186 replies to this topic

[Nor'eastSkier]

LiftTech, on 05 March 2011 - 05:57 AM, said:

Along with the new six pack lift comes upgrades to the Grand Summit Express high speed quad. The upgrades include enclosing the terminal at the base of the mountain to shield guests from weather elements and replacing all 172 of the chairs with new chairs that feature safety bars and footrests.

I'm happy to here that they're replacing the chairs.
However, I'm a little bit confused as to what they mean in terms of "enclosing the base terminal". Are they just going to making it look the all of the other Poma retrofits of Yan detachables, or are they going to actually build a structure around the terminal? To me this seems like the only thing that would "shield guests from weather elements".

This post has been edited by Nor'eastSkier: 07 March 2011 - 10:43 AM

[skierdude9450]

That's sad that they're replacing the Yan teardrop chairs. I wonder if Grand Summit Express will now become a backup lift for the six-pack. It seems quite excessive to have 6,000+ p/h uphill capacity and that sounds like some dangerously crowded slopes.

[Marc Shepherd]

Nor'eastSkier, on 07 March 2011 - 10:43 AM, said:

I'm happy to here that they're replacing the chairs.
I'm a little bit confused as to what they mean in terms of "enclosing the base terminal". Are they just going to making it look the all of the other Poma retrofits of Yan detachables, or are they going to actually build a structure around the terminal? To me this seems like the only thing that would "shield guests from weather elements".

It must mean a structure around the terminal, as I can’t see any other way that the comment about “shielding guests from the weather elements” would make sense.

skierdude9450, on 07 March 2011 - 11:20 AM, said:

I wonder if Grand Summit Express will now become a backup lift for the six-pack. It seems quite excessive to have 6,000+ p/h uphill capacity and that sounds like some dangerously crowded slopes.

Mount Snow's downhill capacity is much greater than its uphill capacity, because there are a lot of ways down from the summit. In addition, the summit provides access to the lesser-used north face and sunbrook, each of which is a substantial "mountain within a mountain" on its own. I assume the new lift will become the primary, and the current express quad will operate only on weekends and peak days.

On another board, someone mentioned that the two lifts will have slightly different unloading points. We'll have to wait and see the diagrams, before it's clear what they mean by that.

[SkiBachelor]

Marc Shepherd, on 07 March 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

Is this unique in the Eastern U.S.? I am aware of gondolas where the carriers can be taken off the line, but not chairlifts.

Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline (all located in Oregon) have detachable quads which carriers come off at night.

[jaytrem]

SkiBachelor, on 07 March 2011 - 11:53 AM, said:

Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline (all located in Oregon) have detachable quads which carriers come off at night.

In the East you have the quad at Jay Peak.

[Nor'eastSkier]

skierdude9450, on 07 March 2011 - 11:20 AM, said:

That's sad that they're replacing the Yan teardrop chairs. I wonder if Grand Summit Express will now become a backup lift for the six-pack. It seems quite excessive to have 6,000+ p/h uphill capacity and that sounds like some dangerously crowded slopes.

Yeah, but they're the older teardrop chairs, which in my opinion don't look as nice and aren't as comfortable as their newer ones.

[SuperRat]

Its definitely not unique. At Loon we have three detachable quads with parking. Cannon Mt has parking for their quad, I believe Stratton has parking for most if not all of their detachable lifts.

[boardski]

Rumor has it Loveland, CO is replacing #4 chair with FGT this Summer, not sure when it was officially announced though. Anyone heard any details??

[Lift Dinosaur]

I don't know about Loveland's press release, but the contract was signed back in October. (That was about the time they were busy getting open)
You might contact them directly.
Dino

[Peter]

Vail Resorts announced a new High Speed Quad for Northstar-at-Tahoe. It will be an additional lift on the backside of the mountain and presumably built by Doppelmayr.

http://www.prnewswir...-117674133.html

[Peter]

Whitefish Mountain Resort will be adding a used triple chair to the village area called Bad Rock.

Trail map: http://skiwhitefish...._front_1011.jpg

The lift is 30 years old and from a resort on the East Coast.

[Peter]

We should know tomorrow, March 10th, about Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek and Sun Down at Vail. Vail Resorts traditionally lists all their capital improvements for the year in their 2nd quarter earnings call which takes place tomorrow.

[boardski]

Lift Dinosaur, on 09 March 2011 - 06:47 AM, said:

I don't know about Loveland's press release, but the contract was signed back in October. (That was about the time they were busy getting open)
You might contact them directly.
Dino

I believe you, I was just curious to see if anything was written up including the specs similar to what A-Basin wrote up when they replaced Exhibition lift. Maybe they are planning to announce it closer to the end of the season. I'll send them E mail and see if they have any details yet.

[Peter]

Looks like Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek is a go but Sun Down at Vail is not happening this year.

Quote

Calendar Year 2011 Resort Capital Expenditure Plan

The Company currently anticipates it will spend approximately $83 million to $93 million of Resort capital expenditures in calendar 2011, excluding Northstar-at-Tahoe, which includes $40 million to $44 million of "maintenance capital" necessary to maintain the appearance and level of service appropriate to the Company's resort operations, including routine replacement of snow grooming equipment and rental fleet equipment. In addition, the Company also plans to invest an additional $28 million to $32 million at Northstar-at-Tahoe, which includes $4 million to $6 million of "maintenance capital". Some highlights of the calendar year 2011 capital expenditure plan include a new on-mountain fine dining restaurant at Vail, a new high speed quad chairlift to replace the existing fixed grip lift in the Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek, upgrades and additions of new functionality in a second generation release of the Epic Mix application, further investments in marketing initiatives including customer relationship marketing (CRM) systems, new family programming at Keystone to build on this year's successful efforts to reestablish Keystone as a premier family mountain, renovations at certain owned Lodging properties, and several new Retail store buildouts. The highlights for Northstar-at-Tahoe include the addition of a new high speed lift serving expanded terrain and new ski runs adjacent to the existing Backside lift expanding skiable terrain at the resort by 10%, a new 500-seat state-of-the-art on-mountain skier restaurant at the top of the Zephyr Express lift, and enhancements to the base village in conjunction with the introduction of new tenants. Included in the capital plan for Northstar-at-Tahoe is $2.5 million in information technology spending for the integration and transition of the resort to the systems of Vail Resorts. All of the proposed capital projects are subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

[DonaldMReif]

Skier, on 10 March 2011 - 07:59 AM, said:

Looks like Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek is a go but Sun Down at Vail is not happening this year.

Anything about the on-mountain dining restaurant at Vail?

[Andy1962]

DonaldMReif, on 10 March 2011 - 11:00 AM, said:

Anything about the on-mountain dining restaurant at Vail?

question answered in the full quotation posted above

"Some highlights of the calendar year 2011 capital expenditure plan include a new on-mountain fine dining restaurant at Vail"

[boardski]

boardski, on 10 March 2011 - 06:26 AM, said:

I believe you, I was just curious to see if anything was written up including the specs similar to what A-Basin wrote up when they replaced Exhibition lift. Maybe they are planning to announce it closer to the end of the season. I'll send them E mail and see if they have any details yet.

Sure enough (my E-mail response from Loveland):
"We are replacing Lift 4 with a fixed grip triple. We are keeping it in the
same spot as the current lift and are starting construction in May. Hope
this info helps."

Thanks
Carly

I presume Leitner-Poma will be the manufacturer, although I did not ask about that specifically.

This post has been edited by boardski: 10 March 2011 - 08:17 PM

[jaytrem]

Stowe has announced they're replacing the existing Four Runner HSQ with a new one. Will have chair storage. Not sure what brand.

http://www.stowetoda...1cc4c03286.html

This post has been edited by jaytrem: 18 March 2011 - 06:10 AM

[Peter]

jaytrem, on 18 March 2011 - 06:08 AM, said:

Stowe has announced they're replacing the existing Four Runner HSQ with a new one. Will have chair storage. Not sure what brand.

http://www.stowetoda...1cc4c03286.html

It will be built by Doppelmayr. Interesting because Stowe has 3 newish Leitner-Poma detachables.

[Peter]

2 more to add:

Massanutten, Virginia will be replacing Chair 5 with a Doppelmayr quad.

Roundtop, Pennsylvania will be replacing the Exhibition double with a Doppelmayr quad.