 Riblet's first chairlift, theMagic Mile atTimberline, as seen in the early 1940s. In the background isTimberline Lodge. | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1908; 117 years ago (1908) |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2003 (2003) |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | |
TheRiblet Tramway Company ofSpokane, Washington,[1] which operated from 1908 to 2003, was once the largest skichairlift manufacturer in the world.[2]
The company was founded by Byron Christian Riblet, who was born inOsage, Iowa, in 1865 and earned a degree inCivil Engineering. Arriving inSpokane in 1885, his first work was laying outrailway andstreetcar lines. He also builtdams andirrigation projects.
In 1896, Riblet was contracted to erect an ore tramway designed by the Finlayson company at the Noble Five silver mine inSandon, British Columbia, to assist in moving ore down Reco Mountain to the mill at Cody. Apparently Riblet thought he was coming to build a streetcar line. Even so, Riblet decided he could improve the mining tram performance. Over time, Riblet raised moreaerial tramways in the booming mining district, building 30 in the next decade. Riblet returned toSpokane in 1908, after working in theKootenays, to found the Riblet Tramway Company. The company, which specialized in mining tramways, built them in Alaska, Canada, the western United States, and South America.
Riblet built its firstchairlift in 1938 atMount Hood,Oregon. Byron Riblet died in 1952, but the company boomed with the postwar rise ofski resorts. Skiing gained in popularity, and soon ski lifts became the major part of the Riblet Tramway Company's business. They built more than 400 lifts, particularly inWashington,Oregon, andCalifornia, and as far away asAustralia,New Zealand andChile; one secondhand American lift has also been relocated toPakistan.[3] They have the most double chair lifts operating in the U.S.
DuringExpo '74 Riblet built both the skyride a Gondola tramway overSpokane Falls and theA&W SkyFloat a chairlift that went over the fairgrounds.[4]
After the World's Fair, the chairlift was dismantled and went toSchweitzer Mountain. The Gondola became one of the attractions atRiverfront Park and was replaced by a new Gondola system in 2005.[4]
The company only built fixed-grip lifts, whose chair grip is woven into the haul rope rather than clamped onto it. But other technologies eventually proved more popular. In early 2003, the firm announced that it was no longer viable and would go out of business.[5]
Martin J. Wells (December 2005).Tramway Titan: Byron Riblet, Wire Rope and Western Resource Towns.Trafford Publishing, Victoria.ISBN 978-1-4120-5093-7.