507 replies to this topic

[tcs]

I'm a little confused about the "new" gondi at Keystone. I thought they were just going to move the lower terminal across the river. So wouldn't they use Von Roll who did the last rehab of the exisitng system? Either that or have Dopp rebuild it to match the second gondola.

TCS

[poloxskier]

tcs, on Jun 16 2006, 08:11 PM, said:

I'm a little confused about the "new" gondi at Keystone. I thought they were just going to move the lower terminal across the river. So wouldn't they use Von Roll who did the last rehab of the exisitng system? Either that or have Dopp rebuild it to match the second gondola.

TCS

The released info has stated that the lower terminal will just be relocated and upgraded but word arround the mountain is that Keystone is also looking at the possibility for a full replacement since the current River Run is one of the highest time lifts in Colorado.

This post has been edited by poloxskier: 16 June 2006 - 08:43 PM

[SkiBachelor]

tcs, on Jun 16 2006, 09:11 PM, said:

I'm a little confused about the "new" gondi at Keystone. I thought they were just going to move the lower terminal across the river. So wouldn't they use Von Roll who did the last rehab of the exisitng system? Either that or have Dopp rebuild it to match the second gondola.

TCS

Von Roll was purchased by Doppelmayr in the mid 90s. I guess those Von Roll grips aren't very friendly to work on and take about 5 hours to do a grip rebuild compared to the new grips which are about 45 minutes.

[vons]

I had also herd that a new gondola is being looked into, mostly due to the high hours on the existing gondola and part availability issues. I wouldn’t list Keystone as buying L-P from now on or for the new gondola, Doppelmayr has done a few upgrade projects on existing lifts since Ruby, such as new electronics on the existing river run gondola. Price might be the biggest factor there.
For in new lifts 07', I would be surprised if Vail doesn't do a project. VAIL had 4-5 that they were thinking of doing this year but put off mostly because of the massive amounts of money being spent on real estate development, with the Lions Head redevelopment and, Vail village front door project to name a few. I would look for replacement of either chairs 5, 14 or 10 next summer or the building of a gondola west of Lions Head, this lift will be another super short gondola to nowhere (base terminal is planned to be located at the gas station between Lions Head and Cascade Village, the top is Pride lift's base but it might only be to the trial directly above, the lift will not serve any ski terrain just get people to the hill and from it). Unfortunately the gondola is very likely because it is a real estate project. I think chair 2 at Vail is coming out soon also no replacement planned, though I hope they at least think about up grading Vista Bahn in the next few years
I have herd that Beaver Creek might replace Centennial due to high operation hours in the next few years. Rose Bowl is another possibility that is very likely. I wonder if Beaver Creek will copy PCR and replace one of their beginner lifts with a HSQ since after Rose bowl is replaced those will be the only fixed grip lifts left.

[poloxskier]

vons, on Jun 17 2006, 12:25 PM, said:

or the building of a gondola west of Lions Head, this lift will be another super short gondola to nowhere (base terminal is planned to be located at the gas station between Lions Head and Cascade Village, the top is Pride lift's base but it might only be to the trial directly above, the lift will not serve any ski terrain just get people to the hill and from it).

Well I guess the free employee lot wil dissapear with this project too.

[chairliftpaint]

I have hear rumor that Big Sky could possibly be pulling their Gondola and replacing it with a new one. Or a HSQ. As for the coments about Lutsen and new lifts. Pretty sure that is not going to happen. I just contracted a bunch of painting with them.




www.chairliftpaint.com

[vons]

Ya the plan I had seen has the vihicle mantinance facility and the commercial building nextdoor removed, South frontage road realined next to the hi-way, then development over everything else. All parking in the vail area is going underground. I love forking over at lest $10

[skiersage]

skier2, on Jun 13 2006, 04:44 PM, said:

Indianhead Mountain, MI: Mountain Express: (no brand specified) High Speed Quad

I actually asked Indianhead about the HSQ. They gave me a very vague answer. And I quote (copy and pasted from the email):

Quote

There are plans for one in the future but I'm not sure when.

If they do indeed put it in next summer, I will not be happy. After all, I have all winter this year to ski Indianhead but next year I will most likely be out west some where.

[boardski]

vons, on Jun 17 2006, 02:25 PM, said:

I had also herd that a new gondola is being looked into, mostly due to the high hours on the existing gondola and part availability issues. I wouldn’t list Keystone as buying L-P from now on or for the new gondola, Doppelmayr has done a few upgrade projects on existing lifts since Ruby, such as new electronics on the existing river run gondola. Price might be the biggest factor there.
For in new lifts 07', I would be surprised if Vail doesn't do a project. VAIL had 4-5 that they were thinking of doing this year but put off mostly because of the massive amounts of money being spent on real estate development, with the Lions Head redevelopment and, Vail village front door project to name a few. I would look for replacement of either chairs 5, 14 or 10 next summer or the building of a gondola west of Lions Head, this lift will be another super short gondola to nowhere (base terminal is planned to be located at the gas station between Lions Head and Cascade Village, the top is Pride lift's base but it might only be to the trial directly above, the lift will not serve any ski terrain just get people to the hill and from it). Unfortunately the gondola is very likely because it is a real estate project. I think chair 2 at Vail is coming out soon also no replacement planned, though I hope they at least think about up grading Vista Bahn in the next few years
I have herd that Beaver Creek might replace Centennial due to high operation hours in the next few years. Rose Bowl is another possibility that is very likely. I wonder if Beaver Creek will copy PCR and replace one of their beginner lifts with a HSQ since after Rose bowl is replaced those will be the only fixed grip lifts left.

Are you sure it is not chair 1 which is coming out with no replacement?? Removing chair 2 (Avanti HSQ) would be a huge mistake. It is normally a very busy lift. Chair 1 on the other hand is rarely used although is a nice uncrowded alternative (when it's running) to the Vista Bahn (chair 16).

I would look for the HSS replacement for Timberline at MJ (at Winter Park) to be installed in '07. The might do the Sunnyside replacement and relocation (to replace Looking Glass and Arrow) that year also. Not sure how soon they are wanting to upgrade Zephyr.

We may also see Arapahoe Basin start on their upgrades. Sounds like a capacity upgrade and realignment for Exhibition, I assume it would involve replacing the exising triple and new lift in Montezuma Bowl. The latter might be pushed into '08 or later, haven't heard anything recent.

[skiersage]

boardski, on Jun 18 2006, 11:48 AM, said:

I would look for the HSS replacement for Timberline at MJ (at Winter Park) to be installed in '07. The might do the Sunnyside replacement and relocation (to replace Looking Glass and Arrow) that year also. Not sure how soon they are wanting to upgrade Zephyr.

There is now a rumor of an open air gondola at winter park.

Quote

WINTER PARK (AP) - Aiming to keep up with competitors with more amenities for visitors, the Winter Park ski resort has kicked off construction of a multimillion-dollar base village.

The expansion's first phase, expected to cost between $70 million to $100 million, includes two, four-story residential buildings, about 20,000 square feet of commercial space, parking and an open-air gondola.

I wonder how this would affect the plan mentioned above?
Source:
http://www.colorados...topic.php?t=526

[vons]

Woops I meant Chair 1 , Avanti is not going anywhere unless they decide to upgrade some of those older quads, which I doubt, those lifts work fine from all accounts I have herd.

[SkiBachelor]

The open air gondola at Winter Park is actually going to be a short cabriolet lift that will run from the parking area to the village. This is a planned lift and it was talked about in SAM Magazine not too long ago.

[skierdude9450]

vons, on Jun 18 2006, 05:47 PM, said:

Woops I meant Chair 1 , Avanti is not going anywhere unless they decide to upgrade some of those older quads, which I doubt, those lifts work fine from all accounts I have herd.

Are you serious! I wouldn't be at all surprised if Avanti goes. (With a replacement of course) It has almost daily mechanical issues! More than 5 days this year I saw it down. One time it was stopped for at least half an hour due to cadence chain problems where there were three chairs stacked up against each other at the loading zone!!

[hyak.net]

Not sure if this has been mentioned here, but someone posted a link on my website that 49' N near Spokane is adding new runs in an undeveloped section (new terrain). I'd guess that new lifts would be needed to reach this new area so there must be something happening there.

[Peter]

Yeah, that is this summer, not 2007. It is a used CTEC quad. See new lifts summer 2006 thread.

[liftmech]

vons, on Jun 18 2006, 05:47 PM, said:

Woops I meant Chair 1 , Avanti is not going anywhere unless they decide to upgrade some of those older quads, which I doubt, those lifts work fine from all accounts I have herd.

Chair one is gone as of last week; the terminals might still be there but the line is in the parking lot. Looks strange not to have another lift near 16, but by all accounts the thing never ran. I know I've never seen it operate in the last four years. Anyone know if the lift is for sale or if it's just going for scrap?

[Lift Kid]

skierdude9450, on Jun 18 2006, 08:06 PM, said:

Are you serious! I wouldn't be at all surprised if Avanti goes. (With a replacement of course) It has almost daily mechanical issues! More than 5 days this year I saw it down. One time it was stopped for at least half an hour due to cadence chain problems where there were three chairs stacked up against each other at the loading zone!!

I would be happy if they replaced it with a new hsq or a hss. It is from the 80's and is one of the most crowded lift on the front side and it also has the most mechanical issues.

[yetigonecrazy]

Crested Butte is going to update the Painter Boy and Gold Link triples and turn them into FGQ's. A new lodge is going up on top of Red Lady, and if they have time theyre going to build a new triple chair out of Teocalli Bowl. The two lifts updates will happen, the Teo Bowl lift is an extra that might get pushed back to 2008. we'll see.

[poloxskier]

liftmech, on Jun 20 2006, 06:11 AM, said:

Chair one is gone as of last week; the terminals might still be there but the line is in the parking lot. Looks strange not to have another lift near 16, but by all accounts the thing never ran. I know I've never seen it operate in the last four years. Anyone know if the lift is for sale or if it's just going for scrap?

It ran every day I was at Vail this year, usualy just the first 2 hours on weekdays and all day on the weekends. Last I heard the chairs will be sold off but the rest is going to scrap.

[vons]

some parts might live on in Highline and Minnes for a few more years, Vail does has a huge boneyard but most will have the same fate as the old gondola, the smelter