14 replies to this topic

[Snowy Ferries]

Here's a little bit of food for thought: How does riding a lift during Winter compare with riding the same lift During Summer?


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I've taken the liberty of creating a video that depicts that question...
https://www.youtube....h?v=9oLHKG5gAO4

Anyways, its an interesting question for me. How do they compare? Is one better than the other?

It's weird how the same exact lift ride can be made so different by adding or removing that white stuff...

[RibStaThiok]

I wonder if it feels different on say.. a FGT running at 500 FPM during the summer vs winter.. Well only you lifties can answer that. The only lifts I've ridden in the summer have been the old Yan Park City Pay Day back in the 80s up to the alpine slide when I was a kid a few times, and that was run at say.. 250-300FPM I am imagining for summer ops.. And then the Needles Express gondola at Snowbasin during summer ops. Ran at half speed. :( I've always wanted to ride the lifts in the summertime up and down at normal wintertime speeds.

[RibStaThiok]

I wonder if it feels different on say.. a FGT running at 500 FPM during the summer vs winter.. Well only you lifties can answer that. The only lifts I've ridden in the summer have been the old Yan Park City Pay Day back in the 80s up to the alpine slide when I was a kid a few times, and that was run at say.. 250-300FPM I am imagining for summer ops.. And then the Needles Express gondola at Snowbasin during summer ops. Ran at half speed. :( I've always wanted to ride the lifts in the summertime up and down at normal wintertime speeds.

[SkiDaBird]

The Snowbird Tram actually smells OK during summer. As much as I love feet and beer.

[Smacpats]

RibStaThiok, on 06 June 2016 - 10:16 PM, said:

I've always wanted to ride the lifts in the summertime up and down at normal wintertime speeds.

The Stratton Gondola is going up and down during Summer at normal op speed (or at least from what I can tell). I never ride it up though, because you can hike up and take it down without having to pay!

Memorial Day weekend was Bromley's start of Summer ops, so I drove over to get a ride on the zipline. I highly doubt they were running Sun lift (1982 Von-Roll double that goes about 2,000 feet to access alpine slide and zipline) at Full speed, because the lifties had enough time to put the bar down for you!

[Smacpats]

Winter vs. Summer and Night vs. Day picture of Mountain Village gondola:

[NHskier13]

I've only had the chance to ride a few lifts in the summer. Gunstock's quad multiple times. It runs 500 F/M (compared to it's winter speed 1015) on the line and takes about 12 minutes one way. The view is very good since the summer more often has clear skies and you can see Lake Winnipesaukee very clearly, as well as Mount Washington from the summit. It's a really beautiful view. The trails off the top, some are actually flat which makes me sometimes think about wishing I could bring my mountain bike up and ride down the trails

Loon's gondola I think still rides at the same speed (1000 F/M or so) however an op told me they do slow it down for the elderly. The view pretty really nice, however I personally like it better from the trail Upper Walking Boss which is a bit the other way. Also out of curiosity does anyone (knock knock SuperRat) know what that small body of water visible from Bear Claw Extension is?
Upper Walking Boss in the winter ;  SAM_5431.JPG (965.05K)
Number of downloads: 31

Dat water ;  SAM_1271.JPG (1.56MB)
Number of downloads: 32

Sunapee's high speed quad operates a little faster (I wanna say a little upwards of 600 F/M) and likewise gets you to the top in almost 10 minutes. The view is kinda eh, it's just flat / small mountains as far as you can see but still I like seeing ski areas in the offseason.

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 07 June 2016 - 06:23 AM

[Allan]

The black seat pads are really hot in the summer.

Canadian code limits fixed grip quads to 1.3 m/s for foot passengers.

[julestheshiba]

Squaws tram is usually only good to ride in the summer because it access nothing to special. There are just too many lifts that get you to the same place but in a simpler way. Also it is the only lift open in the summer there.

[sheave]

I can ride a chair downhill in summer (if possible)- I usually wouldn't do this when skiing. And the view when riding downhill can make a big difference.

[Mike12164]

Smacpats, on 07 June 2016 - 05:28 AM, said:

Winter vs. Summer and Night vs. Day picture of Mountain Village gondola:

I like the day vs. night idea, that's another great comparison, I grew up skiing the West Coast of BC where a lot of resorts have night skiing so I kinda took riding the lifts (and skiing back down for that matter) in the dark for granted, never really thought about how odd an idea this might seem to some people.

[NHskier13]

Same, when I was really young there were 5 different ski areas I loved skiing at in the night, never knew other people had never heard of it.

[machskier]

NHskier13, on 07 June 2016 - 06:15 AM, said:

I've only had the chance to ride a few lifts in the summer. Gunstock's quad multiple times. It runs 500 F/M (compared to it's winter speed 1015) on the line and takes about 12 minutes one way. The view is very good since the summer more often has clear skies and you can see Lake Winnipesaukee very clearly, as well as Mount Washington from the summit. It's a really beautiful view. The trails off the top, some are actually flat which makes me sometimes think about wishing I could bring my mountain bike up and ride down the trails

Loon's gondola I think still rides at the same speed (1000 F/M or so) however an op told me they do slow it down for the elderly. The view pretty really nice, however I personally like it better from the trail Upper Walking Boss which is a bit the other way. Also out of curiosity does anyone (knock knock SuperRat) know what that small body of water visible from Bear Claw Extension is?
Upper Walking Boss in the winter ; SAM_5431.JPG

Dat water ; SAM_1271.JPG

Sunapee's high speed quad operates a little faster (I wanna say a little upwards of 600 F/M) and likewise gets you to the top in almost 10 minutes. The view is kinda eh, it's just flat / small mountains as far as you can see but still I like seeing ski areas in the offseason.

The pond off extension is Loon Pond.

This post has been edited by machskier: 11 June 2016 - 12:35 PM

[teachme]

Mike, one of my favourite lifts was Inferno at night. All dark, slow and in the trees. Beautiful. Have not skiied night up there since the HSQ went in so not sure if it still is as nice.

If we could get a few shots of the same lift day/night or summer winter it could be very beautiful to see the contrasts.

TME

[Mike12164]

teachme, on 12 June 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

Mike, one of my favourite lifts was Inferno at night. All dark, slow and in the trees. Beautiful. Have not skiied night up there since the HSQ went in so not sure if it still is as nice.

It's similar as it goes up the same face, in fact if anything it's darker since the line it takes isn't actually a run and is surrounded by thick trees (unlike Inferno, the Olympic goes right to the peak), but at the same time it lacks the character the Inferno had, no strange noise from the towers making you think they might be coming off their foundations no sudden starts and stops, not the same :(

Back on topic I'll have to look through my archives, I was fortunate enough t visit Grouse during the very few seasons they ran the Screaming Eagle for summer ops, I'll see if I have some picture or video comparing that lift.

As for inferno, I didn't own a robust digital camera back then so i don't have many pictures of the hill from those days on my computer.