Despite permanent improvements in the infrastructure, there are lifts in ski resorts in front of which there are always traffic jams and longer waiting times for winter sports enthusiasts, and not only during peak times. Most of these are surface lifts that have to transport a large number of winter sports enthusiasts, but whose length is too short for a chairlift or gondola.
In the meantime, however, even two parallel Person Conveyor Belts are often replacing various surface lifts on sections of 200 to 300 meters in length, thus ensuring a considerable increase in capacity of up to 4,800 rides per hour, as is the case with the installations in Mt. Rose (USA) or Winterberg and Willingen (GER). In real operation, these dual Wonder Carpet systems have already recorded over 12,000 rides per operating day!
To enable such remarkable transport performances, the operators resort to a simple trick: the belts run separately at different times at different speeds. Ski Schools and even families with very young children gain their first experience on the slow belt. And when they realize how easy it is to ride the Moving Carpet, they switch to the faster one. Especially on Saturdays - the day of arrival - this method is often used. And on Sunday, when most of them are already familiar with the conveyor belt, they switch back to the faster one. This is a very serious advantage to a drag lift, which can be operated either only fast or only slow. With the dual Wonder Carpet system, on the other hand, the operator has a choice and can actively control the flow of visitors.
Advantages of the dual Wonder Carpet system:
- Variable speed up to 1.2 m/s
- Capacity up to 4,800 people per hour
- Different speeds of the two Moving Carpet systems
- Minimization of standing times due to problems with getting on or off the lift
- Possibility to run a conveyor for non-skiers also downhill