Falls Creek Australia: Halleys Comet Haul Rope Replacement

With winter fast approaching, there’s a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes to prepare for opening day on 6 June. This summer saw Doppelmayr and Falls Creek maintenance teams working together to undertake the impressive job of replacing Halley’s Comet chairlift haul rope  At 1,850 metres in length, weighing over 7 tonnes! This was no simple task.

The process to replace a haul rope takes many hands as the two ends must be de-tensioned and woven together. The haul rope arrives as a single long rope (for Halley’s Comet this was 1850 metres in length, weighing approximately 7,350kg) and the two ends need to be joined together to make a single loop. This process is known as splicing.

It’s a delicate and manual operation that ensures the rope forms an endless loop and is considered an art in the world of lift transportation - it’s always performed by specialists.