CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Sugarloaf ski resort received parts for a new load terminal unit that will replace the existing motor mechanics of the chairlift that malfunctioned earlier this year, injuring seven skiers and stranding more than 200 riders in midair.
“Our biggest priority coming into this season is lift safety,” Sugarloaf’s spokesman, Ethan Austin, said Monday.
Parts for the King Pine chairlift’s bottom load terminal arrived Saturday at Sugarloaf from the Utah plant of ropeway-engineering company Doppelmayr. Over the next four to five weeks, the Sugarloaf lift crew will work with engineers from Doppelmayr to finish construction of the updated lift.
The Carrabassett Valley ski area spent $800,000 on the parts for the new load terminal, which include all of the drive, brake and safety components that contributed to the King Pine lift’s malfunction last year.
“We probably could’ve just updated the individual components, but we elected to take out the entire terminal and put a whole new one in,” Austin said.
The King Pine lift was constructed in the mid-1980s and is one of 14 chairlifts at Sugarloaf. The lift malfunctioned last March when a gear box failure caused the chair lift to travel backwards. Seven riders were injured when they jumped off of the lift after it began to roll backwards.
The new load terminal will feature a redesigned gearbox and the latest anti-rollback technology. The only parts of the lift not being replaced are the existing chairs and towers.
Sugarloaf invested $1.5 million in updates to its ski area this summer to prepare for the 2015-16 winter season. The King Pine lift refurbishment is the largest investment Sugarloaf made, but upgrades to systems on older lifts were also made, including braking and rollback systems, Austin said.
The lift is expected to be operational in late December, which is when the King Pine lift generally opens to skiers and snowboarders, Austin said.
In response to the malfunction last season, Sugarloaf also launched a website that details the steps the ski area is taking to ensure its lift are operating properly.
“This is what we wanted to do. We wanted to ensure we were doing everything we could to make sure our lifts were operating properly,” Austin said.
Included in the $1.5 million investment were updates to Sugarloaf’s snowmaking system and the addition of a new snowboard shop. Austin says that the ski area expects to open for the season at the end of next week, but that opening dates are always weather dependent.
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