11 replies to this topic

[DonaldMReif]

I don't know what your opinions are, but I wonder if you think a ski resort is better if run pods have trails that share a common theme in them.

I give a few examples:

Winter Park:
All of the trails off of the Olympia Express and Looking Glass lifts are given Alice in Wonderland character names (White Rabbit, March Hare, Jabberwocky, Tweedledee and Tweedledum).

All of the trails in Vasquez Ridge off the Pioneer Express lift have something to do with "Pioneers" like Stagecoach and Sundance.

Steamboat:
Don't know what Thunderhead's theme is, but Steamboat seems to group runs and lifts into themings:

Pioneer Ridge:
Trails off the Pony Express lift have wild western roots in their names.

Storm Peak:
All of the trails serviced by the Storm Peak Express lift, as well as Burgess Creek, are named for weather events (Tornado, Twister, Cyclone, Hurricane, Blizzard, Lightning).

Sunshine Peak:
This one has split theming.

The runs that are lapped by the Sundown Express lift are time-named (going three o'clock on back when starting from the lift line and working south).

The runs lapped by the Sunshine Express lift have "mountain man" names, like Flintlock, Quickdraw, and Tomahawk.

Morningside Park:
Everything off Morningside lift is named for things in your typical morning - Hot Cakes, Cowboy Coffee, Alarm Clock.


Vail:
In a small case, a few adjacent runs off the Mountaintop Express are named for coffees - Espresso and Cappucino.

Additionally, both bowls off of the Orient Express lift - the China Bowl and the Siberia Bowl - have distinctly Oriental and Chinese themes (Chop Stix, Poppyfields in China Bowl, Rasputin's Revenge and Red Square in Siberia Bowl).




Breckenridge:
I don't know what Breckenridge's "run theming" system is, but I think it's based on mines that were in the area, which would explain Peak 9 trail names like Cashier, Columbia, Sundown, American, or Gold King (which seriously do sound like names you might give a mine back in the 19th century). Sawmill catwalk, I wouldn't be at liberty to give an answer. It does seem there is a small bird theme immediately off of the T-Bar (Pika and Ptarmigan).



Does theming the names of ski trails help a ski area out? Does it make it easier to navigate an area (you associate trails with common themes as being in the same area)? My opinion is that it makes it easier to navigate since you know what section you officially are in.

[skierdude9450]

There's a lot of names to come up with when making a ski resort, so it's logical to follow a certain theme when naming areas.

[DonaldMReif]

That was my train of thought.

On second analysis, I noticed that the Outback at Keystone has a focus on animal-oriented names (Porcupine, Elk Run, Timber Wolf, etc.)

[Bogong]

In this country the big resort of Perisher, (which has over 50 lifts in 4 different 'pods'), used to name it's lifts after early Australian explorers. But as the old lifts have been replaced that practice has been abandoned and newer lifts have more typical names. But some have been named after sponsors.

This naming of ski lifts after sponsors has been quite a trend in Australia in the last decade, with chairlifts often named after airlines and car companies. In one case a resort renamed a lift after a local skier who won a gold medal at the winter Olympics.

This post has been edited by Bogong: 02 January 2013 - 05:38 AM

[Emax]

Just like Disneyland! Fantasy Land, Spaced-out Mountain, etc.

[liftmech]

I don't really think 'theming' helps, other than to provide continuity when those from Marketing are 'helping' things out . Now, there are definitely areas where all runs in pods have similar names, as Vail does. One other notable example is Alpental, where the area was marketed from the start as a transplant from the Alps and everything was named accordingly (including a lift named Sessel, which is simply German for 'chair'). I prefer the hodgepodge of names most areas have.

[towertop]

Use to be the name of the run reflected the level of the run... for example "The Plunge" double black / "Suicide" black / "Buckaroo" blue / "School hill" green, get the idea. I know this is how many runs get a name.

[DonaldMReif]

I always thought Storm Peak got its name at Steamboat from the fact that the weather seems to like being stormy around that part. The trees around the Storm Peak Express generally are totally coated with frosting, compared to the aspens and spruces off the Sundown Express and Sunshine Express lifts.

[Backbowlsbilly]

The trails in the Legemds Area at Purgatory are all named after influential people from the mountain's history like Ray's Ridge and McCormack's Maze. The trails on the Frontside are mostly named after the Purgatory theme, like Hades and Pandemonium. The runs under the Birds of Prey Express and Grouse Mountain Express in Beaver Creek are all named after Birds of Prey, like Golden Eagle and Red Tail. I like the theming of areas on a mountain, it kind of develeps the area a little bit more for me when I'm skiing.

[snoloco]

Hunter, NY themes their trail names after NYC. Here are some. Belt Parkway, Hellgate, 7th Avenue, Broadway, Kennedy Drive, 42nd Street, East Side Drive, Central Park, Central Park North, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Eisenhower Drive, Gun Hill Road, The Battery, Fifth Avenue, Gramercy Park, Bleeker Street, Fordham Road, Boston Road, and Madison Square.'

Windham, NY starts almost all of their trail and lift names with a "W".

Belleayre, NY has named some of their trails after Indian tribes.

Gore, NY has named some of their trails after the Great Camps of the Adirondacks.

[DonaldMReif]

We now have the "Sixth Sense" theme on Peak 6, even extending to the Zendo lift and the Kensho SuperChair.

[SkiDaBird]

Snowbird has a lot of soldiers names, like Glen and Chip, as well as a fair share of founder names, Wilbere, Silver Fox, Bassanova, Regulator (Johnson), and my favorite name for any run, Bassackwards.