15 replies to this topic

[skiersage]

I just got a new copy of SKI magazine and the top ten resorts for lifts are in it. and they are:

1. Mammoth Mountain, CA
2. Snowbasin, UT
3. Whistler/Blackcomb, BC
4. Mt. Bachelor, OR
5. Deer Valley, UT
6. Vail, CO
7. Sun Valley, ID
8. Sunday River, ME
9. Squaw Valley, CA
10. Holiday Valley, NY

Do you guys think this right or not?

[ski_Lift_modeler]

WTF

SUNDAY RIVER!!??! OVER SQUAW?~?!?!?!? what the hell are these guys smoking..

im an eastie and theres no way any of our mountains should be on there especially sunday river with most of the peaks being accesed by slow ass yan's

[SkiBachelor]

Number #1 should be the Yellowstone Club with 4 HSQs and 1 double chair and a few transfer lifts.

Actually, there is a ski area in Quebec I believe that has only 2 HSQs and that's it.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Quote

Actually, there is a ski area in Quebec I believe that has only 2 HSQs and that's it.

Mont Sainte-Marie or Bromont? (maybe a forgot one)

Besides the 3 big resorts (Mt. Sainte-Anne and Tremblant and maybe Mont Saint-Sauveur), high speed lifts aren't common in Quebec.

This post has been edited by Dr Frankenstein: 25 October 2005 - 07:52 PM

[edmontonguy]

Snow Basin, Sun valley and Bachelor all deserve to be on there, as each resort has made a commitment to High Speed Lifts and as a result there are some of the longest, and most efficient high speed lifts at these mountains. What is nice is all of these mountains have only 1 or 2 lifts required to reach any where on the mountain or only one or 2 lifts to the summit. Shorter lift times and more terrain is the key here. I would like to have seen Kicking Horse on the list, in my opinion a lift system cannot be much better than one lift that accesses nearlly all the terrain on the mountain, as well it's a speedy trip for 1200m of vertical, something only a handful of resorts can boast.

[SkiBachelor]

What about Grouse Mountain? It has two aerial trams and then two HSQs for the entire mountain with the exception of one back up double.

[Jonni]

I'm not sure what the statistics were based on. Weren't the ski magazine ratings based their reader surveys? Most readers probably wouldn't base there ideas on uphill capacity, but maybe more on how many times the lift slows or stops, or how good the liftys are at their job, maybe the condition of the lift. Since it was a reader poll, I think it depended more apon what the people liked about the lifts rather than the statistical figures of the lifts at any particular mountain.

[edmontonguy]

It's not just the uphill capacity which matters. If it is a reader poll then what matters more is the fact that people enjoyed their lift experience. I'm not an expert on crowding at either resort but if snow basin's lift system means less lift lines for skiier then of course the experience will be more enjoyable as no one likes to wait in lines. The three HS lifts at snowbasin also offer nearly 700m vertical each. To a skiier spending large amounts of time skiing on a run give the impression that you are accomplishing more skiing in the day than shorter laps on a smaller lift. You're lucky to acheive 3 runs an hour on a 700m vertical lift. At DV most of the HSQs are about half the length leading to more lap skiing. Even if both resorts had the same number of people skiing on a given day you would percieve the lift lines to be shorter on the longer lifts as opposed the shorter lifts. This is just how skilifts work.

[Lift Dinosaur]

SkiBachelor, on Oct 25 2005, 07:46 PM, said:

Number #1 should be the Yellowstone Club with 4 HSQs and 1 double chair and a few transfer lifts.

Actually, there is a ski area in Quebec I believe that has only 2 HSQs and that's it.

Why Yellowstone Club? I heard a few year's back that their "Big Day" was 72 skiers. Are you looking for "Lonely"?

Jonni, on Oct 26 2005, 06:49 AM, said:

I'm not sure what the statistics were based on. Weren't the ski magazine ratings based their reader surveys? Most readers probably wouldn't base there ideas on uphill capacity, but maybe more on how many times the lift slows or stops, or how good the liftys are at their job, maybe the condition of the lift. Since it was a reader poll, I think it depended more apon what the people liked about the lifts rather than the statistical figures of the lifts at any particular mountain.

Good call!

formerliftforeman, on Oct 26 2005, 01:51 PM, said:

sultan,wasatch,quincy,empire,silverlake,carpenter,northside,ruby,and silver strike, lets see that 9 hsq's and one hs gondola, at Deer Valley.
Snowbasin
Needles Express Gondola,Strawberry Express Gondola,John Paul Express Quad, 2 hs dolas and one hsq,,
wtf?? how can they be rated 2 over DV when in fact the 9 hsq at dv move more people in one hr than the 3 hs lifts at snowbasin.
How was the survey condustced? And those people( probly readers) have no idea what they are talking about.
Does anyone knwo if the new mag is online yet?
For some reson i can't find Ski Magzine out here in the midwest , then again trucks tops dont carry it. ;)

Bill, let's bring back spell check. (No offense FLF)

[SkiBachelor]

Well, the Yellowstone Club does have the best lift system I think, even if there are only 72 people skiing there a day. There are no lift lines (we all like that) and plus 4 high-speed quads to get you were you want to go.

Maybe I'm not understanding this survey that well, but for the types of lifts available for the entire ski area and the amount of skiers, the Yellowstone Club has to be ranked very high. Of course it's probably left out since it's a private ski area and the results would be unfair.

[pcvulcan]

[ackkkkkkkkk !!!

oh sorry, did you catch me getting sick. i wish all former employees were so into,(cough) into thier ex work as frmrlftforman

[liftmech]

I think that's the hokiest survey I've ever heard of. If they base it off how many high-speed lifts an area has, that leaves out many areas with no quads but still with intelligent lift layout. If they base it off uphill capacity an area with three lifts will not be on the list, even if the lines there are short.

[floridaskier]

I don't get how Snowbasin can be on there at all. They have the two long gondolas and one long HSQ, and the rest are pretty old doubles and triples. I don't like the idea of doing laps on a gondola, having to take your skis off every time. TR's right, they should definetly be below DV. I think Vail should be higher too. I'd like to see how they decided on the top 10

[skiersage]

Okay, the truth is that there is no real basis for how these resorts are ranked. You have to remember that this is a READER RESORT SURVEY. This means that random people with subscriptions get to decide who wins. This is why the bigger resorts get the most votes. If you take yellowstone club for example, they may have the most efficient lift system but they will never get voted on that way because there are only a small amount of people that get to go there. so basically what I am saying is that the most popular resorts will win these things not the most appropriate ones.

[iceberg210]

One resort that in my opinion should definately get somewhere on this list is Snowbird. With a tram and three HSQ's as well as an intelligent lift design I am fairly suprised it isn't on there.

[Duck]

WTF mates? Blue Mountain up here in Ontario has 4 six-packs!

-Iain