i go sking every winter and i cant work out how the bubble lifts work i know there are 2 wheels one at each end that are turned by a engine, but what i dont understand is how these wheels get enough friction to turn the cables remember some of these cables must be at least half a mile long plus all the weight of the bubble cars and skiers any ideas ?
The cable cars are more or less equally spaced on one long loop of cable, so the weight of the cars themselves is balanced out on the Up Down sides. The drive system only really has to cope with the weight of the passengers, plus a bit of friction - and everything runs on pulleys with ballraces or roller bearings. The entire weight of the cable all cars is held by the big drive wheel at the top end, so there is a massive amount of force pulling the cable against it preventing it slipping.
