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A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope (called a ''haul rope'') that is strung between two (or more) terminals over intermediate towers. They are now commonplace at all but the smallest of ski resorts. Some are installed at tourist attractions as well as for urban transportation. The significance of ''detachable'' chairlift technology is primarily the speed and capacity. Detachable chairlifts move far faster than their fixed-grip brethren, averaging 1,000 feet per minute (12 mph, 18 km/h, 5.08 m/s) versus a typical fixed-grip speed of 500 ft/min (5.6 mph, 9 km/h, 2.54 m/s). Some detachables move 900 feet per minute (10 mph, 4.57 m/s) like the Teewinot Chair at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Some other detachables go even slower at 800 feet per minute (9 mph, 4.06 m/s) like the Zephyr Express at Winter Park Resort. Because the cable moves faster than most passengers could safely disembark and load, each chair is connected to the cable by a powerful spring-loaded cable grip which detaches at terminals, allowing the chair to slow considerably for convenient loading and unloading at a typical speed of 200 ft/min (2 mph, 4 km/h, 1 m/s), a speed slower even than fixed-grip ''bunny chairlifts''. Detachable chairlifts can sometimes move at 1,100 feet per minute (5.59 m/s, 13 mph), or as fast as 1,200 feet per minute (6.1 m/s, 14 mph). Usually, the longer the chairlift is, the faster it goes. Another advantage of detaching chairs is the ability to remove chairs during severe weather in order to reduce stress on the rope and towers. Furthermore, operating the unladen rope during extreme weather is effective at preventing—or greatly reducing—ice and snow accumulation on the sheaves and rope. This saves considerable time, expense and hazard when opening the chair for operation, which would otherwise require workers to climb each tower and chip away ice and shovel snow. Chairlifts are made in a variety of sizes, carrying from 2 to 8 passengers. All chairs on a given chairlift usually have the same capacity. Slang terms for the different sizes include "doubles", "triples", "quads", and "six packs". Detachable chairlifts may also be described as "high speed" or "express", which results in terms such as "high speed quad" and "express quad". Some detachable chairlifts have so-called ''bubble chairs'', which add a retractable acrylic glass dome to protect passengers from weather. An alternative system for reconciling slow boarding speeds with fast rope speeds is the ''carpet lift'': the chairs move at full speed even through the terminal. Boarding passengers are progressively accelerated on a system of conveyor belts of carpet-like material until nearly matching the chair speed. On Sunday, 26 December 2004, Lech am Arlberg and Schröcken in the Bregenzerwald, became the first chairlifts to have heated seats when five Doppelmayr detachable chairlifts offer skiers the added luxury of a warm seat on the uphill trip. Another advantage about a modern detachable chair is that it can run on an auxiliary diesel motor instead of an electric motor in a power fail. Most detachables have this option, but it makes the drive louder and the movement speed slower. ==History== The aerial lift industry for detachable chairlifts has been very successful since 1981. Poma built the first chairlift that went 1,100 feet per minute named (Green Mountain Express) at Sugarbush Resort, VT in 1990. Doppelmayr (North America) built the first detachable quad chair in the world named (Quicksilver Superchair) in 1981 at Breckenridge, CO which has now been replaced with the (Quicksilver Super6), a detachable six person chairlift by Poma in 1999. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「detachable chairlift」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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