29 replies to this topic

[alexboesen]

Regarding calendar year 2017 capital expenditures, Katz said, "We remain committed to reinvesting in our resorts, creating an experience of a lifetime for our guests and generating strong returns for our shareholders. While we will announce our complete capital plan for calendar year 2017 in March 2017, we are pleased to announce several signature projects that we intend to construct in 2017 for the 2017/2018 ski season. At Vail Mountain, we will continue to improve lift capacity at one of the resort's busiest chairlifts by upgrading the Northwoods high speed four person chair (#11) with a new high speed six person chairlift. At Breckenridge, we will be upgrading the Peak 10 Falcon Chair from a four person high speed chair to a six person high speed chair, allowing more guests to experience some of the best intermediate and advanced terrain on the mountain. At Keystone, we will be investing significant capital to continue to enhance the experience at this outstanding family focused resort. We will be upgrading the four person Montezuma chair to a six person high speed chair to improve circulation on the front side of the mountain, and we will be renovating and expanding Labonte's restaurant by 150 indoor seats to increase mountain dining capacity at the fourth most visited resort in the U.S. All of these projects are subject to regulatory approval.



Consistent with our long-term capital guidance, we expect our calendar year 2017 capital plan will total approximately $103 million, excluding investments in summer activities and Whistler Blackcomb. Including Whistler Blackcomb, we will be increasing our long-term capital guidance by approximately C$25 million (US$19 million), excluding certain non-mountain components of the Renaissance project (such as the Watershed) and any integration capital associated with the transaction. We will be providing further detail on our calendar year 2017 capital plan, including expected summer investments and integration capital associated with Whistler Blackcomb, in March 2017 ."

AussieRob - Any recent rumors about what is planned at Whistler? C$25M for 2017 is a pretty significant investment.

[RibStaThiok]

Hmmmm. Falcon at Breckie is a 1986 Poma HSQ, At Vail- Northwoods is a 1986 Doppie HSQ, And at the Stone, Montie is a 1990 Doppie HSQ. Think they'll hold onto any of those for parts or possible relocation? Maybe a Wayback Express at the Stone? Send Montie back east somewhere? hmmmmm?

[boardski]

I remember when all of those lifts were built and rode on the predecessors for Montezuma and lift 11 as a kid. Makes me feel old. Good choices for upgrades though. I doubt if 11 or Falcon will be relocated due to their age but the chairs from Falcon might be used somewhere else since they are much newer than the rest of the lift. Although those piggy-back style terminals of the mid-80s Poma detatches have sometimes been resurrected into fixed grip chairs as what happened at Snowmass with Fanny Hill becoming Assay Hill and Meadows lifts and the previous version of Ajax Express becoming Campground lift. Maybe the reengineered Falcon lift would work well as a new A-Lift FGQ?

[RibStaThiok]

Well there are a few mechs here who work at Breck, Stone, & Vail- Maybe they can chime in as to what condition those lifts are in right now. I don't think any of the already removed 80s vintage HSQs at Vail have been reused though.

[vons]

Components where recycled from 4 & 2 from vail; the chairs, towers and line equipment where used to build some small FGQs in the midwest, the rest was scrapped.

[Aussierob]

First I heard of the $25 million was on Peter's blog this morning. Nothing blowing in the wind here as far as I know. I can only imagine existing lift replacement that doesn't require approvals.

This post has been edited by Aussierob: 11 December 2016 - 01:21 PM

[2milehi]

Wayback lift at Keystone does not service skiable terrain, it just gets you back to the front side of Keystone. Yeah, I know it is slow but you only ride it once, maybe twice in a day.

Montezuma is at 35,000 hours and has been maintained very well. I don't believe that there is a cost advantage to relocate a 26 year old lift if you are required to bring it up to ANSI standards.

[DonaldMReif]

alexboesen, on 10 December 2016 - 07:14 PM, said:

Regarding calendar year 2017 capital expenditures, Katz said, "We remain committed to reinvesting in our resorts, creating an experience of a lifetime for our guests and generating strong returns for our shareholders. While we will announce our complete capital plan for calendar year 2017 in March 2017, we are pleased to announce several signature projects that we intend to construct in 2017 for the 2017/2018 ski season. At Vail Mountain, we will continue to improve lift capacity at one of the resort's busiest chairlifts by upgrading the Northwoods high speed four person chair (#11) with a new high speed six person chairlift. At Breckenridge, we will be upgrading the Peak 10 Falcon Chair from a four person high speed chair to a six person high speed chair, allowing more guests to experience some of the best intermediate and advanced terrain on the mountain. At Keystone, we will be investing significant capital to continue to enhance the experience at this outstanding family focused resort. We will be upgrading the four person Montezuma chair to a six person high speed chair to improve circulation on the front side of the mountain, and we will be renovating and expanding Labonte's restaurant by 150 indoor seats to increase mountain dining capacity at the fourth most visited resort in the U.S. All of these projects are subject to regulatory approval.

Consistent with our long-term capital guidance, we expect our calendar year 2017 capital plan will total approximately $103 million, excluding investments in summer activities and Whistler Blackcomb. Including Whistler Blackcomb, we will be increasing our long-term capital guidance by approximately C$25 million (US$19 million), excluding certain non-mountain components of the Renaissance project (such as the Watershed) and any integration capital associated with the transaction. We will be providing further detail on our calendar year 2017 capital plan, including expected summer investments and integration capital associated with Whistler Blackcomb, in March 2017 ."

AussieRob - Any recent rumors about what is planned at Whistler? C$25M for 2017 is a pretty significant investment.

All three of these six packs are replacing old lifts.

With regards to the Falcon SuperChair, that opened in 1986 and is 30 years old this season. So I guess it's overdue on age. I also suppose that as a six pack, the lift will also probably be less prone to wind closures given the heavier chairs. Given that Peak 10 is an experts only peak, I don't think there's much need for a capacity upgrade on Peak 10, so I think the Falcon SuperChair is probably going to be a 3,000pph lift like the Kensho SuperChair, but I could be wrong and it might be a 3,600 pph (I honestly doubt Peak 10 really needs that much extra uphill capacity). It probably will have carpets like the Colorado SuperChair has, though, given that all of Vail Resorts' recent six packs save the Kensho SuperChair have carpets. And certainly the same wood siding appearance that the Colorado SuperChair and Kensho SuperChair use.

With regards to the Northwoods Express lift, that's obviously based both on age and capacity needs. It's rare to not encounter a line at the lift, given it gets a lot of traffic as an access lift for skier traffic returning from the East Front Side, Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. That one, I imagine, will probably be a Doppelmayr like the Mountaintop Express and Avanti Express lifts, for consistency.

Someone here said the Montezuma Express lift has been well-maintained, so I imagine that upgrade is primarily capacity based. Which will certainly help during early season when it's the only lift for lapping. I've regularly seen full mazes on both sides of the queue during peak periods.

As for what happens with them: I can see where the person that said the old Falcon SuperChair's old Alpha drive and maybe its chairs would be great getting repurposed on a new lift. After all, the Omega chairs on it were installed around 2003 or so. The chairs could make good use if any of the double chairlifts or Lift A ever get upgraded to an FGQ (since we saw Snowmass use old Fanny Hill parts to create new lifts). The old Northwoods Express is probably junk. The old Montezuma Express might be cannibalized for parts, which has already happened somewhat as it and the Peru Express had some chairs transferred to the Outback Express lift back in 2014 to add capacity over there.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 11 December 2016 - 04:51 PM

[DonaldMReif]

alexboesen, on 10 December 2016 - 07:14 PM, said:

At http://investors.vai...leaseID=1003509
Regarding calendar year 2017 capital expenditures, Katz said, "We remain committed to reinvesting in our resorts, creating an experience of a lifetime for our guests and generating strong returns for our shareholders. While we will announce our complete capital plan for calendar year 2017 in March 2017, we are pleased to announce several signature projects that we intend to construct in 2017 for the 2017/2018 ski season. At Vail Mountain, we will continue to improve lift capacity at one of the resort's busiest chairlifts by upgrading the Northwoods high speed four person chair (#11) with a new high speed six person chairlift. At Breckenridge, we will be upgrading the Peak 10 Falcon Chair from a four person high speed chair to a six person high speed chair, allowing more guests to experience some of the best intermediate and advanced terrain on the mountain. At Keystone, we will be investing significant capital to continue to enhance the experience at this outstanding family focused resort. We will be upgrading the four person Montezuma chair to a six person high speed chair to improve circulation on the front side of the mountain, and we will be renovating and expanding Labonte's restaurant by 150 indoor seats to increase mountain dining capacity at the fourth most visited resort in the U.S. All of these projects are subject to regulatory approval.

Consistent with our long-term capital guidance, we expect our calendar year 2017 capital plan will total approximately $103 million, excluding investments in summer activities and Whistler Blackcomb. Including Whistler Blackcomb, we will be increasing our long-term capital guidance by approximately C$25 million (US$19 million), excluding certain non-mountain components of the Renaissance project (such as the Watershed) and any integration capital associated with the transaction. We will be providing further detail on our calendar year 2017 capital plan, including expected summer investments and integration capital associated with Whistler Blackcomb, in March 2017 ."

AussieRob - Any recent rumors about what is planned at Whistler? C$25M for 2017 is a pretty significant investment.

All three of these six packs are replacing old lifts.

With regards to the Falcon SuperChair, that opened in 1986 and is 30 years old this season. So I guess it's overdue on age. I also suppose that as a six pack, the lift will also probably be less prone to wind closures given the heavier chairs. Given that Peak 10 is an experts only peak, I don't think there's much need for a capacity upgrade on Peak 10, so I think the Falcon SuperChair is probably going to be a 3,000pph lift like the Kensho SuperChair, but I could be wrong. It probably will have carpets like the Colorado SuperChair has, though, given that all of Vail Resorts' recent six packs save the Kensho SuperChair have carpets. And certainly the same wood siding appearance that the Colorado SuperChair and Kensho SuperChair use.

With regards to the Northwoods Express lift, that's obviously based both on age and capacity needs. It's rare to not encounter a line at the lift, given it gets a lot of traffic as an access lift for skier traffic returning from the East Front Side, Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. That one, I imagine, will probably be a Doppelmayr like the Mountaintop Express and Avanti Express lifts, for consistency.

Someone here said the Montezuma Express lift has been well-maintained, so I imagine that upgrade is primarily capacity based. Which will certainly help during early season when it's the only lift for lapping. I've regularly seen full mazes on both sides of the queue during peak periods.

As for what happens with them: I can see where the person that said the old Falcon SuperChair's old Alpha drive and maybe its chairs would be great getting repurposed on a new lift. After all, the Omega chairs on it were installed around 2003 or so. The chairs could make good use if any of the double chairlifts or Lift A ever get upgraded to an FGQ (since we saw Snowmass use old Fanny Hill parts to create new lifts). The old Northwoods Express is probably junk. The old Montezuma Express might be cannibalized for parts, which has already happened somewhat as it and the Peru Express had some chairs transferred to the Outback Express lift back in 2014 to add capacity over there.

[NHskier13]

On the bright side if Falcon gets replaced no skier will ever hear that squealing in the terminals again

[RibStaThiok]

Not enough grease zerks for the ol gal, eh?

[DonaldMReif]

NHskier13, on 12 December 2016 - 05:53 AM, said:

On the bright side if Falcon gets replaced no skier will ever hear that squealing in the terminals again

I know what you're talking about:
https://www.youtube....h?v=jqzhstaXMcc

[NHskier13]

That's what I was getting at, aha.

[_litz]

My god, what a horrid sound ... makes me want to run for the oiler.

[mikest2]

A little lubricant in the primary rail goes a long way, even ivory bar soap quiets them down. It'll save you a bundle by not flattening rollers as they skid around the contour !

[RibStaThiok]

Is that all that it needs? One would think that a high class outfit like Breckie would take care of that issue... How long has it been an issue?

[Sacdelic_Skier]

back on topic!

[TheEpicPancake]

Nothing for Park City in 2018? I Dreamcatcher and/or Dreamscape are long overdue for an upgrade. What about the Town lift?

[RibStaThiok]

Leave Town alone! I like the slow lazy ride!

This post has been edited by RibStaThiok: 16 December 2016 - 11:15 AM

[Lift Dinosaur]

TheEpicPancake, on 16 December 2016 - 08:35 AM, said:

Nothing for Park City in 2018? I Dreamcatcher and/or Dreamscape are long overdue for an upgrade. What about the Town lift?

Park City got something like $50 M last year. Give it a rest!
Dino