New lift for Porter Heights

Press, 15 December 1983, Page 28

New lift for Porter Heights

Rope tows will be a thing of the past at the Porter Heights skifield (above) next winter when the last of them is replaced by its third T-bar.

Excavation work for the new Doppelmayr T-bar, which will finish at the top of the skifield, has already started and the whole system will be fully working

for the 1984 season. The lift will have an ultimate capacity of 1000 skiers an hour, considerably more than the rope tow it replaces. It will have an inclined length of 676 m and a vertical rise of just more than 250 m. The installation of the third T-bar at Porter Heights is part of a programme of modernisation

which earlier this year brought about the completion of the field’s second Tbar. A recently negotiated loan from the Development Finance Corporation will cover the total cost of the new lift which is around $200,000. In announcing the details of the new T-bar, the managing director of Porter

Heights Developments, Ltd, Mr David Wilkie, said that the company expects a further increase in patronage once the lift is installed. “Ski-ing is currently enjoying a heavy growth period, particularly with overseas skiers, and this has enabled us to go ahead with this latest development on the field,” he said.