The Riblet Tramway Company of Spokane, Washington, [1] which operated from 1908 to 2003, was once the largest ski chairlift manufacturer in the world.[ citation needed ]
The company was founded by Byron Christian Riblet, who was born in Osage, Iowa, in 1865 and earned a degree in Civil Engineering. Arriving in Spokane in 1885, his first work was laying out railway and streetcar lines. He also built dams and irrigation projects.
In 1896, Riblet was contracted to erect an ore tramway designed by the Finlayson company at the Noble Five silver mine in Sandon, British Columbia, to assist in moving ore down Reco Mountain to the mill at Cody. Apparently Riblet thought he was coming to build a streetcar line. Even so, Riblet decided he could improve the mining tram performance. Over time, Riblet raised more aerial tramways in the booming mining district, building 30 in the next decade. Riblet returned to Spokane in 1908, after working in the Kootenays, to found the Riblet Tramway Company. The company, which specialized in mining tramways, built them in Alaska, Canada, the western United States, and South America.
Riblet built its first chairlift in 1938 at Mount Hood, Oregon. Byron Riblet died in 1952, but the company boomed with the postwar rise of ski resorts. Skiing gained in popularity, and soon ski lifts became the major part of the Riblet Tramway Company's business. They built more than 400 lifts, particularly in Washington, Oregon, and California, and as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Chile; one secondhand American lift has also been relocated to Pakistan. [2] They have the most double chair lifts operating in the U.S.
The company only built fixed-grip lifts, whose chair grip is woven into the haul rope rather than clamped onto it. But other technologies eventually proved more popular. In early 2003, the firm announced that it was no longer viable and would go out of business. [3]
Riblet chairlifts can be found in many places still in service, though the majority have been removed. The following tables contain those documented by liftblog.com as of September 5th, 2021. More Riblet chairlifts may be in existence, though some listed below may have already been removed. At least 265 existing Riblet chairlifts still exist and 268 are no longer installed.
Location | Ski area name | Remaining | Removed | Reference | Additional notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alberta | Castle Mountain | 1 | 0 | https://liftblog.com/castle-mountain-ab/ | |
British Columbia | Apex | 0 | 1 | https://liftblog.com/apex-bc/ | |
British Columbia | Cypress Mountain | 0 | 1 | https://liftblog.com/cypress-mountain-bc/ | |
British Columbia | Kicking Horse | 1 | 0 | https://liftblog.com/kicking-horse-bc/ | |
British Columbia | Whitewater | 0 | 2 | https://liftblog.com/whitewater-bc/ |
An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip of an aerial tramway cabin is fixed onto the propulsion rope and cannot be decoupled from it during operations. In comparison to gondola lifts, aerial tramways generally provide lower line capacities and higher wait times.
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An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They are the primary onhill transport at most ski areas, but are also found at amusement parks and various tourist attractions.
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Mount Ashland ski area is located on 7,532-foot (2,296 m) Mount Ashland and features 44 trails on 200 acres (0.81 km2) served by four lifts, including expert terrain in a glacial cirque called The Bowl. The mountain averages 235" of snow annually, with a season from early December until mid-April. 7% of terrain is rated Beginner, 41% is Intermediate, 41% is Advanced, and 11% is Expert.
Mount Hood Meadows is a ski resort on the southeastern face of Mount Hood in northern Oregon, and is the largest of the mountain's ski resorts. It is located about 67 miles (108 km) east of Portland, and 35 miles (56 km) from Hood River along Oregon Route 35. It has both Alpine and Nordic ski areas and offers night skiing, lessons and equipment rentals. It also has a robust food services department that includes coffee bars, grab and go options, bars, sit down restaurants, and a food court. There are no overnight accommodations at Mount Hood Meadows itself, but both Timberline Lodge and Cooper Spur Resort, two ski areas also on Mount Hood, offer overnight options. Additionally, many buses provide transportation to and from Mount Hood Meadows, including those run by Columbia Gorge Area Transit (CAT). There are also condos in Government Camp.
The Magic Mile is an aerial chairlift at Timberline Lodge ski area, Mount Hood, Oregon, U.S. It was named for its unique location above the tree line and for its original length. When constructed by Byron Riblet in 1938, it was the longest chairlift in existence, the second in the world to be built as a passenger chairlift, and the first to use metal towers.
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Crystal Mountain is a mountain and alpine ski area in eastern Pierce County, Washington, United States, located in the Cascade Range southeast of Seattle. It is the largest ski resort in the state of Washington and lies within the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest. The resort is accessible from the Seattle–Tacoma metropolitan area via State Route 410.
The Summit at Snoqualmie is a recreation area in the northwest United States, located on Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. It provides alpine skiing and snowboarding, Nordic skiing, mountain biking, winter tubing, and scenic lift rides. Owned and managed by Boyne Resorts, it is 52 miles (80 km) east of downtown Seattle on Interstate 90.
Brundage Mountain Resort is an alpine ski area in the western United States, located in west central Idaho in the Payette National Forest. Brundage first opened in November 1961 and is eight miles (13 km) northwest of McCall, a twenty-minute drive in average winter conditions.
Schweitzer is a ski resort in the northwest United States in northern Idaho, 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Sandpoint. Located in Bonner County in the Selkirk Mountains, it overlooks Lake Pend Oreille to the southeast with views of the Bitterroot and Cabinet mountain ranges. The ski area is approximately 45 miles (70 km) south of the Canada–US border. Doing business as Schweitzer Mountain Resort since 1988, in April 2021 the ski area adjusted its brand name to drop the words "mountain resort" to now be known only as "Schweitzer."
Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park is a ski resort in the western United States, located inside Mount Spokane State Park in Spokane County, Washington, about 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Spokane via State Route 206. The base elevation is at 3,818 feet (1,164 m) with the peak at 5,889 feet (1,795 m), yielding a vertical drop of 2,071 feet (631 m). Its slopes are primarily east-facing, and are served by six chairlifts.
The White Pass Ski Area is a ski area in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, in the Cascade Range at White Pass in the state of Washington. It is located 53 miles (90 km) west of Yakima on U.S. Route 12, and 53 miles (90 km) east of Morton. As the crow flies, the pass is 25 miles (40 km) southeast of the summit of Mount Rainier and 30 miles (50 km) north of Mount Adams.
Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area is a ski area in the western United States. It is at Lookout Pass on Interstate 90, on the border of Idaho and Montana, five miles (8 km) east of Mullan, Idaho. It has a summit elevation of 6,150 ft (1,870 m) on Eagle Peak and 5,650 ft (1,720 m) on Runt Mountain with a vertical drop of 1,650 ft (500 m). Lookout Pass operates seven days per week from mid-December until mid-April.
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Ski Lift International (SLI) was an aerial lift manufacturer based out of Incline Village, Nevada. SLI was established in 1965 by co-founders Samuel G. Bonasso and Joseph Sugarman, with Bonasso as its first president. The company built 46 lifts, mainly double chairlifts, from 1965 until 1973. SLI had a prototype gondola and triple chair, but it is unlikely that these designs were ever used. SLI chairlifts can still be seen at ski areas such as Catamount Ski Area. The company was known for inventing the first maintenance-free bail chair, well before competitors such as Riblet or Hall. SLI shipped pre-welded towers and terminal parts to the ski areas, avoiding welding on site. SLI was purchased by Riblet Tramway Company in 1973. Since then more and more of these lifts have been removed due to mechanical failures or the need for higher capacity. These lifts are currently very rare and are still rapidly disappearing from the earth.
Snow King Mountain is a summer and winter resort in the western United States, in Jackson, Wyoming. The mountain is Jackson's original 1936 ski hill, located on the southeast edge of the city, and was the first ski area in Wyoming. Locals sometimes refer to Snow King as "The Town Hill," and it offers skiing, hiking, an alpine slide, and many other attractions. The ski season runs from December to late March, and has a summer season that runs from June to October. Skiing is offered after the closure of lifts, until the snow is gone thanks to a boot pack trail on the west side of the resorts Runs. Hiking trails are offered all over the mountain.
Martin J. Wells (December 2005). Tramway Titan: Byron Riblet, Wire Rope and Western Resource Towns. Trafford Publishing, Victoria. ISBN 978-1-4120-5093-7.