Lift Engineering
Encyclopedia
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Founded in 1965 and based in Carson City
Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, the firm came under scrutiny by state safety officials after a fatal accident in 1985, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July bankrupt in July 1996. The founder, Yanik Kunczynski, moved to La Paz, Mexico, to avoid any possible prosecution after a fatal accident involving the Angels Flight
Angels Flight
Angels Flight is a landmark funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, Sinai and Olivet ....
funicular in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and is in the process of selling the YANTRAK facilities in Carson City, Nevada.
The company built at least 200 fixed-grip chairlifts, as well as 31 high-speed quads, while becoming one of the most successful yet controversial lift firms in the ski industry. The company's high speed quads have been involved in the deaths of five people and the injury of 70, the worst record of any ski-lift maker operating in North America. Yan fixed-grip chairlifts however, continue to have a somewhat decent reputation.
1965-85
Lift Engineering was founded by Janik Kunczynski, a PolishPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
immigrant and former ski racer who initially worked at Poma
Poma
Poma, also known as Pomagalski S.A. is a French company, specialising in construction of cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed more than 7800 devices on five continents,...
. He left Poma in 1965 and founded Lift Engineering to build his own ski lifts. One of his first customers was Squaw Valley
Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, California, is one of the largest ski areas in the United States, and was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the second-largest ski area at Lake Tahoe , with 33 chairlifts, and has the only funitel lift in the U.S...
. The name "Yan" is the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
spelling of his first name, and the brand under which Mr. Kunczynski sold his lifts.
The company grew through the 1970s and 1980s. Mr. Kunczynski was known for dining with prospective clients (après-ski
Après-ski
Après-ski refers to going out, having drinks, dancing, and generally socializing after skiing. It is popular in the Alps, where skiers often stop at bars on their last run of the day while still wearing all their ski gear. The concept is similar to the nineteenth hole in golf. This can also...
) instead of just simple negotiating, and would sketch plans out on paper napkins. Another attractive feature to buyers was the price. Mr. Kunczynski sold his lifts at prices well below those of larger manufacturers. Mr. 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 its achievements in designing fixed-grip chairlifts. Mr. Kunczynski created a standard system that served the company well. The design was simple and easy to operate and maintain. For example, rather than put all the control panels in the operator's booth, and thus potentially confuse whoever is operating the lift, 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 the standard shipping crate-reminiscent machine room. Lift Engineering was the first (and only) company to design and build a DC motor control tailored solely to the ski lift industry. From the company's beginnings, it always designed and built its own low voltage controls. Finally, besides being easy to operate, Yan lifts are also easily maintained — the setup is allegedly foolproof. Yan's tower designs were also always overbuilt, meaning that it is possible to turn one of his triple chairs into a fixed quad merely by changing the chairs, something that was actually done at Killington
Killington Ski Resort
Killington Mountain Resort & Ski Area is a ski resort near Killington, Vermont. It is the largest ski area in the Eastern United States, and has the largest vertical in New England as well at 3050 feet.-History:In 1954, Perry H...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
.
1985–95
Lift Engineering plunged headfirst into a new market in the 1980s, the high-speed detachable quad lift. Whereas other ski lift firms spent as much as four years developing these lifts, Yan installed its first after only a year of development, at Mammoth MountainMammoth Mountain Ski Area
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort located in Eastern California, along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest.- Description :...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
By the late 1980s, Lift Engineering was one of the largest suppliers of ski lifts based in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. 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
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
ski resorts that included Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
and Lake Louise
Lake Louise Mountain Resort
The Lake Louise Ski Area is a ski resort located in Banff National Park, near the village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It can be reached from Banff, from where it is a 35 to 45 minute drive west on Trans-Canada Highway, or Calgary, a 2-hour drive...
. This grip also proved unsatisfactory.
Lift Engineering also moved into the funitel
Funitel
A funitel is a type of aerial lift, generally used to transport skiers. The name funitel is a portmanteau between the French words funiculaire and telepherique. Funitels have not only been used as a means to transport skiers; there is one used to transport finished cars between different areas of...
market in the early 1990s. The quad mono cable, or QMC funitel, was invented by Mr. 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, at June Mountain
June Mountain
June Mountain is a winter resort in northern California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. June Mountain hosted the 2006 Ski Mountaineering Race Series and the ski and snowboard portions of the 2006 California Winter Games in March 2006.The ski resort is now owned by...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Apparently, the owners had difficulty getting the cables to run in synchronicity. The lift also developed the grip problems that occurred on the Yan high-speed quads, and was removed in 1997.
Lift Engineering technology in Europe
Some lift builders in France are still using Yan parts, especially the fixed grip. So Skirail (AnnecyAnnecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) and Montaval (Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in south-eastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise National Park created in 1963. The Face de Bellevarde was the scene of the men's downhill race as part of the 1992 Winter...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) still use Yan grips for quad fixed chairlifts. Upper and bottom station design looks like Yan lifts.
Controversies and accidents
Despite questions about safety, Yan managed to sell a total of 31 high-speed quads in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Many of the lifts have been retrofitted by companies such as Poma
Poma
Poma, also known as Pomagalski S.A. is a French company, specialising in construction of cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed more than 7800 devices on five continents,...
and Doppelmayr
Doppelmayr
The Doppelmayr Garaventa Group is an Austrian-Swiss company that manufactures chairlifts, cable cars, gondolas, surface tows for ski and amusement parks as well as urban people movers and material handling systems. To date, Doppelmayr and Garaventa have produced over 13,700 installations in 78...
.
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, ColoradoKeystone, Colorado
Keystone is a census-designated place in Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population was 825 at the 2000 census. The Dillon Post Office serves Keystone postal addresses....
disconnected from the main gearbox shaft. Faulty welding was blamed. Two people were killed and 47 injured. The lift was rebuilt by Yan as the Ruby lift, free of charge. During the late 1980s, the Colorado Tramway Board began to question the safety of Yan’s lifts. They learned that Mr. Kunczynski, in his drive to build affordable ski lifts, regularly sent steel parts to be welded together in ski area parking lots. The Board alleged that Mr. Kunczynski’s lifts were unsafe. The ski industry blasted the Board and continued to install Yan lifts.
Whistler, British Columbia accident (1995)
Yan detachable lifts were subject to a series of accidents, most notably the Quicksilver lift at Whistler Mountain in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. 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 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
Poma, also known as Pomagalski S.A. is a French company, specialising in construction of cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed more than 7800 devices on five continents,...
.
New horizons (1998)
Mr Kunczynski's intense interest in renewable energy technologies results in his establishing real-world test facility in Mexico. Several new patents for his new technology are pending.Angels Flight accident (2001)
In 2001 one of the cars of the Angels FlightAngels Flight
Angels Flight is a landmark funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, Sinai and Olivet ....
funicular in Los Angeles suddenly lost cable tension - the result of a stripped spline connection. Standard design is to have emergency brakes in the cars themselves clamp to the rails in the event of a cable failure, but Angel's Flight had no such emergency braking system. This allowed one car to collide with another car, killing one and injuring seven.
It was after this accident that Mr. Kunczynski fled to La Paz, Mexico, to avoid any possible prosecution.
External links
- ColoradoSkiHistory.com - A History of Yan Lifts
- skilifts.org