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Yan Lift, incorporated as Lift Engineering & Mfg. Co., was a major ski lift manufacturer in
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. Founded in 1965 and based in
Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...
,
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, the company built at least 200 fixed-grip chairlifts, as well as 31 high-speed quads. The company's lifts have been involved in the deaths of five people and the injury of at least 70, the worst record of any ski-lift maker operating in North America. The firm came under scrutiny by state safety officials after a fatal incident in 1985. After a series of equipment failures, Yan Lifts were outlawed in certain states including California and Colorado. The company later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 after multiple other incidents resulting in 3 deaths. Eventually, Yan Lifts manufactured new track and cables for the
Angels Flight Angels Flight is a landmark and historic narrow gauge funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, named ''Olivet'' and ''Sinai'', that run in opposite directions on a shared c ...
funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...
, but the company, now called YanTrak, went out of business in 2001 after a major accident. The last detachable chairlift made fully designed and built by Yan, La Roca, located at Espot Esquí, closed in 2019 after failure leading to one of the chairs falling off the line occurred. Only one Lift Engineering Detachable remains, found at the Nazhvan Forest Park in Iran.


History


1965–85

Lift Engineering was founded by Janek Kunczynski, a
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
immigrant and former ski racer who initially worked at
Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people ...
. He left Poma in 1965 and founded the company Lift Engineering to build his own ski lifts. One of his first customers was Squaw Valley. The name "Yan" is the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
spelling of his first name, and the brand under which Kunczynski sold his lifts. The company grew through the 1970s and 1980s. Kunczynski was known for dining with prospective clients (
après-ski A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
) instead of just simple negotiating, and would sketch plans out on paper napkins. Another attractive feature to buyers was the price. Kunczynski sold his lifts at prices well below those of larger manufacturers. Kunczynski is also credited with being the first manufacturer of ski lifts to incorporate aesthetics into the design of his equipment, creating sleek designs that were popular with ski resorts. The company is most noted for designing fixed-grip chairlifts. Kunczynski created a standard system that was intended to be simple to operate and maintain. For example, Yan operator booths contain only two switches: a switch that stops and starts the lift, and one that selects its speed. The main controls were placed in a separate machine room. Lift Engineering was the first company to design and build its own low-voltage DC motor control tailored specifically to the ski lift industry (System 4200 and later Base 10). Yan's tower designs were also overbuilt, meaning that it is possible to turn a triple chair into a fixed quad just by changing the chairs.


1985–95

Lift Engineering entered a new market of high-speed detachable chairlifts in the 1980s. Whereas other ski lift firms spent as much as four years developing these lifts, Yan installed its first after only one year of research and development, at
June Mountain June Mountain ski area is a winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. June Mountain, like its neighbor and current owner, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, has traditionally ...
in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. By the late 1980s, Lift Engineering was one of the largest suppliers of ski lifts based in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. Lift Engineering also was an important player in the
funitel A funitel is a type of cableway, generally used to transport skiers, although at least one is used to transport finished cars between different areas of a factory. It differs from a standard gondola lift through the use of two arms attached to tw ...
market in the late 1980s. The quad mono cable, or QMC, was invented by Kunczynski (US Patent 4,848,241). The lift consisted of four separate loops of cable, strung between the upper and lower stations. Two cables were run in the uphill direction, and two were run in the downhill direction. The cabins would be mounted between the cables. But, because the cables were looped, once the cabins reached the upper station, the cables would loop back downhill not carrying a load. Only one of these lifts was ever built, and first opened to the public in 1988 at
June Mountain June Mountain ski area is a winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. June Mountain, like its neighbor and current owner, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, has traditionally ...
. The owners allegedly had difficulty getting the cables to run in synchronicity. The lift also developed the same grip problems that occurred on the Yan high-speed quads, and ceased operation in 1996.


Controversies and accidents

Despite questions about safety, Yan managed to sell a total of 31 high-speed quads in the
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and
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. Many of the lifts have been retrofitted by companies such as
Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people ...
and Doppelmayr. A controversial figure, Yanek Kunczynksi was a Polish immigrant and figurehead of the company. He brought experience from French chair lift making company,
Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people ...
to his American company: Lift Engineering. He was known for taking away what he deemed as unnecessary parts and substituting certain equipment for others, examples of this include replacing aluminum towers for steel ones and swapping rubber rings for steel coils. Many blame him for the accidents, though he claims that bad maintenance are the culprits for the lift failures. Yan high speed lifts were notorious for their grip slippage and sometimes required hours of running in the morning to realign the chairs following slippage over night. This led to nicknames such as "Yankee Slipper" a play on the lifts actual name "Yankee Clipper" now known as the Grand Summit Express at
Mount Snow Mount Snow (previously known as Mount Pisgah) is a mountain and ski resort in southern Vermont located in the Green Mountains. It is Vermont's southernmost big mountain, and therefore, closest to many Northeast metropolitan areas. In Septemb ...
,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.


Keystone, Colorado, accident (1985)

Potential problems with Yan lifts began to surface as early as 1985, when the upper bullwheel on the Teller lift at Keystone Ski Resort in Colorado disconnected from the main gearbox shaft. The lift was unique in its design as there was no support underneath the bullwheel. Lift Engineering had explained when the lift first opened the year before that a support beam underneath was not necessary. They claimed the pressure of the system along with the welds would keep the bullwheel in place. Faulty welding would be blamed for the accident. Two people were killed and 47 injured. The Teller lift, and its twin lift, Santiago, were two triple chairlifts constructed in 1984 as part of Keystone's North Peak expansion. Teller was rebuilt by Yan and renamed the Ruby lift, free of charge. Santiago was replaced by a Doppelmayr high speed quad in 1998 and relocated to
Big Sky, Montana Big Sky is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Gallatin and Madison counties in southwestern Montana, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,308. It is southwest of Bozeman. This unincorporated community s ...
, while Ruby was replaced by a
Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people ...
high speed six pack in 2000. During the late 1980s, the
Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
began to question the safety of Yan's lifts. They learned that Kunczynski, in his drive to build affordable ski lifts, regularly sent steel parts to be welded together in
ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...
parking lots. The Board alleged that Kunczynski's lifts were unsafe. The ski industry blasted the Board and continued to install Yan lifts.


Sierra Ski Ranch, (Currently Known As:

Sierra-At-Tahoe Sierra-at-Tahoe is a ski and snowboard resort in Twin Bridges, California south of Lake Tahoe. Sierra-at-Tahoe is approximately 16 miles (26 km) south of Stateline, Nevada and 12 miles south of South Lake Tahoe on U.S. Route 50 and is ...
) California, accident (1993)

On April 4, 1993, a 9-year old boy was killed and another child injured when loose bolts and a subsequent derailment caused two chairs to stack up on Sierra Ski Ranch’s Slingshot lift.  The same lift had sent an empty chair to the ground two months prior when a grip failed.  Lift Engineering settled a wrongful-death suit after the accident for $1.9 million. Sierra Ski Ranch’s marketing director would later state, “we found they just didn’t withstand the test of time” when the company committed $6 million to replace its three Yan detachables in 1996.


Whistler, British Columbia, accident (1995)

Yan detachable lifts were subject to a series of accidents, most notably the Quicksilver lift at
Whistler Mountain Whistler Mountain is a mountain in the Fitzsimmons Range of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, located on the northwestern edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park. It is the location of the Whistler-Blackcomb, Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort an ...
in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada. The Quicksilver accident killed two and injured eight on December 23, 1995. The accident occurred when the emergency stop was used repeatedly. A chair started sliding downhill and struck the next chair which got stuck on a tower. This continued several times before a total of four chairs fell. The main problems with the Yan high-speed lifts were the chair grips. These were designed so that in order to stay connected to the cable, the chair had to be subject to gravity. The Yan grips, unlike most operating today, did not have high-tension coil springs, but rather rubber "marshmallow" springs that exerted much less force on the cable. The repeated emergency brake application was enough to shake the chairs free of the cable. The majority of government safety inspectors failed to detect these problems. The Quicksilver chairlift, which served the Whistler Creekside base area, was replaced by the Creekside Gondola in 1997, built by
Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people ...
.


Aftermath

Following the accident at Whistler, and reports of grip-slipping at a plethora of other mountains, 15 resorts spent millions of dollars either upgrading, or completely replacing their combined 31 detachable quads in the United States and Canada.
June Mountain June Mountain ski area is a winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. June Mountain, like its neighbor and current owner, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, has traditionally ...
, the only mountain to use Yan's type 7 grips in a
funitel A funitel is a type of cableway, generally used to transport skiers, although at least one is used to transport finished cars between different areas of a factory. It differs from a standard gondola lift through the use of two arms attached to tw ...
was forced to shut down the QMC Funitel leaving sole access to the mountain to the J1 lift (A 1960
Riblet The Riblet Tramway Company of Spokane, Washington, which operated from 1908 to 2003, was once the largest ski chairlift manufacturer in the world. The company was founded by Byron Christian Riblet, who was born in Osage, Iowa, in 1865 and earned ...
double Chair). Doppelmayr, the company that took majority of the replacement contracts was so stretched in resources that 75% of their replacement grips came from Austria instead of their North American manufacturing plant.
POL-X West
developed a new version of the YAN-7 detachable grip, the one that was used on the majority of the high-speed lifts, replacing the marshmallow springs with high-tension springs. The redesign was ordered by a group of British Columbia and
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
ski resorts that included
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...
and Lake Louise. This grip also proved unsatisfactory and the lifts were removed from 2002–2004. Many resorts suffered greatly from the economic burden of having to replace their workhorse lifts, such as Schweitzer which went bankrupt as a result, and Sun Valley who had 7 Yan High Speed Quads. In 2019, the second last Yan high speed quad La Roca, located at Espot Esqui in Spain, suffered a catastrophic failure leading to one of the chairs falling off the line. This chairlift had Type 7 grips and the original terminals with replaced chairs. As a result of this, the lift was shut down. On 6 December 2019, Espot opened their new La Roca high-speed quad, built by Leitner. The last Yan lift remaining is in Iran and uses the POL-X West grips. There are still many fixed grip lifts around the U.S. and Canada that are made by Yan.


See also

*
Chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...
*
Gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...
*
List of aerial lift manufacturers This is a list of the current and former aerial lift manufacturers. This list includes surface lift manufacturers. Current *Aarconinfra Ropeways & Future Mobility Pvt Ltd , India {{cite web , title=Aaarconinfra Ropeways , url=https://aarconin ...


Notes

{{reflist


External links


ColoradoSkiHistory.com
- A History of Yan Lifts
skilifts.org
*https://liftblog.com/2016/03/15/yan-high-speed-quads-20-years-later/ Aerial lift manufacturers Companies based in Carson City, Nevada 1965 establishments in Nevada Defunct manufacturing companies based in Nevada