alta

Ski lift at Alta back in service
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
2/2/08


Collins lift returned to operations at Alta Ski Area on Friday, one day after it was knocked out of service by a chair problem and, later, by high winds.

A detachable four-seat chair on the high-speed lift came off the steel rope when operators began start-up procedures early Thursday and fell onto the snow just downhill from Collins' ridgeline terminal, said a report by Brian Allen, ski-lift inspector for the Utah Department of Transportation's Passenger Ropeway Safety Committee.

Allen said a tripped switch had signaled that the chair's "grip" had come off the cable, but the lift operator could see nothing wrong when he made a visual inspection. Then when he started the lift, the chair fell to the ground. No damage resulted.

Allen's inspection determined it was a problem with one grip, not the lift, and he authorized Alta to use Collins.

Alta General Manager Onno Wieringa said the company believes a piece of rubber in the wheelhead at the top of the terminal became frozen to the cable and tore off when the machine was started. On its next revolution, the cable did not engage the chair's grip properly, causing the chair to fall.

Wieringa said Collins was ready to return to service by early afternoon, but 40 mph winds delayed its return to service until Friday morning.

"It's sending happy powder skiers to the top," he said Friday afternoon.