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Killington - Infrastructure Collapse Pending

Jully

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That is 99% false. How do you make money? You get people to buy your product. How do you get people to buy your product? You improve it. The customer is profit.

Important to customers on this site and other advanced skiers is more like it
 

skiNEwhere

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Even when the SRT existed, it was rarely used. I do believe this was due to low volume rather than maintenance issues. Unless there was lots of deferred maintenance on it during the ASC heyday, I don't see how it could've been in that bad of shape seeing how infrequently it was run.

If Powdr did have any intention of fixing the lift, I would think they would've taken parts from the devils fiddle quad (a YAN as well) since that was a truly useless lift that ran even less frequently than the SRT.

I'm curious how much it costs to move a chairlift. Gotta pour new tower footings, and airlift concrete, lift towers, and tower heads. I don't want to know the going rate on those lifting helicopters.
 

skiNEwhere

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I do remember the chair taking the corner did cause a lot of shaking, can't image that's good for the haul rope or the grips....but like I was saying earlier, they could've taken grips from the DF quad.

Also, the snowflake lift at Breck makes a 60 degree turn using sheaves and has a similar shaking feeling, and it's in great shape. Granted, that lifts only ~18 years old, but it does run on a daily basis. I'm willing to bet ASC neglected maintenance on it, given their track record.
 

ss20

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I'm not a lift maintenance expert, but I'd image that the unbalanced weight on one side of each tower might've caused footing or alignment issues over time. Not to mention the fact that the lift was painted twice(?) in its lifetime and had its drive unit above 4000'. Not a good combination. First Yan lift in the East.
 

skiNEwhere

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had its drive unit above 4000'. Not a good combination.

What's the elevation of the drive unit have to do with anything? Top drives are more efficient too since they are directly pulling the weighted side.
 

ss20

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What's the elevation of the drive unit have to do with anything? Top drives are more efficient too since they are directly pulling the weighted side.

Harsh and variable environment. Equipment certainly wasn't as tight then as it is now. Just look at what happened to the old peak lodge being up there - it was literally crumbling away.
 

steamboat1

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I'm curious how much it costs to move a chairlift. Gotta pour new tower footings, and airlift concrete, lift towers, and tower heads. I don't want to know the going rate on those lifting helicopters.
The straight line downhill towers on the old lift are still in place. Would need new tower heads but that's about it. They were left there on purpose as the towers on the old uphill side were removed. If they were to put in a new lift the old straight downhill side is what they would use. Don't think they'd plan a new triangle lift.
 

steamboat1

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The South Ridge had some nice trails with no crowd even on most busy days. Now, to ski the South Ridge, you've got to take two or three lifts. I sure hope they put something back there, but I'm not holding my breath...!
2 SPE & Superstar or K-1. Not really a big deal. The worst part is the run out back down to SPE. If you want Jug or Breakaway then you need K-1. Pipe Dream is accessible from Superstar.
 
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skiNEwhere

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Important to customers and important to the resort aren't necessarily correlated.
That is 99% false. How do you make money? You get people to buy your product. How do you get people to buy your product? You improve it. The customer is profit.

Don't kid yourself. Killington would love to see every single lift, including the defunct SRT with it's maze full everyday of the week. Customers want to be able to ski right onto the lift. Complete opposites.
 

skiNEwhere

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The straight line downhill towers on the old lift are still in place. Would need new tower heads but that's about it. They were left there on purpose as the towers on the old uphill side were removed. If they were to put in a new lift the old straight downhill side is what they would use. Don't think they'd plan a new triangle lift.

IDK, the concrete footings have a shelflife as well. The reason the old castlerock double was replaced was because the footings grew weak. That would be a major mistake of management to rebuild the lift with old footings, only to have to pour new ones 5 or so years later.
 

steamboat1

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IDK, the concrete footings have a shelflife as well. The reason the old castlerock double was replaced was because the footings grew weak. That would be a major mistake of management to rebuild the lift with old footings, only to have to pour new ones 5 or so years later.
Their newest lift, Skye Peak Express, used the same towers & footings from the old Yan Skye Peak lift. South Ridge was also a Yan. Just saying.
 
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skiNEwhere

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Their newest lift, Skye Peak Express, used the same towers & footings from the old Yan Skye Peak lift. South Ridge was also a Yan. Just saying.

Skye Peak Quad was installed in 1984. SRT in 1977. Original Castlerock double was installed in 1959 and removed in 2001 due to weak footings. Who knows, maybe I'm totally wrong and the footings could be good for another 20 years, but that seems like a gamble to me.
 

jimmywilson69

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Since the down hill towers never carried load, that may extend the life of the footings. You are correct though that concrete has a shelf life and it is a bit of a gamble to install a new lift on old towers/footings. I remember reading somewhere that YAN towers and footings were seriously overbuilt, unlike most of their other components.
 

mister moose

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Since concrete is a manufactured product, its lifetime varies with the quality of manufacture, placement and curing. The Hoover Dam, a concrete structure, was built in 1931. I would guess you survey the footings and determine the integrity. Size of the old footings would also determine load bearing capability or not for a larger load.
 

WoodCore

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Another issue with Yan towers is the fact that they were poured directly into the footings not bolted own. Additionally in some cases, the tower masts were directly welded to the tower pole as well so modifications to newer equipment is difficult and time consuming. In most cases it's just as easy to start from scratch.
 

skiNEwhere

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Cold, snow, and freeze/thaw is the #1 enemy of concrete. Can't imagine the Hoover dam faces too much of that.

Since the down hill towers never carried load, that may extend the life of the footings. You are correct though that concrete has a shelf life and it is a bit of a gamble to install a new lift on old towers/footings. I remember reading somewhere that YAN towers and footings were seriously overbuilt, unlike most of their other components.

I didn't even think of that, good points. Not sure if they can get the concrete inspected. You're right IRT the footings being overbuilt, case and point, bear mtn used to be a triple.
 

Newpylong

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That is 99% false. How do you make money? You get people to buy your product. How do you get people to buy your product? You improve it. The customer is profit.

Not that you need it, but I can tell you from first hand experience it is not false at all.

Mountains try their best to serve the most amount of customers based on their priorities and revenue stream. Even still, oftentimes there is a good portion of the clientele unhappy with decisions that have been made.

The # of examples are endless, the topic of this discussion being one.
 
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