Lifts in summer

I was just thinking that they must run the lifts in resort to keep them ticking over, it can't be good to leave the tension of hanging chairs in the same place for months on end.
How often do they run them in the off season?

They Normally take the chairs off during the summer :thumbup:

Ian Wickham wrote:They Normally take the chairs off during the summer :thumbup:

I thought so too until i looked at this webcam

http://alpedhuez.livecam360.com/bergers/flash/main.php

It clearly shows three with the chairs still in place.
Also is it possible for them all to be removed? I thought only the modern ones were detachable. :thumbup:

In the Anniviers some chairlifts get used for most of the year, so hikers can gain some altitude :D

I've also hung a Mountain Bike from a chairlift at Arc 1600 one July!

In Europe gondolas and chairs with hoods have to be detached from the rope and garaged because of the danger of wind damage.

Chairs without hoods usually remain attached unless the rope has to be inspected, repaired, replaced, cleaned and relubricated. Depending on design fixed grip chairs are removed by either loosening a nut on the grip, or by compressing the retaining spring with a hydraulic ram. The chairs are periodically reattached at a different point on the rope in order to even out wear.

T-bars are usually removed, it's easier to service the mechanism on a bench and removing them keeps them safe from souvenir hunters.

SwingBeep wrote:In Europe gondolas and chairs with hoods have to be detached from the rope and garaged because of the danger of wind damage.

Someone better tell them in ADH then. If you look at the link posted earlier it clearly shows a hooded 6 pack fully assembled.

Snapzzz, If you look in the archive you will see that the chairs were there at 06:30 this morning but had gone by 09:30 and were back again at 17:30 so they are probably being used to carry maintenance staff up the mountain. If they left them out all summer the hoods eventually get so badly scratched that it wouldn't be possible to see through them so they would have to be replaced and if it got very windy this would happen

SwingBeep wrote:Snapzzz, If you look in the archive you will see that the chairs were there at 06:30 this morning but had gone by 09:30 and were back again at 17:30 so they are probably being used to carry maintenance staff up the mountain. If they left them out all summer the hoods eventually get so badly scratched that it wouldn't be possible to see through them so they would have to be replaced and if it got very windy this would happen

Indeed they are/were. Well spotted. It looks as if there are half a dozen on there. Maybe they keep just those on full time for maintenance as you suggest.
I do apologize.