320 replies to this topic

[DonaldMReif]

Someone needs to give a rebuttal to the people who purport that Tucker's lift would be built.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 21 January 2015 - 11:36 AM

[vons]

I think the article is confusing getting regulatory ducks in a row (forest service permission), with an actual project build.

[RibStaThiok]

liftmech, on 21 January 2015 - 11:07 AM, said:

Both Stormy and C-Ridge are Doppelmayrs.

That's why I like Copper. A bit of variety as far as lifts go, old, new, multiple manufacturers, and awesome staff.

[RibStaThiok]

HST?

[liftmech]

For the record, we don't know what kind of lift we're going to put out there, or when. When we do, I'll let you all know. Donald, that's not strictly true (that we've gotten a green light from the Forest Service) as the comment period extends through the end of this month.

[Peter]

Doppelmayr has the contracts for Avanti at Vail and 3 detachables at Park City. Source: http://companyweek.c.../doppelmayr-usa

[DonaldMReif]

Quote

In Utah, the company has "essentially 100 percent” of the market and has the contract for the gondola and two lifts at the upcoming interconnect of Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort, which will create the largest ski resort in the U.S. for the 2015-16 season: 7,300 skiable acres in all. "It's going to be big," says Bee.

Obviously the interconnect gondola and King Con are going to be brand-new lifts. The way the text is phrased says that the high speed quad that will be replacing Motherlode will also be all-new infrastructure, instead of the old King Con being relocated. Perhaps the parts from the original King Con quad will find a different use.

Quote

"Besides the Park City work, Doppelmayr is replacing Chair 4 at Vail Mountain after the 2014-15 season."

I'm sure that's a typo because Chair 4 is the Mountaintop Express lift, and Doppelmayr upgraded that lift to the current six-pack last year. It shouldn't need to be upgraded any further. Obviously, the writer's hand slipped and typed a 4 when he meant to type "Chair 2", as Chair 2 is the Avanti Express lift . Nonetheless, since that is a profile involving an interview with someone in the lift construction industry, and the person talked to is Doppelmayr's CEO, that one line pretty much is confirmation that the Avanti Express lift will be a Doppelmayr lift (and I think it will be only the fourth Doppelmayr-built high speed six pack in Colorado, after the Purgatory Village Express, the Mountaintop Express, and the Centennial Express lift).

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 24 January 2015 - 08:17 PM

[matt9915]

Not surprised Motherlode will be new infrastructure. Still think they need to run King Con farther up the ridge tho, putting a midstation where the current top KC terminal is, as it would help relieve pressure on Silverlode tremendously

[DonaldMReif]

Motherlode will relieve some of the pressure on Silverlode, but not all of it. I assume that you'd like it if the six pack for King Con had a mid-unload station at the top of its pod, then continued up the ridge to end near the top of Crescent, allowing skiers coming from the interconnect gondola to be able to use King Con as an alternate to Silverlode if they want to head towards the area of the mountain service by McConkey's and Pioneer.

[SkiDaBird]

matt9915, on 24 January 2015 - 07:53 PM, said:

Not surprised Motherlode will be new infrastructure. Still think they need to run King Con farther up the ridge tho, putting a midstation where the current top KC terminal is, as it would help relieve pressure on Silverlode tremendously

The problem is that the only spot uphill that would access any other blue runs is the top of Crescent. That is a long traverse that has questionable coverage from where the main King Con pod is. They need to work on the Gotcha Cut Off area if they really want to move traffic out of the area. I feel like most people exit the King Con pod via Silverlode because of how nasty Gotcha can be. Personally, if the slalom was skiable, I took that but as it's east facing at low elevation, coverage was often sketchy.

[DonaldMReif]

You can't really see the traverse on a trail map. You only ever really get to see it when you go there yourself. Perhaps once the Interconnect is completed, PCMR will work on finding ways to improve that part of the mountain so that they can relieve the inevitable bottleneck that Silverlode is going to become.

[floridaskier]

The article doesn't necessarily say that Motherlode will be all new, I would expect Doppelmayr to have the contract to relocate it if that's what they're doing anyway. Maybe King Con would find new life as Pioneer or Dreamcatcher or something instead.

[DonaldMReif]

So, of those four Doppelmayr projects, the Avanti Express lift, the Interconnect Gondola, and King Con are certainly going to be all-new construction, while Motherlode could be an all-new lift but could be Old King Con relocated.

I guess Pioneer could be in a position where Old King Con could be repurposed to replace it if PCMR wanted to do that. Although it seems to me Vail Resorts might need to do more work on the Canyons side of the interconnect to actually facilitate smooth transportation between the two ski areas. By that, I mean building additional lifts so that people wanting to go from the PCMR area over to the areas where Orange Bubble and Super Condor can do so without using Tombstone (a two-way lift from the Canyons base to the bottom of Tombstone looks really attractive, but alas, it probably won't happen), and various lift upgrades to make traveling back that way much easier (read: upgrade/realign Peak 5 and Day Break, and upgrade Dreamcatcher).

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 25 January 2015 - 09:23 AM

[Peter]

The Lift Maintenance Facebook page posted that Doppelmayr has 15 lift projects lined up for this summer...already triple last summer.

[Conrad]

New detachable quad for Powderhorn, Colorado next season:
http://www.denverpos...rade-largest-20

[2milehi]

Didn't Powerhorn have lifts repossessed in the past?

[DonaldMReif]

Shouldn't the Take Four Express go under the "New Lifts for 2016" thread?

[vons]

I think the article is trying to say that the lift and snowmaking are going in this summer and that summer operations are to start in 2016.

[boardski]

That will be a nice expansion. I have skied Powderhorn once and loved it. The only thing was the long lift rides, Take Four was definately too long to be a fixed-grip, ride times were 15 min+ and I don't recall very many stops and slows. West End is a nice area also, hopefully they will change their minds and eventually upgrade that lift too, although as a double chair, it can run a little faster. Might have to go back and ski/ ride Mad Dog glades again.

[DonaldMReif]

I was a bit confused by the article. OK, Take Four Express goes under this thread after all.