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Resort Improvements 2015

mbedle

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Can't see the toll house or the lookout being updated anytime soon. Both are barely used and I can't remember seeing the double run that much mid week last year.
 

Newpylong

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Toll House is weird - what is it's purpose? For the condos? How often can it be used without snowmaking? Would think having it on Easy Mile would be a no brainer.
 

ss20

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Can't see the toll house or the lookout being updated anytime soon. Both are barely used and I can't remember seeing the double run that much mid week last year.

I can see Lookout getting replaced in 3-5 years. True that it's only been used on the weekends, but it's from 1979. Toll House will be around a lot longer. Doppelmyer parts (Toll House) area lot easier to find than Riblet parts (Lookout).
 

deadheadskier

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Why? It runs fine, takes pressure off the Forerunner when needed and offers a back up option during high winds.

I bet they replace the triple with a HSQ before the Lookout chair. The triple services the majority of the intermediate terrain and the parks. More capacity could be justified off that lift than the double
 

mbedle

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Good point with the wind holds and lookout. As far as the Toll House - it primarily still there for the condos but I think mostly the historical factor. Most people that stay at the condos and lodge use the free taxi service and get dropped off at the main base.
 

steamboat1

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If they ever replace the triple or lookout I hope they extend the base terminals down to the same level as the base lodge. I hate climbing those God awful stairs & then needing to walk or skate over to the Forerunner. Someone once said that the old Mansfield single chair started from the parking lot although I don't recall that myself. My recollection is both the single & double chairs started from the same point with the single terminating just a little below the double. This picture would corroborate my recollection even though the double wasn't installed yet.
 

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deadheadskier

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One of my housemates in Stowe during the winter of 96 got fired working as a lifty working the Toll House for falling asleep on the job. He wasn't the only one that season. It was not uncommon for an hour or more to go by with no riders. I bet that's the least utilized chair in New England.
 

mbedle

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You are correct in that the single did not terminate in the parking lot. Can't agree with you more about that stupid walk up the hill every morning!!!! Kills me every time. At least it get the legs moving before the first run!
 

deadheadskier

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Given the clientele, I'm somewhat surprised that Steaux hasn't put in a covered escalator from the Mansfield lodge up to the chairs.

I always park middle gondi parking lot anyways though. Ski in, ski out parking. Best ski area parking lot in the east if you don't mind booting up at your car.
 

mbedle

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If an eastern Massachusetts or Catskills resort had that type of setup I'd setup a lawn chair out front and watch the carnage.

FUNNY!!!! Covered escalator outside of Mansfield, come on, that only happens on the spruce side. lol
 

deadheadskier

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Yes you can, but the middle lot is better for access from the Mansfield side for returning back to your car.

You can also grab a spot in the middle lot a bit later in the morning than the upper or lower.
 

Newpylong

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Why? It runs fine, takes pressure off the Forerunner when needed and offers a back up option during high winds.

I bet they replace the triple with a HSQ before the Lookout chair. The triple services the majority of the intermediate terrain and the parks. More capacity could be justified off that lift than the double

Yeah totally - no brainer. More terrain over there and more snowmaking. Also further from Forerunner.
 

deadheadskier

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New bottom terminal for the King Pine lift at Sugarloaf

http://sugarloaf.com/media-room/press-releases/capital-improvements-x1761

On the one hand, this is good as it fixes the safety issue. On the other hand, that kind of investment likely means the rumored HSQ for that terrain pod is likely not going to happen for quite sometime. I suppose they could move the King Pine and it's new terminal. I just wouldn't expect that anytime soon after spending $800K on the fix.
 

thetrailboss

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New bottom terminal for the King Pine lift at Sugarloaf

http://sugarloaf.com/media-room/press-releases/capital-improvements-x1761

On the one hand, this is good as it fixes the safety issue. On the other hand, that kind of investment likely means the rumored HSQ for that terrain pod is likely not going to happen for quite sometime. I suppose they could move the King Pine and it's new terminal. I just wouldn't expect that anytime soon after spending $800K on the fix.

Love Sugarloaf, but I read that press release with a skeptical, and maybe cynical, view considering what has happened as of late. First, trying to spin these maintenance issues as improvements is a bit of a stretch for me. This seemed particularly odd:

Sugarloaf will also invest in many of its other lift this summer, with roughly $500,000 in upgrades scheduled for the Timberline, Double Runner, West Mountain, Skidway, Sawduster, and Snubber lifts.

The work on these lifts will upgrade all braking and anti-rollback systems to newer technologies. While all of Sugarloaf's lifts meet manufacturer specifications and are certified by lift engineers and inspectors each year, many feature older designs that will be updated to modern, automated systems.

Translation: they are really old lifts and we needed to update them but now have no choice.

As to King Pine, saying it will be a "new lift" is pretty lame. Again, it was a forced change.

I wonder if it will be a conveyor lift.

And it seems lame to brag about the 30-person hot tub as being one of the biggest improvements under their 2020 plan.

Sorry, just keeping it real.

The one thing that did interest me was the special "lift maintenance" page they will have and their "trouble line" for folks to call. I don't know of any resort that has this sort of page. Someone is really trying to fix their troubled image.
 
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