217 replies to this topic

[Tin Woodsman]

floridaskier, on 08 December 2010 - 07:07 AM, said:

Article about opening day this Friday
http://www.parkrecor...rce=most_viewed

Lifts opening: Gondola, Orange Bubble ('top only', which I guess means it's only open for access and not skiing), Tombstone, Saddleback, Peak 5, and 9990. A good opening day lineup in a bad snow year, but Deer Valley opened with 20 of 21 lifts and more than 75% of their terrain a week ago, and Park City's also running everything but the low-elevation King Con area. No great loss that Dreamscape isn't opening, but it would be nice to be able to ski the Golden Eagle runs and the rest of the old mountain off the new chair. I'd sure rather see Snow Canyon open than the useless Peak 5 chair.

My God - Talisker is like the PLO. They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

This post has been edited by Tin Woodsman: 08 December 2010 - 01:35 PM

[DonaldMReif]

It does seem like Iron Mountain is very metallic. You can already see run titles on the map.

[floridaskier]

11/26/10 would have been a better day for the perfect day. I would imagine there's a new website coming on Friday as well. They don't like to do things too early around there

[lastchair_44]

So, is this turning into a "Let's Slam Canyons" thread? Yeah, they could have done things differently and planned ahead but they didn't. It is what it is. They said they'd open tomorrow and they are. They kept up their promise on that end, and I think they're doing quite well considering. It's hard to run a ski resort and there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. Not to mention, they're trying to turn this place around. These people are investing millions of dollars into this mountain in a poor economy and everyone is complaining? I don't understand, but all these negative comments are getting old...

[floridaskier]

I think everyone's criticizing the PR more than anything. They have a lot of customer goodwill to earn back. What they're doing to the mountain is fantastic, but they've really mishandled the publicity part of it. They've pretended that everything was fine, when if they'd just been open about the delays, nobody would mind that much. Instead of apologizing for not making their opening day, they've been acting like people should be excited that it's December 10. Credit to them for doing it right and not trying a half-assed opening before everything was ready, but some regular construction updates, pictures, etc would have gone a long way.

It'll all be forgotten tomorrow when everyone sees firsthand how nice the improvements are. They've done a great job getting it done in two weeks, when things were looking pretty grim not too long ago. I'm sure excited to ski there this year.

Latest word is that Day Break lift will be opening tomorrow too. The Ski Beach won't be much fun until you can actually ski down to it. Hopefully they can blow enough snow to open Doc's Run soon. The only way off the mountain is still downloading the gondola. It'd be nice if Orange Bubble was open for downloading too early in the season

[Lift Dinosaur]

lastchair_44, on 09 December 2010 - 08:37 AM, said:

So, is this turning into a "Let's Slam Canyons" thread? Yeah, they could have done things differently and planned ahead but they didn't. It is what it is. They said they'd open tomorrow and they are. They kept up their promise on that end, and I think they're doing quite well considering. It's hard to run a ski resort and there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. Not to mention, they're trying to turn this place around. These people are investing millions of dollars into this mountain in a poor economy and everyone is complaining? I don't understand, but all these negative comments are getting old...

Agreed. We all know that PR and Marketing types are Spin Doctors, no matter what the industry.

Dino

[Lift Dinosaur]

floridaskier, on 09 December 2010 - 10:28 AM, said:

It'd be nice if Orange Bubble was open for downloading too early in the season

A consideration here is whether the Orange Bubble is even designed for downhill loading. While 25% downhill loading is pretty standard in a lift's design, anything more costs $$$ in design and equipment.

Dino

This post has been edited by Lift Dinosaur: 09 December 2010 - 05:03 PM

[alvin]

Lift Dinosaur, on 09 December 2010 - 05:02 PM, said:

A consideration here is whether the Orange Bubble is even designed for downhill loading. While 25% downhill loading is pretty standard in a lift's design, anything more costs $$ in design and equipment.

Dino

It wouldn't surprise me if the lift is capable of limited downloading - but probably not with skiers in mind - more likely as an evening option for dining at lookout cabin. seems redundant to make it downloadable for skiers as the only access point for downloading would likely involve the shortcut lift, and by that point you've either already passed the gondola or you're in position to just ski down to the bottom.

anyone know why the north end of the mountain isn't opening this weekend? lack of snow? i thought super condor usually opens before 99-90???

[CH3skier]

I guess some good PR from the canyons' donation

http://www.ksl.com/?...48&sid=13580136


Old ski lifts helping raise money for charity
December 9th, 2010 @ 10:15pm
By Carole Mikita
PARK CITY -- What can you do with a discarded ski lift? You'd be surprised. Utah artists and corporations are joining forces to raise money for charity and make you smile at the same time.

Sparks are flying in Mike Bronn's studio. The iron works artist is creating a tree-limb motif for an old ski lift chair. The Canyons donated its 42-year-old Golden Eagle lift for an exhibit and auction.


"I'm trying to make a wood rocking chair...so, we're taking steel and trying to make it look like branches," Bronn says.

The "Chairity Lift" exhibit begins on the Kimball Art Center porch with a chariot of fire and rickshaws; inside, the creations range from the colorful to the cozy.

The exhibit has captured national attention. eBay is auctioning some of the lift chairs and the New York Times will do the story Sunday.

Robin Marrouche, executive director of the Kimball Art Center, said, "It's primarily a fundraiser, so we hope to be able to raise a lot of money for the Kimball Art Center and our free education programs and exhibits, and also the 20 other charities we're able to support with this."


ChAiRiTy Lift
Friday, December 17th
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Grand Summit Resort Ballroom
4000 Canyons Resort Dr, Park City
Tickets:
- $50.00 per person in advance
- $75.00 per person week of the event
Presented by Kimball Arts Center Besides 20 artists, 20 corporations have put their creative talents into other lift chairs, like one that can be found at Skullcandy. Twenty five percent of the proceeds will go to charity, in this case, the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

"One of our employees, Johnny Mack, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and he's recovering now," Skullcandy designer Mike Odland, says. "That kind of grabbed our hearts and made us think about other people in that situation."

The very romantic lift chair, designed by Gygaplex Architects, will benefit the University of Utah Architecture program, which builds homes on the Navajo Reservation.

Our KSL designer added a 3D LED TV to one lift chair with a Blu-ray edition of "White Christmas." The proceeds from that one will go to Quarters for Christmas.

Many who are part of "Charity Lift" say they have fond memories of riding the lifts at The Canyons; now some will take a piece of history home with them.

The eBay portion of "Charity Lift" runs through December 15th. The Kimball Art Center auction takes place December 17th.

[Peter]

It's orange alright!

Attached File(s)

•  1291991040orange-bubble-line.jpg (59.55K)
  Number of downloads: 74

[floridaskier]

Good for them. It's great that they got it done, and now the delays can be forgotten. That orange glass on both new lifts is a really nice touch.

I'm surprised they didn't put up a new website yet with the new logo. Has anyone been and seen a trail map hard copy for this year? The Facebook page has the new branding, but the resort website is the same

The first 100 people in line got these orange Oakley goggles

[SkiLiftsRock]

Lift Dinosaur, on 09 December 2010 - 05:02 PM, said:

A consideration here is whether the Orange Bubble is even designed for downhill loading. While 25% downhill loading is pretty standard in a lift's design, anything more costs $$ in design and equipment.

Dino

Is there something wrong with downloading? A Ski Lift should be able to deal with people downloading because if it couldn't, then it wouldn't be safe. Right?

[Lift Dinosaur]

SkiLiftsRock, on 10 December 2010 - 05:43 PM, said:

Is there something wrong with downloading? A Ski Lift should be able to deal with people downloading because if it couldn't, then it wouldn't be safe. Right?

"Right?"
No. It has to be designed for downhill loading. Ski lifts are designed as uphill transportation. Next time you ride a lift, look at the number of sheaves on the uphill side of the tower as opposed to the downhill side. If it takes 8 to carry a fully loaded line uphill, it probably only need 4 to carry an empty line downhill. If you plan for 100% downhill loading, you need 8 sheave on each side = $$$. Then consider what it takes to haul 2400pph uphill, and what it would take to HOLD BACK 2400pph downhill. Add into the mix auxiliary operation (you will need a lock-up torque converter for 100% downhill loading if you have to go to aux mode....and things get complicated...and expensive.
Make any sense?
Dino

[Andy1962]

SkiLiftsRock, on 10 December 2010 - 05:43 PM, said:

Is there something wrong with downloading? A Ski Lift should be able to deal with people downloading because if it couldn't, then it wouldn't be safe. Right?

See this picture from the Images forum for the new Vail lift, High Noon Express.

Looks like the picture shows the lift during the Load Test, with the sand bags being unloaded at the top of the lift.
The ski lift is designed for full load on the upload side but not for the download side. Can a Ski lift enginner confirm whether my observation is correct?

Attached File(s)

•  vail1.jpg (2.97K)
  Number of downloads: 74

This post has been edited by Andy1962: 10 December 2010 - 07:00 PM

[SkiLiftsRock]

Lift Dinosaur, on 10 December 2010 - 06:43 PM, said:

"Right?"
No. It has to be designed for downhill loading. Ski lifts are designed as uphill transportation. Next time you ride a lift, look at the number of sheaves on the uphill side of the tower as opposed to the downhill side. If it takes 8 to carry a fully loaded line uphill, it probably only need 4 to carry an empty line downhill. If you plan for 100% downhill loading, you need 8 sheave on each side = $. Then consider what it takes to haul 2400pph uphill, and what it would take to HOLD BACK 2400pph downhill. Add into the mix auxiliary operation (you will need a lock-up torque converter for 100% downhill loading if you have to go to aux mode....and things get complicated...and expensive.
Make any sense?
Dino

Thanks for explaining that. It make a lot more sense. Would it be okay if a bull wheel rider went down and back?
I have passed ski patrol on the downloading side of the lift line when I am going up. I guess that is ok.

This post has been edited by SkiLiftsRock: 10 December 2010 - 10:34 PM

[Andy1962]

Andy1962, on 10 December 2010 - 06:45 PM, said:

See this picture from the Images forum for the new Vail lift, High Noon Express.

Looks like the picture shows the lift during the Load Test, with the sand bags being unloaded at the top of the lift.
The ski lift is designed for full load on the upload side but not for the download side. Can a Ski lift enginner confirm whether my observation is correct?

posting Dec 9,2010 3:38pm by Skier the two Vail High Noon pictures
http://www.skilifts....t=0

This post has been edited by Andy1962: 11 December 2010 - 03:01 AM

[liftmech]

SkiLiftsRock, on 10 December 2010 - 08:30 PM, said:

Thanks for explaining that. It make a lot more sense. Would it be okay if a bull wheel rider went down and back?
I have passed ski patrol on the downloading side of the lift line when I am going up. I guess that is ok.

Yes. One person isn't going to make the lift run away. It's when you have too much load on a lift that isn't designed for it that you've got to worry.

[boardski]

The other consideration about downloading on a chairlift is unloading at the bottom. There usually is no ramp to unload so the skiers or riders must remove their equipment and carry it on the chair with them and walk off at the bottom therefore the lift must be slowed or stopped when each passenger reaches the bottom. I have noticed this on Exhibition lift at A-Basin during late season when skiers or riders must ride the lift down to the base when they are finished skiing/riding and on Super Gauge at Mary Jane when people occassionally download for whatever reason. A Basin always loaded 1 person every fourth chair and I have never seen more than 2 people in a chair at Mary Jane and never consecutive chairs. Considering these factors, it is easier to use gondolas for downloading since most of them seem to be designed for it and can take a full load in either direction. Since passengers already must remove their equipment, unloading at the bottom is very quick and efficient, enough that passengers awaiting to upload can hop in the same car as people rode down in as soon as it is vaccated. It is unfortunate there is not enough snow to ski to the base though, hopefully that will change soon. I'll do a snow dance.

[floridaskier]

I noticed in the opening day pictures and videos online that the employee jackets still have the old logo. Maybe they should have waited a year to roll it out, it only seems to be showing up on the Facebook page and nowhere else.

[Peter]

Very cool album showing how they evac people from the Orange Bubble Express who are over the new snowmaking pond: http://www.flickr.co...ith/5239737903/