What Happened To The Riblet Double Chairlift?Vintage Ad Surfaces for "America’s Most Popular Chairlift!”

Chairlift infrastructure at many ski resorts has rapidly evolved over the past few decades. 

Luxe, six-person heated chairlifts are now on the market. Big Sky recently transformed its Lone Peak Tram into a modern marvel with a glass enclosure perched at 11,166 feet to match. Every summer, more chairlifts are installed.

Yet, the past still lingers at some ski areas, namely in the form of the Riblet double, a slowly disappearing breed of chairlift. Lost Oregon Ski Areas, in a recent social media post, shared old advertisements for the lifts that provide a window into skiing’s heyday. At the time, the advertisements proudly proclaimed, Riblet was making “America’s Most Popular Chairlift!”

They were “Smooth,” “Silent,” and “Safe,” one of the advertisements said, and appeared on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain, Whiteface, and Sun Valley, among many other ski resorts.

See the ads below.

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What Is a Riblet Double?

The Riblet Tramway Company was founded in Spokane, Washington, more than a century ago, by Byron Riblet. Byron studied civil engineering at the University of Minnesota before venturing west, where he helped build tramway systems for mining companies in British Columbia. Alongside others, Byron officially incorporated his tramway work as a business in 1911.

About two decades later, Timberline Lodge, Oregon, asked the Riblet Tramway Company to install a chairlift, kicking off a period of slopeside success for the business Byron founded. While Riblet Tramway Company had an array of chairlift options, its most popular option proved to be the one that’s now best-known by skiers as an iconic nostalgia piece: the double. You can spy those classic lifts in the advertisements shared by Lost Oregon Ski Areas.

The Surviving Riblets

Unable to keep up with changing demands in the chairlift business, the Riblet Tramway Company shut down in 2003. While the company’s legacy lives on through its double chairlifts, those lifts, as they age beyond their lifespan, are gradually being replaced.

This year, Alpental, Washington, took down its legendary Chair 2—a Riblet double—to make way for a newer model. Other mountains have made similar moves. Still, a number of Riblet doubles continue ferrying skiers uphill. You can find them at Stevens Pass (Seventh Heaven), Montana Snowbowl (Grizzly, LaVelle, and Snow Park), and Lookout Pass (Northstar), to name some examples.

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