Lucky

Another reason we are lucky to live in or spend time in Colorado.

Downloading Pali

I downloaded Pali Lift this week. That is one steep chairlift with some extraordinary views. Some people claim it is the best chairlift anywhere. I might be one of those people.

Bear Proof Waste Containers

Check out the sleek, shiny and new bear proof waste containers now adorning Mountain Goat Plaza.

Wandering

I spent the afternoon wandering the Upper Beavers and Upper Montezuma Bowl area. We got a little wet, but managed to miss most of the bad weather. It was beautiful. The place just keeps getting better.

Summit Concrete Completed

The Beavers Lift top terminal concrete work is now complete. The forms have been pulled. The concrete has to set for a while and then it will be back filled by an excavator. There are three structures, two for the motor room tower pedestals and one for the lift operator house.

When I walked the upper lift line this afternoon, the spider hoe was working on its 5th tower foundation hole (of 15 towers).

Spider Hoe

The Spider Hoe is in action. This machine will be digging the tower holes and bottom terminal site work for the Beavers Lift. The unique mechanism allows the machine to travel through very rugged terrain leaving minimal ground impacts. The wheels and legs are articulated in such a way that the machine can gently creep down a slope. We used one to build Zuma Lift in 2007 and, today, you cannot find evidence it was ever there. The images below are of digging Tower 15's foundation hole this morning.

Rain

Some much welcomed rain.

Top Terminal Foundations

Today the Leitner Poma crew started pouring concrete for The Beavers Chairlift. They had, not only concrete trucks on site, they had a large pumper to push the concrete just where they needed it. Most of the concrete in lifts is buried. A huge part of any lift in underground. Just like the bottom of Lenawee Mountain Lift and the top of Zuma Lift, there will be two large, rectangular, concrete masses that support the two diagonal towers that hold up the motor room. Once the lift is finished, less 5% of the concrete is visible. There is a lot of concrete in this terminal. They also poured the footers for the lift operator building.

Next up, finish all the concrete work on the Summit, back fill all the concrete and start digging the tower holes.