What is the weight limit on a ski lift?

Question

What is the weight limit on a ski lift?

Answer 1

i dont know but if you make this your best answer i'll be one of your fans

Answer 2

The weight limit will vary from lift to lift.

Answer 3

Agreed...it varies greatly from lift to lift.

The old beast of a lift I usually operate has 130 chairs, each weighing about 125 a piece. So that's 16,000 pounds with no one on it. Each chair (a double) can easily hold 700 pounds. Only half of those chairs can be occupied at any one time because the other half are empty on the ride down. So figure another 45,500 lbs. Now we're at 61,000 lbs. That's over 30 tons!

Newer lifts, especially Gondolas and 6-packs can carry even more weight. I'm pretty sure an 8 person Gondola can easily carry 2400 pounds each...probably more. There are safety factors built into the designs for double the weight.

Lifts have a counter-weight which alows the entire line to shift as needed under heavy weight. I often hear the counterweight move towards the end of the day as the chairs empty off for last-run.

So don't worry about the cable breaking. It's most likely the last thing that would ever break on a lift. A chair falling off the wire because it was not properly secured is a more likely scenario...but even that is rare.

Answer 4

Interesting question. I'd like to know that answer too.

Answer 5

It varies from lift to lift.  Depends on several design factors. The age of the lift and the size of the cable, the size of the drive system, and the tower construction.

   Or did you wonder about how heavy one person could be and still ride the lift?  Remember that some are double chairs, and some are 6 person chairs so they will hold plenty of weight.