a Sunday morning. Got on one of the first chairs on chair #1 at Taos with a gentleman in his forties, all decked out. Exchanged the usual greetings. The guy looked around the hill and exclaimed "What this place need is a detachable quad."
I turned to him and said quietly, "Welcome to Taos. First days here, eh?"
He said, "Yes, how do you know?"
I said, "It's pretty clear."

Will be said to see chair #1 go next season. Had lots of memories on there.

Chair #1.

Another view.

+

 

[James]

Is the fixed grip double,?, to the chutes at Moonlight Basin still there? That's a trip. Maybe has the most space between chairs ever, and it's slow.

There's a huge amount of time between the chair that just left and when you load.
You get to the loading line, the liftie has time to check your ticket and you have time to read all 10 "rules" for the Chute area. Like not peeing next to the traverse. Even after reading all 10 rules there's still time to wonder where the chair is and the lift has never stopped.

Great chair. Keeps the traffic down.

 

[crgildart]

Maybe the cable and bullwheel drive weight are the factor limiting the number of and spacing of chairs more than the time between chairs most are limited by? There's a triple at Timberline WV that's so sketchy, and not the one that collapsed, that they only load every other chair or only two per chair even though it is a triple Sounds like they should just remove a bunch of chairs and space them farther apart instead of telling people to let every other chair pass for fear of breakdowns..

 

[dbostedo]

There's a triple at Timberline WV that's so sketchy, and not the one that collapsed, that they only load every other chair or only two per chair even though it is a triple Sounds like they should just remove a bunch of chairs and space them farther apart instead of telling people to let every other chair pass for fear of breakdowns..

Really? Was it running when we were there last year? Because I don't remember ever being told to wait... of course, there weren't any lift lines either so maybe it was just naturally spaced out by the lack of crowds.

 

[David]

I just bought one of these beauties earlier this month from the clised Sugar Loaf resort here in Michigan. It makes me sad to see this 1964 VRTS officially retired but at least it will continue to provide hours of joy as a swing instead of being scrapped!

 

[crgildart]

Really? Was it running when we were there last year? Because I don't remember ever being told to wait... of course, there weren't any lift lines either so maybe it was just naturally spaced out by the lack of crowds.

@jimmy or @JohnL can conform the status. but I think they still light load the Silver Queen when she's got a full corral.

 

[jimmy]

@jimmy or @JohnL can conform the status. but I think they still light load the Silver Queen when she's got a full corral.

True. The Silver Queen was built for Crested Butte, installed at Timberline in the eighties and they hung "triple" chairs on it maybe ten years ago. It used to be a double with a windshield and screen the chairs looked like Darth Vader s helmet.