Middlebury College Snowbowl to Get New Triple

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

The lower part, yes. The few times I have been there I have seen folks cutting in through the woods from Voter and skiing below the cliffs. But the cliff part, not really. This picture doesn't do it justice...just wait until I enter in my pictures from the weekend showing what this line looks like:

wow...crazy fall line..I'd hit it..cautiously

 

[WWF-VT]

The place actually looks like it'd be worth a trip to. How much is a day ticket? :-D

Fun place to ski. I have never waited in a lift line. Check before you go to find out if the Bailey Falls Chair is running. I think it only spins on the weekends.

 

[thetrailboss]

Bailey Falls runs midweek as well. The problem is that they don't really blow any snow back there...only Youngman has snowmaking and IIRC not much of it. I agree though that you have to ski it when the backside is open. Otherwise the frontside is not enough to keep you entertained for more than a morning.

 

[thetrailboss]

Now for some pics. Compare to the winter ones above.

The area of the former mid unload:

Looking up the liftline from the mid unload area:

Near the cliffs...yes, this is a liftline!

Bailey Fall's Triple:

The former unload area. The building has been pulled off from the former loading area. The concrete on the left are the former weights and foundations for the lift. The bullwheel was in fact suspended and not fixed to a pylon...which was odd:

 

[thetrailboss]

The former Tower 11 at the cliff area...which is accessed from an old logging trace that cuts across the fall line. Note the crumbling foundation and stunning views:

This is where the liftline ascends...to the left that is!

Look closely and you see a lift tower that they could not save...now resting below the cliff area in the trees:

 

[playoutside]

Thanks for the new pictures! Great to see Middlebury in the summer and really interesting to see it without the lift. That cliff is impressive in winter, perhaps more so in summer!

 

[SKIVT2]

Remember the valentines day storm a couple of years ago. I think the storm was a 2-3 footer on a Thursday. We were there when they opened the bailey falls (middlebury back bowl) for the 1st time of the season that Saturday. Everyone was running towards the front lift with the fatest skis that they had when it opened. It was EPIC! My snowboarder freind fell and he had to take off his board and swim out of the snow. Unbelieveable powder! The best!

 

[thetrailboss]

The story from WCAX on the lift: http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11017785

Rutland Herald: http://rutlandherald.com/article/20090831/NEWS01/908310341/1002/NEWS01

 

[deadheadskier]

three chair lift

I can't recall the last time I've heard that as opposed to Triple Chair. I definitely want to check that place out on a Powder day someday. I like the smaller areas for such days

 

[thetrailboss]

An update: I decided on a whim to go and see what progress has been made since my last visit, which was back in the first weekend of October. Then they had only poured the footings for the lifts.

Last night I went just before dark (no pics, sorry). Doppelmayr has erected all of the pylons, put on the hangers, and installed the sheave trains. The pylons are black. The new towers look great. The base terminal is still in pieces in the parking lot. The pieces are painted a baby blue, but may be repainted. IIRC the base is a "sprinter" type, similar to the new one that is at Dartmouth.

There are no chairs yet.

The base area has been set, but the drive and other hardware is not yet in place. They are getting there...

 

[Highway Star]

Is that fallen tower in a landing zone or somewhere bad on the liftline, could you hit it by accident?

 

[AdironRider]

Like every other ski area doesnt have some old useless hunks of metal hanging out off trail....

 

[thetrailboss]

Is that fallen tower in a landing zone or somewhere bad on the liftline, could you hit it by accident?

That was something I forgot to say. The former tower 11 is now at the base of the Ross trail waiting for removal/recycling. The sheave train on the uphill side was bent from falling. The tower, on closer inspection, was quite worn.

 

[KingM]

The base area has been set, but the drive and other hardware is not yet in place. They are getting there...

That's good news. We try to go at least once a year, since it's only 35 minutes away, so it's good to hear that they'll probably make it by ski season.

 

[Telemechanic]

Some recent pictures have been posted at www.skiliftforums.com

http://www.skiliftforum.com/index.php?showtopic=7780&view=findpost&p=88203

 

[thetrailboss]

Here are some pics from yesterday:

I visited at about 7:30am, which explains the low light. The crews were working on the foundation and in the fabrication area:

When you drive along Route 125 you can see the upper portion of the lift. The trees, unfortunately, block the view for a good picture. What is interesting is that there is one tower near the cliffs which allows the return line to pass higher than the return line, kind of similar to the design of the Tiger Triple at Gunstock:

Or, to be even more exact, a tower that looks like the ones on Pico's Knome's Knoll Triple:

Anyone who has ridden the Worth Mountain Double knows about this tricky area on the liftline...where there are some really interesting double fall-line cliffs that remind you that the Snowbowl is a legit ski area!

 

[thetrailboss]

Some recent pictures have been posted at www.skiliftforums.com

http://www.skiliftforum.com/index.php?showtopic=7780&view=findpost&p=88203

Any way you can import those photos here? You have to log in to see them and I am not a member.

 

[Telemechanic]

Any way you can import those photos here? You have to log in to see them and I am not a member.

I'm sorry about that, didn't realize. I'm not sure if I can import them but I'll try.

 

[thetrailboss]

Middebury put this YouTube video online of the crews airlifting concrete. This is a few weeks old, but still cool to watch. The narrator is Snow Bowl Manager Peter Mackey:

 

[billski]

"The new lift moves slower, making the added chair a wash in terms of capacity. The area could have bought a faster lift, Schoenfeld said, but they did not feel they needed more skiers headed up the mountain at once."

That is very refreshing attitude. Only an non-profit can get away with that. Love it!

Thanks all for the pics and updates. Hope they get it done on time. The good news about the bad news weather is that wamer temps makes construction quicker.