| Summary: | OITAF-NACS: ninth symposium, September 16-20, 2004, Vail Marriott Mountain Resort and Spa, Vail, Colorado, USA; International Organization for Transportation by Rope, North American Continental Section. Held at: Arthur Lakes Library, Colorado School of Mines. Vail, as we know it today, started in the 1940s after a group of buddies from the famous 10th Mountain Division ski troop returned from World War II to their training grounds in Gore Valley. The brave veterans were Pete Seibert, Bill "Sarge" Brown and Bob Parker. They fulfilled their dreams, and in 1962 Vail Mountain opens for skiing with two chairlifts, one 4-passenger Bell bicable gondola and a $5 lift ticket. During the inaugural 1962-63 season, the mountain recorded 55,000 skiers. Bob will recount the pioneer (1960s) days of ski lift and tramway building in Vail, Colorado. Early surveys, construction methods and accidents. Transport of tramway elements from Europe to the U.S. and on to Lions Head. The accident in "76" and its impact on tramway safety measures. Safety devices following the accidents. Tramway safety, practical and theoretical. Proposed tramway and funicular at Beaver Creek. Tramway personalities.
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