3 replies to this topic

[RibStaThiok]

Had the chance to hear from Coe up at Snowbasin a few days ago. No new lifts planned right now for 2010/2011 (There had been rumors going on about a new lift going up in the Strawberry area and possibly removing & maybe replacing the old Wildcat triple or just removing it without replacement but so far those rumors are not true)

Needles Express Gondola and the John Paul HSQ will likely be having the haul ropes shortened this summer and they are looking to add an additional tower on Needles gondola between towers 12 and 13 by Doppelmayr, however that is still in the negotiation phase.

[floridaskier]

The biggest improvement Snowbasin could make is turning on the Middle Bowl lift. I've been there probably 10 times and I've never seen it on before. It covers some terrain that would be great to do laps on without having to run all the way down to the Needles gondola.

I never understood why Ski Magazine thinks so highly of Snowbasin's lift system in the rankings every year. The gondolas are a nice marketing tool but it's annoying to take off your skis every lap. And a good portion of the mountain is served by long and not too comfortable triples.

[RibStaThiok]

Yeah I hear ya there. They've only been using Middle bowl and Wildcat on very high demand days since the economy took a dump. Middle bowl does get more use on the weekends but Wildcat generally is only used on holidays or days when the lines start building up at Needles & Becker. I myself prefer to stay over in the Becker/Wildcat and Middle bowl area as they are considerably less crowded then Strawberry, Porky, & John Paul areas. I don't mind the 500FPM ride up the mountain on the old triple chairs.

[DonaldMReif]

floridaskier, on 22 April 2010 - 12:30 PM, said:

I never understood why Ski Magazine thinks so highly of Snowbasin's lift system in the rankings every year. The gondolas are a nice marketing tool but it's annoying to take off your skis every lap. And a good portion of the mountain is served by long and not too comfortable triples.

I second that motion. Gondolas are really only useful if you have at least one or two chairlifts, typically high speed quads, in the same area to provide a chairlift alternative - examples being River Run Gondola at Keystone (Summit Express and Montezuma Express), Silver Bullet Gondola at Steamboat (Christie Peak Express and Thunderhead Express), and Eagle Bahn at Vail (Born Free Express and Pride Express).