Jump to content


Breckenridge Then and Now


7 replies to this topic

#1 DonaldMReif

    Established User

  • Member
  • 1,980 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 10:40 AM

In the last ten years, there have been some noticeable modifications to many of the high speed quads and six packs at Breckenridge that mostly are aesthetic. Sometimes, you don't really pay attention to them. However, I do notice them. Here are a couple examples:

For example, the Mercury SuperChair:

As it looked prior to 2007:
Posted Image

2011:
Posted Image
Today:
Posted Image
What's different between these photos?

In the 2004 photo, you see a giant blue sign standing in front of the lift terminal. The terminal is also gray, not beige, and the lift name is printed in large white letters, as are the Breckenridge 'B' and the Poma logo.

In 2008, Breckenridge repainted the Mercury and Rocky Mountain SuperChairs, giving them a fresh coat of beige paint, but also striking the lift names off the terminals. Hence, for a single season, there was no name printed directly on the lift terminals of either lift. Then in 2009, Breckenridge added the little blue tabs on the bottom lift terminals with the lift name printed in white Times New Roman on a blue background.

No name signage, however, can be found now on the upper terminals of either lift. The third difference is that there are loading gates in the first two photos, which were taken off in 2012, hence the reason why they are not present in the last photo (New Year's Day 2013).

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 10 November 2013 - 03:34 PM

YouTube channel for chairlift POV videos and other random stuff:
https://www.youtube....TimeQueenOfRome

#2 DonaldMReif

    Established User

  • Member
  • 1,980 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 10:41 AM

Here's another comparison example. What's different in these two photos of the Falcon SuperChair, first one from 2011 and the other from 2013, both taken from the same place at roughly the same angle:

2011:
Posted Image

2013:
Posted Image

Answer: the difference is that the blue sign you can see to the left of the lift shack in the 2011 photo has been replaced with a smaller one that's directly behind the operator's shack in my line of sight. The other difference is that the gates have been removed, like the Mercury SuperChair.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 10 November 2013 - 03:49 PM

YouTube channel for chairlift POV videos and other random stuff:
https://www.youtube....TimeQueenOfRome

#3 boardski

    Established User

  • Industry II
  • 760 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 12:38 PM

Looks like the painters are staying employed. It would be interesting to see the Falcon with the original chairs on it. I remember riding Falcon when it was 'F' lift and was a fixed-grip quad. That was a long, slow, cold ride. The Mercury chair was one of the best improvements Breck ever made. The center-bar Riblet 'B' lift was also long and slow and usually had lines overflowing the ropes.
Skiing since 1977, snowboarding since 1989

#4 2milehi

    Established User

  • Industry II
  • 1,035 Posts:
  • Interests:Makin' sparks, breakin' part

Posted 10 November 2013 - 12:40 PM

You have a watchfull eye. I was at Copper Mountain two day ago pointing out features on American Eagle to my wife. She just does not care about appearance, just that the lift runs and doesn't stop when she is on it.

BTW Merc and Falcon don't have load gates anymore.
Anything is possible when you don't understand what you are talking about.

#5 vons

    Established User

  • Industry II
  • 940 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 01:24 PM

Funny thing about load gates, they don't always improve loading efficiency, we tried them for a season on American flyer and they worked so well that they now live in the bone yard :w00t: .

#6 DonaldMReif

    Established User

  • Member
  • 1,980 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 03:48 PM

 boardski, on 10 November 2013 - 12:38 PM, said:

Looks like the painters are staying employed. It would be interesting to see the Falcon with the original chairs on it. I remember riding Falcon when it was 'F' lift and was a fixed-grip quad. That was a long, slow, cold ride. The Mercury chair was one of the best improvements Breck ever made. The center-bar Riblet 'B' lift was also long and slow and usually had lines overflowing the ropes.

I think part of it also has to do with the fact that the Mercury SuperChair starts in a better location. The only trails you could actually do completely while lapping Lift B were Upper Lehman, Briar Rose, and Cashier (before the Mercury SuperChair was built, Cashier went down what is now Country Boy, and the Country Boy designation was used on what is now Lower Cashier). For the trails from current Cashier over to American, it was necessary to use the Beaver Run SuperChair. The Mercury SuperChair starting at its current location makes it possible to get over to upper Peak 9 from the trails on Peak 10 without going down into Beaver Run (given that Lift B did not start where you could reach it from Ten Mile Station without taking Lift A).
YouTube channel for chairlift POV videos and other random stuff:
https://www.youtube....TimeQueenOfRome

#7 DonaldMReif

    Established User

  • Member
  • 1,980 Posts:

Posted 10 November 2013 - 04:01 PM

 boardski, on 10 November 2013 - 12:38 PM, said:

Looks like the painters are staying employed. It would be interesting to see the Falcon with the original chairs on it. I remember riding Falcon when it was 'F' lift and was a fixed-grip quad. That was a long, slow, cold ride. The Mercury chair was one of the best improvements Breck ever made. The center-bar Riblet 'B' lift was also long and slow and usually had lines overflowing the ropes.

This isn't mine, but this is a photo of the Falcon SuperChair with the original 1985 chairs:
Posted Image

Speaking of which, here's another before & after for you.

Here's the view from the upper part of Crystal in 1999:
Posted Image

Here are two views in 2013 showing the same background scenery, though taken from a spot further down the lift line:
Posted Image

Posted Image

In addition to the obvious difference of the Falcon SuperChair's chairs, there are also these:

1. In the 1999 photo, you can see the original Quicksilver SuperChair on Eldorado (this photo was taken the winter before the current Quicksilver SuperChair that runs up Silverthorne was built). This was one of only two winters where the Mercury SuperChair and the 1981 Quicksilver SuperChair operated concurrently.

2. In the 1999 photo, there are no trails south of Silverthorne. In the 2013 photo, there is an additional trail - Frontier - which was cut in 2007. Additionally, you can see that Silverthorne was a lot narrower than the "open meadow" look it has today with Quicksilver on it.

3. I think Ten Mile Station opened in 1998, a year ahead of the current Quicksilver, but due to the low resolution of the picture, it is hard to determine if it was present in the 1999 photo.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 11 November 2013 - 06:57 AM

YouTube channel for chairlift POV videos and other random stuff:
https://www.youtube....TimeQueenOfRome

#8 DonaldMReif

    Established User

  • Member
  • 1,980 Posts:

Posted 18 December 2013 - 07:05 AM

For a last year to this year one, the Peak 8 SuperConnect's loading area has changed, as it has been converted from a 90 degree load lift to an in-line loading lift, both to reduce stops and slows for misloads, and also to allow for a second queue entrance for people coming from Sawmill.

Last season:
Posted Image

This season:
Posted Image
YouTube channel for chairlift POV videos and other random stuff:
https://www.youtube....TimeQueenOfRome





1 User(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users