21 replies to this topic

[AlexVb22]

Hi,

I'm not necessarily new to the forums but I have not really had a good reason to be posting until now so I guess this is my first post .

I'm part of an investment group looking to purchase a resort in Vermont. The resort has 2 lifts. One is 3000' long and the other is 4000' long. I live in Maryland so I can only offer the pictures I have from this past weekend and what the Realtor had taken years back. Mind you they are not very helpful. I will have the (Year, Make and Model) of the lifts soon. We actually just got back last night. It was our first visit to the resort and we had so many ideas to go through that none of us really took a look at them.

These lifts both need to be either replaced or seriously overhauled. If they can be fixed and put back in running condition then there may be hope for this small resort. Otherwise we probably will not proceed.

I'm looking for information pertaining to How overhauling is done, how much it potentially will cost, who I can contact to get an estimate and do the work, and what has to be done to overhaul a lift. I don't believe these lifts have been cycled for quite sometime (8 years at least).

They are double person chair lifts and run by HP 3 Phase electric motors. They are from the late 1960's- early 1970's so I'm told. I don't really understand how they work but there is an 8 cylinder gas engine with a transmission attached to it and then that attached to a few belts and then the electric motor. My guess is it is either for emergency use and/or to start the large electric engine.

I will post pictures soon. And get back to you guys as soon as I get a call from the Realtor with the year make and model.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer,
Alex

[AlexVb22]

[Lift Kid]

Ahh, yes. I believe I read about this area for sale a little while back. Those lifts are manufactured by Hall. As for modifications, Doppelmayr CTEC is the parts supplier for Hall lifts. They are located in Salt Lake City, UT. Website: http://www.doppelmayrctec.com. As for lift replacement, I know that Leitner-Poma, the other aerial lift manufacturer in the US, has a sales office in Stockbridge, VT. Leitner-Poma website: http://www.leitner-poma.com Otherwise, I already mentioned Doppelmayr CTEC in SLC.

[RibStaThiok]

It sure is a beautiful area, I hope you folks can find a way to proceed! I would love to see those old lifts in use again, however it will definitly depend upon how much maintenance they need.

[hvteleman]

lift kid is right on they are Hall lifts. the v8 is a back up means to run skiers off the lift in the event of power loss.being the length of lifts over 3000 it probaly lost intrest due to the long ride time ...id guess close to 20 minutes... go big and think of new high speeds lifts and the skiers will come back

[Limelight]

Would love to see more pictures.

[LiftTech]

Looks like Maple Valley, is it?

[AlexVb22]

LiftTech, on Oct 13 2008, 01:19 PM, said:

Looks like Maple Valley, is it?

that it is..we went up to take a look at thr place and it does need a lot of work. But there is a ton of potential up there. Really we're just trying to see if we can restore the lifts. I don't really want to get into our detailed business plan because that obviously would be just plan stupid. But I will tell you we do plan on updating an possibly running the resort again. Still very much in the planning stage but once we enter into contract, if we do, I will openly express some ideas we have and try to get feedback from people and maybe even look for more potentail partners in this perticular venture.anyhow, thks so much for the help thus far...Alex

[LiftTech]

AlexVb22, on Oct 13 2008, 04:15 PM, said:

that it is..we went up to take a look at thr place and it does need a lot of work. But there is a ton of potential up there. Really we're just trying to see if we can restore the lifts. I don't really want to get into our detailed business plan because that obviously would be just plan stupid. But I will tell you we do plan on updating an possibly running the resort again. Still very much in the planning stage but once we enter into contract, if we do, I will openly express some ideas we have and try to get feedback from people and maybe even look for more potentail partners in this perticular venture.anyhow, thks so much for the help thus far...Alex

I understand, check your pm's

[AlexVb22]

The lifts are 1963, Hall doubles... According to the Realtor of the property.

Thanks,
Alex

[Peter]

AlexVb22, on Oct 13 2008, 05:39 PM, said:

The lifts are 1963, Hall doubles... According to the Realtor of the property.

Thanks,
Alex

From the lift installation surveys, it appears that the 2743' one is a 1964, and the 3038' one is a 1963. It also says there was a T-Bar built on the property in 1963, is that gone now?

[shoemaniii]

have walked the north lift a few years ago.

towers/foundations may be able to be refurbished: pull-test foundations first, if all is ok then: new sheave liners and bearings, new train bushings, paint, comm line, new derail circuit, grounding
return/foundation may be able to be refurbished: new bullwheel liner and bearings, new ctw rope, new ctw sheave bearings, install bullwheel retention per latest standard, paint, lift house, deck, safeties
drive is toast: needs engine overhaul, motor rewound/serviced, new elec drive, new elec service, new safety system, refurbish service, emergency brakes, all new wiring, new rollback devices, new bullwheel liner, rebuild gearbox, bullwheel retention, safeties, lift house, paint
line: needs new haul rope, disass and NDT 100% grips/carriers, replace grip springs, paint all
engineering: lift design/line analysis, review/physical checks to ensure entire lift meets latest standards
there's more but it's late.......

lift ops, lift maint, and ski patrol staffing/training

permits for snowmaking may have expired (check), have heard power is supplied by genset? if so, needs refurb too.

[Lift Kid]

Wow, sounds like if those tower foundations fail the pull test, it would be better to start over with a new lift. And even if they do pass, I wonder if the lifts are worth keeping, or if they would become a maintenance nightmare.

[Lift Kid]

Here is a link to some pictures of the area, along with a little history:
http://www.nelsap.or...aplevalley.html

Here is a higher quality picture of one of the lifts (in terrible shape) from a NY Times article:

 1.jpg (117.15K)
Number of downloads: 111

[RibStaThiok]

From the sound of that, your probably going to be better off finding a good used lift. There are alot of good ones out there. It's a shame really, I wish there were a way to get those two classics running, but it just does not seem feesable now.

Perhaps a used YAN HSQ? I know Sun Valley may have one or two for sale... There are certainly some good Fixed Grip Doubles and Tripples for sale, YAN, Doppie, Riblet, and Poma..

[Andoman]

The guys I work with at the asphalt company talked about buying this place about 5 or 6 years ago and using it as winter employment for us "seasonal workers" we drove out and looked at it but we couldn't get enough money to 1) purchase the property 2) have enough money for operating expenses the first few years until the place go off the ground. We had a dream but it died, I wish you guys the best of luck, I hate to see a ski area die.

P.S> you need to design a better trail map, the one they had before they closed sucked.

This post has been edited by Andoman: 14 October 2008 - 04:18 PM

[zeedotcom]

This place was listed on eBay for about $3 million 6 or 7 years ago wasn't it? Price seems to have come down significantly.

[LiftTech]

Skier, on Oct 13 2008, 09:22 PM, said:

From the lift installation surveys, it appears that the 2743' one is a 1964, and the 3038' one is a 1963. It also says there was a T-Bar built on the property in 1963, is that gone now?

The T bar was still standing yesterday when I went buy.

[Solaris]

LiftTech, on Oct 19 2008, 07:42 AM, said:

The T bar was still standing yesterday when I went buy.

The lifts themselves probably could be refurbished at considerable cost and time. They look like they are ready for scrap in the pictures. A new fixed grip lift running 3000 to 4000 ft will run over 1 $ million. I guess the big question is how much are you willing to spend to upgrade the facilities? It closed for a reason.
Any snowmaking? It's nearly impossible to run a resort these days without snowmaking. A snowmaking plant is a very expensive operation for any resort. Any grooming equipment? Can you meet staffing requirements in the immediate area?

Heres some loose figures.

New lift- 1million plus
New Br 350 goomer- $350 000
Snowmaking - Hundreds of thousands

[Lift Kid]

I read something online about this ski area from a guy who used to be a snowmaker there when it was open. He said that the pipes were always leaking, rusting, and just falling apart. He said that it was border-line impossible to keep up with the maintenance. Sounds like the snowmaking system need replacement or an overhaul.