Killllington 🎿🏂🏂🎿🎿🏂🏂🎿😀

[Newpylong]

Gotta put yourself in their shoes: they want to spend X per year. The village is not there yet and as others have mentioned what happens to RH and Snowshed are tied at the hip to the village. It does not make any sense to touch those lifts yet. That said, ever since the Snowdon 6 went in, the RH4 has seen less usage. I do see it going to a non-bubble 6 eventually, as well as a new lift on Snowshed which would also be a non-bubble 6.

In a massive icing event, the S3 is literally the only option out of the basin, they have to protect that option and going to a detachable makes no sense given its "secondary" status, so a FG4 makes perfect sense. It will also be slightly more appealing on busy days to people waiting for K-1 or those planning on going down to the S6. It really is the only logical lift replacement in the near term given all of these realities.

 

[urungus]

It really is the only logical lift replacement in the near term given all of these realities.

What about Bear Mountain Quad, it is Killington’s only other lift dating to the 1970s, there is no backup lift going up Bear, and there is the fancy new real estate coming online at Base Camp ?

 

[drjeff]

What about Bear Mountain Quad, it is Killington’s only other lift dating to the 1970s, there is no backup lift going up Bear, and there is the fancy new real estate coming online at Base Camp ?

Don't think I can recall a time where the Bear Mountain Quad and reliability, have been an issue. Can't say the same about the Snowdon Triple. Those Poma Alpha's, Like the Bear Mtn Quad is, just have proven themselves over decades now, to be reliable workhorses with proper maintenace, like it has received

 

[Newpylong]

The Bear Quad is low hours and is bulletproof, and while it's the primary lift on Bear proper, it doesn't even run most mid-week days. They have lots of parts for it.

It would only be replaced with another FG4 in all likelihood as well, so not a priority. It will need to be addressed at some point though.

 

[machski]

Ramshead HSQ just feels janky, as does Needles Eye. Can't put my finger on it.

Its the generation of POMA HSQ's, all in that vintage feel the same to me.

 

[machski]

But when they put in a 6 (or maybe even an 8) at Ramshead, will they necessarily up the capacity? Look at Superstar, going from a 4 to a 6 but keeping the capacity at essentially the same.

More seats on a carrier doesn't always mean more capacity. Especially if they feel the current downhill traffic levels are saturated

They will if the interconnect happens. I would suspect by the time the village begins to take shape and Ramshead upgrade is finally undertaken, they will know if they are doing the interconnect. Ramshead will be a primary feed into that expansion and connect, so they have to know that before they finalize the Ramshead chair replacement.

 

[skiur]

They will if the interconnect happens. I would suspect by the time the village begins to take shape and Ramshead upgrade is finally undertaken, they will know if they are doing the interconnect. Ramshead will be a primary feed into that expansion and connect, so they have to know that before they finalize the Ramshead chair replacement.

The interconnect will be a separate lift.

 

[1dog]

Ever hear of this site? Not sure where I found it but K-Mart is listed quite differently than PR/marketing - as are others:

Best Ski Resorts on the East Coast: Snowboarding/Skiing Stats

https://web.archive.org/web/20190509001538/http://mountainvertical.com/true-up-vertical.html#about-mountain-stat-verification

 

[Newpylong]

The interconnect will be a separate lift.

The iteration that was previously approved (but lapsed) had RH chair being the feeder lift from the K side.

 

[skiur]

The iteration that was previously approved (but lapsed) had RH chair being the feeder lift from the K side.

I thought it needed to go higher than the current lift and I didn't think they wanted the main lift going higher?

 

[machski]

I thought it needed to go higher than the current lift and I didn't think they wanted the main lift going higher?

That may well be that the interconnect goes higher (as in coming out of the connection), but RH will be the gateway into that. Of course, listening to the recent Storm ski podcast, sounds like Mike and Senior executives think the interconnect to be beyond the 10 year plan. If so, I believe that will delay a Ramshead replacement for some time until they know exactly what the plans are there. Otherwise they risk either over building a lift at RH or under building it and needing to replace inside a decade.

 

[urungus]

Just listened to the new Storm Skiing Journal Podcast #214 with Killington/Pico owner Phill Gross and CEO Mike Solimano.

A few highlights:

- they are anti-carpet loading, even for fixed grips such as the new Snowdon Quad
- they said a midstation is unlikely on the new Snowdon Quad
- Interconnect is not in their 10 year horizon
- shovels in the ground for village phase 1 in a year or two
- 7 years remain on IKON contract

a few other details, including expansion of the Jerk Shack into a “110 seat full service restaurant with 130 seats outside”, are in this KZone report from the CEO’s “state of the union” https://www.killingtonzone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48709

 

[nycskier]

1) Jerk Shack is awesome. Really is the best food on the Mountain. Love for it to be open 7 days a week & kind of sucks if they are tearing it down.
2) If they put a new lift on Rams Head it needs to go all the way to the top & reclaim those top runs. They decapitated Rams Head. Vagabond from the top of Rams Head was one of my favorite runs as a kid.
3) I can see them not wanting to do the interconnect. The business plan is to build the Village & have everyone drive up there. If there is an interconnect why not just park at Pico?
4) They also mentioned that they did some insane upgrades to snow making. 24,000 feet of new pipe installed around the mountain & increased pumping by 25% at Bear!

 

[drjeff]

1) Jerk Shack is awesome. Really is the best food on the Mountain. Love for it to be open 7 days a week & kind of sucks if they are tearing it down.
2) If they put a new lift on Rams Head it needs to go all the way to the top & reclaim those top runs. They decapitated Rams Head. Vagabond from the top of Rams Head was one of my favorite runs as a kid.
3) I can see them not wanting to do the interconnect. The business plan is to build the Village & have everyone drive up there. If there is an interconnect why not just park at Pico?
4) They also mentioned that they did some insane upgrades to snow making. 24,000 feet of new pipe installed around the mountain & increased pumping by 25% at Bear!

24k feet of pipe sounds great. Just remember if its both air and water pipe getting replaced, not all of one or the other, that breaks down to either just under 5 miles of all 1 type of pipe or potentially just under 2.5 miles of both types of pipe, or some intermediate ratio. K has a HUGE number of miles of both air and water pipe in their system!