The "Sugarbush Thread"

[solar]

+1 to @Hawk - My bottleneck lapping Paradise remains my quads.

 

[machski]

Anyone else find it interesting that when you take that projected capacity of 1814/hr and divide it by 4, that you don't end up with a whole number? You get 453.5.. That math seems curious to me, unless they're going to grab 1 double chair from say Castletock, and throw it on the haul rope with the rest of the new quad chairs?!

It's ACT250 application math, don't take it too literally

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

1814 per hour / 4 = 453.5
It means 453 chairs make the full run up but the 454th chair is 1/2 chair-space length away from the unload station right when the timer hits 60:00.000

And no nerding out on shit like this is NOT splitting hairs!

 

[mikec142]

Looking at the webcams today two thoughts came to mind:

1. I'm not an engineer, but I'm confused at how they are going to regrade the climb from HG to OG/Jester to make it less of a climb. I'm assuming the offloading ramp will still be in the same place.

2. On the Walt's webcam, I saw four skiers coming down Lower Rim Run. I'm assuming they skinned up. Looks like a great day for it and I applaud them. I'm not even close to being in that kind of shape.

 

[tumbler]

They are going to blast the road from HG unload to Jester to lower it so there will not be an up hill climb anymore.

 

[mikec142]

They are going to blast the road from HG unload to Jester to lower it so there will not be an up hill climb anymore.

Sure...I get that. But it seems like they will have to blast (regrade) way past the OG headwall. Maybe as far as the spot where that trail is that leads to the observation deck. How will that affect the OG headwall? I'm guessing that this isn't nearly as big a deal as I'm making it out to be.

 

[tumbler]

There will probably be a vertical rock face on skiers right as you go past OG. It won't affect the headwall that much, maybe a few feet less of vert. That top section is usually a rink anyway.

 

[tumbler]

I also assume Tatro's is doing the lift removal and prep work for new lift?

 

[cdskier]

When I was looking at one of the plans yesterday I noticed that the elevation of the top of HG changes in the different diagrams and is being raised about 5 feet it looks like. So you're basically moving the high point from the top of OG to the top of HG along Jester.

 

[WinS]

Aren't we splitting hairs a little bit too much here? It will be a new lift that will send up slightly more people than before. That is all. My biggest take away is that this lift will be new and will run much better, not break down and most likely run more often when there is marginal conditions with wind. Dr Jeff, I think you should get out of rut of skiing the same mountain and come up and visit when it is done. Change would do you good. Change does everybody good.

Agree with Hawk. I think the biggest benefits are reducing the clutter at the loading area on busy days and because the chairs are heavier and the profile might get engineered to be lower, it should be less susceptible to wind hold. With the new Heaven’s Gate Traverse, if Bravo goes on windhold and HG is less susceptible they will be more terrain and lesser lift lines on windy days.

 

[cdskier]

Agree with Hawk. I think the biggest benefits are reducing the clutter at the loading area on busy days and because the chairs are heavier and the profile might get engineered to be lower, it should be less susceptible to wind hold. With the new Heaven’s Gate Traverse, if Bravo goes on windhold and HG is less susceptible they will be more terrain and lesser lift lines on windy days.

HG being less susceptible to wind hold will definitely be a plus. Although not going to lie...I liked when you had to work a bit on Reverse Traverse to get to HG when Bravo was closed. That made for some VERY enjoyable skiing on HG due to many people opting not to make the short uphill climb on RT. I've had a number of days over the years where it felt like I had practically private access to HG with a handful of other people at times. Then all of a sudden the masses showed up and you knew Bravo was open again

 

[tumbler]

I will be surprised when Bravo is on windhold and HG is running. I hope the heavier chairs and slatted seatbacks help but I think it will be on windhold just as frequently as it has been, wind gets stronger the higher you go. Regardless, I am looking forward to it being new.

 

[teleo]

Looks like the cut some of the towers to dismantle.

Isn't it standard to blast the high point (near OG) and use the debris to fill in the low point (at HG unload) when leveling things out. So HG unload would be slightly higher as CD indicated and the hill slightly lower.

Have seen Tatro equip around, so they must be involved.

Went to K today for the first time in years. It is good to get around a bit.

 

[mikec142]

Isn't it standard to blast the high point (near OG) and use the debris to fill in the low point (at HG unload) when leveling things out. So HG unload would be slightly higher as CD indicated and the hill slightly lower.

That's what I would have thought, but that would require the lift to offload higher up and there' not a lot of room for that. Maybe the off load ramp would be less steep which would allow for off loading a few feet higher.

 

[cdskier]

That's what I would have thought, but that would require the lift to offload higher up and there' not a lot of room for that. Maybe the off load ramp would be less steep which would allow for off loading a few feet higher.

They're making the entire area where you would offload higher. (And also as a result HG itself would offload higher). It will then be ever so slightly downhill towards Jester (a 1' drop from the top of HG to the top of OG). They're also doing tree clearing (and blasting I assume) straight ahead of the HG unload to make that area slightly larger). You can see in this diagram that the new elevation of the HG offload area would be 3907' compared to the previous offload elevation of ~3900'.

 

[WinS]

I will be surprised when Bravo is on windhold and HG is running. I hope the heavier chairs and slatted seatbacks help but I think it will be on windhold just as frequently as it has been, wind gets stronger the higher you go. Regardless, I am looking forward to it being new.

Actually, that is not always true. The direction of the wind is a big factor and there are many times when the wind is blowing down the line on Bravo is fierce and it is calm on HG.

 

[teleo]

I figured there would be a diag in the act 250 but have not dug into that. Thanks for doing the homework CD.

I had a day just like Win describes this year. Bravo was hell with wind right at you. Was a bit afraid to get on HG, but was completely calm up there. Wind does strangs things in mountains.

 

[cdskier]

I'll second what both Win and teleo said. I've had numerous days where the wind was howling on SB and HG was calm as could be. All depends on the direction. I've been on the chairs with a number of people over the years on days like those that didn't even think of trying HG because of the wind on SB and were shocked when I told them how calm HG was.

 

[cdskier]

New side-note on a different topic as some were discussing mountain biking earlier...Sugarbush does NOT plan to have any lift serviced mountain biking this summer due to the HG replacement project. They'd have to cut off access to too many trails so figure it isn't worth it. They will still have scenic rides on SB on the weekends, but won't run the lift this summer mid-week.

 

[SteezyRob]

Thanks for weighing in @WinS - that's fantastic to hear.

There was a 2008 vegetation management plan that showed a few proposed lifts and trail developments. Do you happen to remember if any would still be viable expansion options for Alterra?

no that's dead. I don't know the specifics, it's been discussed on here a lot tho so a little searching will find u something.