Sunkid & Star Lifts have installed a „King Size“ Wonder Carpet conveyor. Long, even longer, „King size“ – this is the appropriate way to describe the new wonder carpet conveyor in Stratton, Vermont. The new, state of the art conveyor, completely covered with a Sunkid gallery , stretches over 117m (384ft) and ranks among the longest installations by Sunkid & Star Lift in the USA. Planning and installation was carried out by Star Lifts USA Inc. as the project executing organisation.

The latest Sunkid Wonder Carpet is approximately three times the combined length of all previous installations and is primarily used to take ski school guests to the practicing slope. After an enjoyable ride, the guests can be looking forward  to a long and challenging ski run.

The Sunkid Wonder Carpet conveyor is driven by a 22,5 KW motor that easily overcomes an average 18% (15 1/2) gradient. It can be used by guests both with and without skis or snowboards and also allows the transport of all the latest alternative winter sports equipment. The focus within transportation lies on comfort and safety. The facility has a theoretical maximum transport capacity of 2.000 pedestrians or 1.400 skiers per hour, respectively. Thus, Stratton is well prepared for a visitor stampede.

With the comfort of their guests uppermost in their minds, the management of the Stratton ski resort decided in favour of the installation of a completely covered Sunkid conveyor. The cover not only protects guests from wind, cold and all types of precipitation, it also massively reduces operation and maintenance requirements of the lift. For example, thanks to the cover the lift operators no longer need to undertake time-consuming snow-clearing each time the conveyor is used. Both sides of the cover are equipped with 1.2m (4ft) wide escape openings every 1.8m (6ft) which can be closed securely with hard-wearing roll-down PVC doors over night. The entry and exit areas of the conveyor can similarly be secured over-night with rolldown doors. The cover was constructed using the tried and tested modular construction method. This modular construction method allows for an optimal adjustment according to the characteristic depiction of the ground and also to a convex-concave ground level. With its roll-downs in contrasting colors, the Sunkid gallery is the perfect eye catcher and marks a visual highlight in Stratton.

This awesome project could only be realized thanks to the perfect and pleasant collaboration with the Mountain Ski Resort in Stratton, Vermont and Star Lifts USA Inc.

2008-12-14