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Sugarloaf Bucksaw Chair....RIP

skiMEbike

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Below statement released by Sugarloaf...It is kind of too bad, because on Wind hold, powder days it was a nice alternative from riding the T-bar and/or avoid the lines.


By now, hopefully you have all heard, or read about, our plans to update our lift system with industry-leading technology and safety features. In the dog days of summer, those projects continue full steam ahead, in preparation for the 2015/16 ski season. As condo owners in the Timbers development, we wanted to take a moment to connect with you first, in regards to the future of the Bucksaw chairlift.

Our first priority, in all of our planned lift upgrades for this summer, is ensuring that all of our lifts are as safe as they can possibly be. That means retrofitting some of our older lifts with newer, automated braking systems and anti-rollback technology. While these upgrades are not required by the lift manufacturers or ANSI codes, they are necessary for us to live up to our commitment to lead the ski industry in lift maintenance and safety practices.

In the list of scheduled upgrades provided in our initial announcement a few weeks ago, you may have noticed that the Bucksaw chairlift was not included. The reason Bucksaw was left out was that our team needed more time to determine what would be required to bring this lift up to our new standards, and whether or not that work would be feasible.

Bucksaw is Sugarloaf’s oldest lift, having been installed in 1969, and while it has been a reliable workhorse throughout the years, we will not be able to upgrade it to our new standards, without essentially replacing the entire lift. And, as Bucksaw is also Sugarloaf’s least utilized chairlift, this would simply be cost prohibitive.

As a result, we have made the decision to take the Bucksaw lift out of service, and will be dismantling it later this summer.

The good news in all of this is that once the Bucksaw lift is removed we will be able to upgrade the snowmaking system on Windrow, allowing us to make more snow on that trail and open it earlier in the season than we ever have before. And, given its location on the mountain, limited operating schedule, and extremely low ridership, the volume of skiers transported by Bucksaw will easily be absorbed by the SuperQuad.

While it will be sad to see a piece of Sugarloaf’s history leave, it is a necessary step for us in raising our lift safety standards, and will ultimately be a positive step forward in our continued work to upgrade the physical assets of our resort.

Please take a moment to checkout our new Lift Information website, if you haven't already, and feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns.

Thank you for your continued support, and we hope to see you here soon.

All the best,

Your Friends at Sugarloaf
 

drjeff

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It is quite well noted how many times in the press release the marketing folks at Sugarloaf mentioned lift safety! A necessary thing for them now for a few years given what's gone on there in the recent past. Usually lift changes are just described as for quicker riders, guest comfort, etc, etc with the safety side of things left out...
 

Jully

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Dang it. I know they've been talking about replacing Bucksaw as part of 2020, but it's worrysome that they don't even talk about a replacement here.
 

deadheadskier

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I've always felt the whole Bucksaw area and to skiers left of the lift has outstanding potential for a low intermediate area if it had the right lift. That could really take some pressure off the Superquad. The only real main issue with developing that is the distance from the base lodge.

That in general is one of the Loafs greatest problems. There's not a single chair that's gets you anywhere that's convenient to the Base Lodge. Whifgletree kind of, but not compared to other areas. Maybe they'll address that with the eventual replacement of double runner.
 

Jully

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And how do beginners acces the only large pod of novice skiing on the mountain now?

Wait in line at the SuperQuad of course!! Then traverse across crowded tote road and potentially get lost and end up somewhere weird!

It did have low ridership though I'll tell you that. It was an underutilized chair/ the whole area is an underdeveloped underutilized part of the mountain. Don't know how many beginners even know about it.
 

soposkier

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That's too bad, great lift for lower intermediates. My wife who just started snowboarding a few years ago really enjoyed the pod over there as it's never crowded and didnt have to deal with the typically jammed unload area of the superquad. Maybe it will clear the way for a 2 stage gondola to the summit.....
 

Newpylong

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Safety is paramount, but do the work that is required to get it to pass inspections and don't remove it until you have something to replace it. Look what happened to South Ridge at K. What they really need is a new lift beginning near the Super Quad up to Bullwinkles. That would open up that terrain and take heat off the SQ. I think you could have it go up Haywire without much trail modification, might need to do an over/under of the SQ near the bottom though. Why spend money upgrading snowmaking on Windrow if no one can get to it.
 

machski

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Safety is paramount, but do the work that is required to get it to pass inspections and don't remove it until you have something to replace it. Look what happened to South Ridge at K. What they really need is a new lift beginning near the Super Quad up to Bullwinkles. That would open up that terrain and take heat off the SQ. I think you could have it go up Haywire without much trail modification, might need to do an over/under of the SQ near the bottom though. Why spend money upgrading snowmaking on Windrow if no one can get to it.

I don't think they will need to spend much. But with the lift allignment, they could not use tower guns on windrow. Without the chair in the way, they can if they so choose.
 

Conrad

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It's really too bad. At the annual meeting a year or two ago, when someone asked if Bucksaw was going to be replaced anytime soon, they said that Bucksaw was in excellent condition for its age.
 

thetrailboss

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Safety is paramount, but do the work that is required to get it to pass inspections and don't remove it until you have something to replace it. Look what happened to South Ridge at K. What they really need is a new lift beginning near the Super Quad up to Bullwinkles. That would open up that terrain and take heat off the SQ. I think you could have it go up Haywire without much trail modification, might need to do an over/under of the SQ near the bottom though. Why spend money upgrading snowmaking on Windrow if no one can get to it.

Agreed. Seems like a lot of terrain will be underserved.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

Conrad

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Also of note, it is definitely not the least utilized lift. Bucksaw certainly sees less traffic. Also, Bucksaw sees more real skier traffic for the terrain as opposed to other lifts where the traffic is just to get out of the condos (i.e. Snubber, Sawduster).

IMG_4232.jpg
This was the busiest I've ever seen Bucksaw, March 7, 2015.
 

skiNEwhere

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Also, Bucksaw sees more real skier traffic for the terrain as opposed to other lifts where the traffic is just to get out of the condos (i.e. Snubber, Sawduster).

What's funny is that I don't think Snubber is even capable of rolling back. It's so flat, yet so long, that all the sheave trains, along with the bullwheels, would probably provide enough rolling resistance to prevent a rollback. In addition to that there's never more than like 20 odd people on it to weight down the uphill side. [/DIGRESS]
 

steamboat1

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There's a reason there's no damn trees on the summit....
Yeah a fire years ago is what I've heard. It's not the tallest peak around. Place has been lacking ever since they took it out. Yes I realize the top section wasn't always open but at least it was there to utilize when it was. Put a mid station in just like the old days.
 
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skiNEwhere

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Yeah a fire years ago is what I've heard. It's not the tallest peak around. Place has been lacking ever since they took it out. Yes I realize the top section wasn't always open but at least it was there to utilize when it was. Put a mid station in just like the old days.

Heard that too. But the wind is what keeps them from growing back
 

skiNEwhere

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Heard those heavy six pack chairs are pretty good in the wind. No bubble of course.

I look at the panoramic express at winter park being a similar scenario to what you're suggesting. Even with the added weight, that lift still sees a significant amount of wind holds every year.

Ski patrol told me something interesting though, they can run it in higher winds on the weekends vs weekdays, because they can fully load 6 to a chair, and the added weight keeps the chair from swinging as much. I guess with detachables, when the chair goes into the terminal at an angle it puts incredible strain on the grips (hence the reason lifties yell at you if your sitting all the way to one side of a chair)
 

Highway Star

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Sugarloaf has the most whack lift system of all the major resorts in the northeast.
 
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