The trouble with skiing is that it takes a lot of my time. But, I'm back and I did get some pictures. I chose a couple of the older lifts at Sunday River in Maine. They are still newer than the Transition Era, but much more typical of older lifts than today's high-speed 6-pack chairs.
This is the top of a simple chair. It's a triple, like all of these. Back in the 50's double chairs would have been more common. The frames of the chairs are metal, but the back rests consist of wooden slats. Sunday River has put black cushions on the seats themselves. Cushions are a relatively recent luxury though, and in the old days the seats would have been bare metal or wood.
In no particular order, this is the detail of a fixed-grip connection to the cable. This chair rotates clockwise, so the wheel would be to the right of the cable.\
Looking up the mountain, here's a few chairs and a lift tower. I can't recall ever seeing a tower that was not a T configuration for a chairlift. The arch shown in one of the earlier model pictures would be more commonly used for a T-bar lift where the skiers stay on the surface. There are some wires running up the center, too. I assume they're used for safety interlocks, with indicators if a cable slips off a wheel. I'm not sure when those were introduced.
This is an oddball. It's a mid-station, where the lift continues but people can get off. In this case, the station is not active and skiers must ride to the top. As you can see, the structure is wood.
This is the base of a different chair, but still an old triple. To the left, there's a tarp over a pit which holds the large concrete counterweight that maintains tension on the lift.
And yes, it was an absolutely awesome day of skiing, with bright blue skies, lots of snow, no wind and temperatures in the 40s.
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