The "Sugarbush Thread"

[cdskier]

I would argue that Stratton's detachable age is a bit younger than shown above as the gondola, URSA and AMEX have all seen almost complete re-builds/updates in the last 10 years.

That impacts a lot of lifts though (even a number of the SB lifts have had substantial rebuilds including NRX)

 

[kbroderick]

Interesting! Makes me think what other metrics other than mean/median would be useful. Custom weighted average to heavily penalize 30+ year old lifts?

You'd need to categorize primary vs secondary lifts, for starters, but I don't really see lift age alone as being a useful metric. Line speed and carrier size, sure, but there are places with relatively old Hall doubles that still have great uptime records because they prioritize proactive maintenance and the machines themselves are well-understood.

I think there's a difference between a 35/40-year-old fixed-grip lift versus a detachable, too; detachable tech has progressed a lot more, and more quickly, since then.

 

[thetrailboss]

Here are some average lift age stats at sugarbush:

All lifts: 24 yrs
High Speed Lifts: 31 yrs
Fixed Grip Lifts: 20 yrs
Mt. Ellen Lifts: 28 yrs
Lincoln Peak Lifts: 20 yrs

Going to have to put a lot of money into these high speed lifts at some point. Their useful life is only so long…

It's just crazy to think about how time flies and that while there was a lot of work done back in the day the bad thing is that pretty much a large number of lifts were replaced at once. The downside: all those lifts are the same age.

 

[thetrailboss]

The big problem with the high speed lifts at SB is that they were nearly all installed the same year (1995/1996 for all but GMX). But they also all have vastly different amounts of hours on them. Bravo would be the "oldest" by that metric while Gate House is younger, and Slide Brook is even younger... NRX is in a whole different category as it was moved and then rebuilt as well. All it would take for SB is to install one new high speed lift though and our average would drop in line with K basically.

This.

 

[Newpylong]

Age is only one metric and on paper Sugarbush has one of the best lift systems in the East. Capacity wise, only Castlerock and NL aren't quads, and Castlerock is one of the youngest doubles around.

There is a pressing need to come up with a long-term solution for NRX but beyond that every one of their lifts are well within mainstream support of the two manufacturers. NRX aside it comes down to a combination of bad luck, difficulties keeping complex machinery operating in a harsh environment, and/or lack of a proper maintenance program. Take your pick, likely a combination of all of the above. None of these warrant replacing lifts installed in 1995. I would argue that could potentially make the issue worse in the short term by having a more complex lift dissimilar in generation to the others and put more strain on the mechanical staff who are having a hard enough time keeping the existing fleet running.

 

[STREETSKIER]

Meanwhile
Snow was fantastic today groomed soft fast
*@lincolnpeak
Not so tomorrow

 

[Lotso]

Odd note in snow report late today: *Mt. Ellen hiking will be open until 3:00 PM from top of Inverness to mid station, Summit hiking is prohibited*

huh?

 

[machski]

Come on AI, SR has 4 yan lifts (or at least originally I think)

Yes, all 3 White Cap Quads (well, Little White Cap is a mash of Yan and pullman/berry parts from the original Barker Double) and Aurora are yan. Worse still is Locke Triple, the remaining Borvig lift and oldest installed on the hill

 

[cdskier]

Odd note in snow report late today: *Mt. Ellen hiking will be open until 3:00 PM from top of Inverness to mid station, Summit hiking is prohibited*

huh?

I took that to mean you can hike to the top of GMX...

 

[Lotso]

I took that to mean you can hike to the top of GMX...

Agreed by why limit to there? Patrol coverage is what I imagine is the issue

 

[cdskier]

Agreed by why limit to there? Patrol coverage is what I imagine is the issue

With the weather at the summit I don't blame them for not wanting to staff patrol up there. Even the single chair at MRG was closed today...

 

[fulgoreXC]

At least they're on top of it first thing this am. Can confirm it's windy in the valley.

 

[Lotso]

Power out at MRG as well. Just as well...will be skiing on ice cubes today

 

[thetrailboss]

And re: Sugarbush merch.

I took a hard pass on the "THE BUSH" ballcaps that they had for sale. Yikes.

 

[cdskier]

And re: Sugarbush merch.

I took a hard pass on the "THE BUSH" ballcaps that they had for sale. Yikes.

LOL. They had a ton of "The Bush" sweatshirts in the retail store at Lincoln Peak this weekend when I popped in there to see what I could use my $60 credits on...

 

[thetrailboss]

LOL. They had a ton of "The Bush" sweatshirts in the retail store at Lincoln Peak this weekend when I popped in there to see what I could use my $60 credits on...

The ones I saw were camoflouge. Just weird,....

 

[Julius]

Ahh the ole Camo Bush, Humm.

 

[pinnoke]

and I had to explain to my 12 year old granddaughter why I steered away from purchasing one for her!

 

[thetrailboss]

Ahh the ole Camo Bush, Humm.

and I had to explain to my 12 year old granddaughter why I steered away from purchasing one for her!

Maybe this was the reason why Jared Smith was let go/left Alterra.

 

[cdskier]

Not that I want a shirt with that name, but I've referred to it as "The Bush" for a solid 10-15 years now in conversations with friends/family that ski... Never really put too much thought into it.