The longest bridge-supported conveyor for tubing in the world

The association of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone, and Heavenly formed the largest and highest ski area in North America. Nearly 25 miles next to lift facilities offer 600 slopes of various degrees of difficulty. Aside from skiing, the area also offers numerous other winter sports attractions, like snow tubing. Along with subsidiary Starlifts, SunKid built a second supported conveyor for the convenient transfer of winter sports enthusiasts and their fun sports equipment. All in all, this is the third supported conveyor in the US.

: The 470 ft long SunKid Wonder Carpet brings winter sports enthusiasts to the start of the tubing track. Fantastic view included! ©SunKid

In the area of conveyors, SunKid along with affiliate Startlifts belongs to the leading suppliers of suitable mounting aids for snow entertainment parks such as for example tubing facilities. Especially with snow tubing facilities, two opposing demands collide with each other in a tight space: On the one hand, the area of the mounting aid should run in a possibly straight, comfortable and safe way. On the other hand, the ideal tubing track begins with a relatively steep slope and ends with a wide outlet.

: Thanks to the Wonder Carpet, passenger capacity could be increased several times in comparison with the previously installed ski lift. Therefore, the number of tubing tracks could also be increased from five to eight. ©SunKid

: The picture foreground shows the emergency exits and escape routes of the gallery. ©SunKid

A solution could only be obtained with enormous effort in irreversible terrain corrections, or with a comparatively reasonable supported structure such as the one that Starlifts offers. This advantage in combination with convenient transit of people and tubes with the Wonder Carpet already convinced the operators in the Vail Resorts in 2007. Subsequently, the first supported conveyor in the world made by Starlifts was constructed in Keystone. In 2009, another followed in Heavenly Valley in Nevada. The supported conveyor that was supplied ready for operation a few months ago at Adventure Ridge on the top of Vail Mountain is now portrayed as “the third one.“

: 11 columns carry the around 50 ton heavy structure of the Wonder Carpet made from steel, aluminum and polycarbonate. ©SunKid

With a length of 470 ft., it is also the longest supported conveyor to date for transport of people. During a period of 16 weeks, Starlifts conceived the entire project, planned it and implemented ready to use. An impressive steel construction with a total of 11 support columns hoists the conveyor up to 32 feet above the ground. The foundation presented a big challenge, since the soil in that area consists of filled ground and was not stable enough to support the total weight of 50 tons. Yet the engineers lead by Peter Kavanagh, Marc Wood and Joe Gmünder from Starlifts mastered even this problem brilliantly.

The supported conveyor at Vail Mountain replaced two platter lifts that transported winter sports enthusiasts to the start of the tubing track before. However, their capacity was limited. Now, the Wonder Carpet transports up to 1,800 people per hour, which allowed the expansion of the tubing tracks from the previous five to the current eight tracks. Since the recreation area at Adventure Ridge is open nearly around the clock, the Wonder Carpet gallery was equipped with internal lighting, moreover, with energy-saving and low maintenance LED lighting.

: The LED lighting on the inside allows the Wonder Carpet to be operated even at night ©Jack Affleck, Vail Resorts Inc.

Fact box:
Installation location: Adventure Ridge (Vail, Colorado, USA):

Purpose of the conveyor: Supported conveyor for tubing track
Steel construction: 11 columns, each up to 32.80 ft high.
Length: 470 ft
Speed: 0.8m/s (2.62 ft/s)
Slope: 25%
Power: 30 KW motor
Capacity: 1,800 passengers/h
Conveyor belt width: 600mm (1.96 ft)
Equipment:

SunKid Gallery made from aluminum supports and polycarbonate windows
Emergency exits and escape routes on both sides of the gallery
Internal lighting of the gallery with LED.