176 replies to this topic

[boardski]

Not a completely new lift but had the chance to ride in the shiny new Doppelmayr chairs on the Four Points lift at Steamboat this past weekend. Very comfortable and equipped with footrests too.

[skierdude9450]

I believe that the Doppelmayr chairs were installed on that lift as well as Christie III when Sunshine was replaced. It's possible though that it's received new carriers since then.

[boardski]

skierdude9450, on 23 December 2012 - 10:07 PM, said:

I believe that the Doppelmayr chairs were installed on that lift as well as Christie III when Sunshine was replaced. It's possible though that it's received new carriers since then.

Those chairs from old Sunshine went to Christie III and South Peak. Four Points chairs are brand new. They must be planning on keeping that lift for awhile.

[skierdude9450]

Oh right, I got South Peak confused with Four Points.

[SkiLiftDude]

Peter, on 23 December 2012 - 05:45 PM, said:

Not anymore!

Citing widespread violations, judge orders halt to construction at Haystack-Hermitage resort

http://www.timesargu.../712219902/1050

WILMINGTON — An environmental court judge has issued an emergency order against the new owner of the Haystack Ski Area, ordering construction to stop immediately on the new luxury ski resort including a new ski lift, trails, base lodge, summit building and other projects.

According to the eight-page order, dated Wednesday, Bob Ruben, a vice president for Hermitage Inn Real Estate Holding Co., the new owner of Haystack, told state investigators Dec. 12 the resort would not stop working on the various unpermitted projects "unless directed to stop."

According to the order by Judge Thomas Durkin, state environmental investigators had been trying to get Hermitage Inn officials to stop the unpermitted work and correct severe erosion problems since Oct. 26.

According to the order, workers for Hermitage Inn Real Estate also built an illegal 1¼ mile snowmobile trail through steep terrain that was supposed to be conserved for critical black bear habitat, according to its state land use permit.

The order includes allegations by state environmental staff that construction workers for Hermitage Inn Real Estate had ignored state environmental officials, their concerns and violated conditions of the permits it did have and had undertaken other work knowing they didn't have the required permits.

According to the order, Hermitage Inn Real Estate kept working for almost two months despite being told to stop.

Both the Hermitage Inn and Haystack are owned by Connecticut millionaire businessman James Barnes, who has plans to link the luxury inn to the ski area, which had been closed for seven years until he bought it a year ago. Barnes' plans call for a private luxury ski resort, with a limited number of ski lift tickets sold to residents of Wilmington and Dover. Barnes also wants the towns of Wilmington and Dover to loan him money to finance the purchase and improvement of the Mount Snow Airport.

Mary Beth Tryon, a spokeswoman for the company, didn't return a call for comment on the emergency order.

The Agency of Natural Resources had gone to court against Hermitage Real Estate Holding Co., seeking a halt to construction.

A state investigator, Ryan McCall, with the watershed management division, said he visited Oct. 26 and found construction of a beginner ski slope at Haystack, a summit building at the top of Haystack, a snowmaking line at Haystack and a new ski lift at the Hermitage site. None of that construction had a permit, according to the judge's order.

At that time, McCall told Hermitage officials to stop work on those projects until permits were in place. McCall repeated the order Nov. 13 after another visit to the site, again Nov. 26, Dec. 10 and Dec. 12.

The judge, in granting the emergency stop, allowed only construction work to control erosion to continue, and gave Hermitage Inn Real Estate three days to stabilize the snowmobile trail, and 10 days to stabilize all other exposed or disturbed areas with either a thick bed of straw mulch, crushed stone or an erosion control blanket.

Hermitage Inn Real Estate is in the process of clearing land for a ski lift and associated ski trails, a summit building, a 10-unit guest building, a single-family home and a drinking water and sewer lines.

According to Durkin's order, Hermitage cut an unpermitted snowmobile trail through conservation land next to the Green Mountain National Forest, among other problems, and refused to stop working despite repeated concerns raised by Agency of Natural Resources staff, dating back to October.

The order said that while Hermitage Inn Real Estate has a permit for a small amount of earth work, it lacks many permits for the work it had already started. The work was causing constant muddy discharge into state waters, the order stated.

The order leaves little doubt that Hermitage Inn Real Estate is also believed to behind a move by the Green Mountain National Forest and the U.S. Forest Service earlier this week to close a 23-acre section of the forest immediately adjacent to the ski area and also close a five-mile ridgeline trail between Haystack and Mount Snow ski areas. U.S. Forest Service officials said the trail and forest had been damaged by excavation, and in the case of the trail, stretching over several miles.

The order gives the Hermitage Club, as it is now called, several days to install emergency erosion controls. The company has the right to seek a court hearing on the emergency order. The request must be filed within 5 days.

According to Durkin's order, the Agency of Natural Resources can issue other administrative orders, including penalties, because of the various violations.

susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com

Actually they flew in the towers for the Tage Lift on 12/26/12!

[boardski]

Just got back from Snowbird, Solitude, Canyons early this morning. Enjoyed the new Little Cloud chair at Snowbird a lot. No lines, nice fast ride. The lift has forward-facing loading and 90* unloading. If I recall correctly, it rotates the opposite direction as the former double chair. The chairs had new slat-style backs similar to the Dopps of the 70s and 80s and the seat was still how it has been for the past several years, very comfortable chairs. The new Gad II scheduled to be installed this summer will be nice also but I would think that chair may crowd the runs more. The main drag trails could resemble I-70 traffic on a Sunday afternoon. Or to transulate for Utah I-15 traffic through salt lake at 5:00pm. It might not be too bad if the chairs are spaced a little further apart than average. I know OB and Iron Mountain were installed at the Canyons two summers ago but got a chance to ride them for the first time along with several other newer additions (It had been awhile since we had skied Utah). Overall good additions, I found myself wishing Dreamcatcher was the HSQ and Iron Mountain was the FGQ since the snow on the lower portions of the mountain was mostly hard-packed and skied off but it might have been better if they had more snow. Canyons seems to be similar to Steamboat in that way (stay on the upper mountain for the best snow conditions). Hopefully we will all receive more soon.

[DonaldMReif]

boardski, on 05 January 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:

Just got back from Snowbird, Solitude, Canyons early this morning. Enjoyed the new Little Cloud chair at Snowbird a lot. No lines, nice fast ride. The lift has forward-facing loading and 90* unloading. If I recall correctly, it rotates the opposite direction as the former double chair. The chairs had new slat-style backs similar to the Dopps of the 70s and 80s and the seat was still how it has been for the past several years, very comfortable chairs. The new Gad II scheduled to be installed this summer will be nice also but I would think that chair may crowd the runs more. The main drag trails could resemble I-70 traffic on a Sunday afternoon. Or to transulate for Utah I-15 traffic through salt lake at 5:00pm. It might not be too bad if the chairs are spaced a little further apart than average. I know OB and Iron Mountain were installed at the Canyons two summers ago but got a chance to ride them for the first time along with several other newer additions (It had been awhile since we had skied Utah). Overall good additions, I found myself wishing Dreamcatcher was the HSQ and Iron Mountain was the FGQ since the snow on the lower portions of the mountain was mostly hard-packed and skied off but it might have been better if they had more snow. Canyons seems to be similar to Steamboat in that way (stay on the upper mountain for the best snow conditions). Hopefully we will all receive more soon.

Actually I would be wishing that both Dreamcatcher and Dreamscape were the HSQs, and Iron Mountain was still an HSQ. Just my opinion.

[boardski]

DonaldMReif, on 09 January 2013 - 04:18 PM, said:

Actually I would be wishing that both Dreamcatcher and Dreamscape were the HSQs, and Iron Mountain was still an HSQ. Just my opinion.

Yes, What I meant was a scenario where the same amount of money was spent ( as well all are aware, 3 HSQs are more expensive than 1). It seems like Canyons is heading in the right direction now but hopefully the next terrain expansion will be upward instead of sprawling across. Those lower elevation areas have a serious lack of natural snow, a lot of hard-packed, icy groomers on the "new" side of the mountain. The old "Park West" side though, is still a lot of fun. Pardon my topic digression.

[floridaskier]

When Talisker added Iron Mountain, Orange Bubble, and the gondola midstation in 2010, they billed it as "Phase 1" of the transformation of The Canyons back into a first-class place. I wonder how the finances of all that worked out. They did crack the Skimag top 10 this year, but still close to half of their acreage is cattracks served by fixed quads and almost no snowmaking. Hopefully some lift improvements over there are next.

The proposed gondola link with Solitude would begin at the top of Dreamscape, which is a 45 minute trip from the base area. I'd rather see them spend the money to make that side of the mountain worthwhile.

[Lift Dinosaur]

floridaskier, on 10 January 2013 - 07:26 AM, said:

... but still close to half of their acreage is cattracks served by fixed quads and almost no snowmaking. Hopefully some lift improvements over there are next.

Sounds like they may want to consider upgrading their snowmaking capabilities before the lift improvements 'over there'.
Dino

[DonaldMReif]

Anyone been on Big Blue down at Squaw lately? I think that puts Squaw up to about five high speed six packs, which is the most at an individual resort west of the Mississippi apart from Park City.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 10 January 2013 - 05:34 PM

[Peter]

I got my SAM with the 2012 lift construction survey. We only missed 3 lifts:

SkyTrac installed a funicular at The Ridge Tahoe Resort at Heavenly.
Doppelmayr installed a quad chair at a country club in Ontario called Uplands. I don't think they had skiing previously.
Doppelmayr built a quad in Tennessee at a place called Smoky Mountains. I can't seem to find anything else about this one.

2012 totals:
Doppelmayr: 15 installations
Leitner-Poma: 10
SkyTrac: 5
Partek: 1
Used lifts: 10

Total: 41

[jaytrem]

Peter, on 25 January 2013 - 05:46 PM, said:

SkyTrac installed a funicular at The Ridge Tahoe Resort at Heavenly.

I wonder if they removed the gondola. Anybody know?

[SkiBachelor]

jaytrem, on 26 January 2013 - 11:00 AM, said:

I wonder if they removed the gondola. Anybody know?

Yep, the gondola is gone. I noticed it was missing last winter when I skied Heavenly.

[jaytrem]

SkiBachelor, on 26 January 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

Yep, the gondola is gone. I noticed it was missing last winter when I skied Heavenly.

Thanks for the info, I did find a video of the new funicular...

http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

[from_the_nek]

I wonder why they left the base station of that funicular so high? That is still a lot of stairs to negotiate between the funicular and the lift terminal.

[Andy1962]

Peter, on 25 January 2013 - 05:46 PM, said:

I got my SAM with the 2012 lift construction survey. We only missed 3 lifts:

Doppelmayr installed a quad chair at a country club in Ontario called Uplands.

Uplands Ski and Country Club, in Thornhill Ont, is a golf centre in the summer, a ski hill in the winter. The Facility has been owned by the City of Vaughan since the late 1980's. It has been managed privately since the early 1990's. In 1991 the ski hill had a T bar. A few years later a used double chair was added (60's - 70's Hall or similar vintage chair ). The used double chair got ripped out this summer (2012) and the new Dopplemayr was put in. People distant might wonder why a small hill would get a new chair. The answer is that Earl Bails Ski Hill, owned by the City of Toronto is just 20 minutes down the road, and it got a new Leitner Poma quad the past summer (2012)