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Killington summer improvements

MEtoVTSkier

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I just hope they use their head and fix/rebuild EVERY piece of snowmaking on the South Ridge that they will ever need, while they have the equipment up there digging for the lift. No reason that can't be blowing snow when they are doing Blue Heaven-Bear Traxx-Launch Pad e.c.t. Don't wait until you need it and don't have it like Devils Fiddle (You can't tell me they didn't already know before this winter that the hydrants and valves had gone bad and needs repairs.! Or whatever the excuse was that they couldn't lite it up)
 

ss20

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A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
I just hope they use their head and fix/rebuild EVERY piece of snowmaking on the South Ridge that they will ever need, while they have the equipment up there digging for the lift. No reason that can't be blowing snow when they are doing Blue Heaven-Bear Traxx-Launch Pad e.c.t. Don't wait until you need it and don't have it like Devils Fiddle (You can't tell me they didn't already know before this winter that the hydrants and valves had gone bad and needs repairs.! Or whatever the excuse was that they couldn't lite it up)

The Fiddle has been down for years...big tree debris blown down all over those pipes. It's evident there's no intention to fix it.
 

skiur

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If Ram's Head ever gets a new lift I would really hope they put it back to the top of the mountain. Kind of a shame those short steep trails aren't on the map anymore.

The trails are still there and it is not a long hike.
 

Newpylong

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I just hope they use their head and fix/rebuild EVERY piece of snowmaking on the South Ridge that they will ever need, while they have the equipment up there digging for the lift. No reason that can't be blowing snow when they are doing Blue Heaven-Bear Traxx-Launch Pad e.c.t. Don't wait until you need it and don't have it like Devils Fiddle (You can't tell me they didn't already know before this winter that the hydrants and valves had gone bad and needs repairs.! Or whatever the excuse was that they couldn't lite it up)

The only non-functional line over there is Lower Pipe Dream, it has not been used in as long as I've been skiing there (late 80s). Take a look at the hydrant type (old Larchmonts), so that will tell you what era it is. I do hope they replace it this year if not next. It would be a shame to have another lift over there with only Falls Brook (or whatever it's called now) to the base in poor snow periods.
 
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Newpylong

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I think I remember reading that in the Killington history book too... or heard it from somewhere.

Ram's Head was reconfigured the way that it was due to the desire for it to become an intermediate "family" area, and to a lesser extent reduce wind issues. In my opinion it was done in haste and is up there with one of many boneheaded moves that ASC ever did to Killington.

Swirl, Horn, (and Timberline with minimal regrading) were already intermediate friendly as they were. Wind mitigation going up the last 800 feet of Header would not have been reinventing the wheel.
 
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ceo

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So is this a first, grade-separating trail intersections? Are they going to have on- and off-ramps? :)
Surprised they're not replacing the cabins on the Skyeship. I was there yesterday for the first time in 20 years and thought it seemed much older and tireder than K-1.
 

bdfreetuna

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The SkyeShip was a pretty epic project under ASC. What did you find tired and old about it? Moves along at a decent clip... seats people... retro art. Each cabin actually had a different artist design the original art for it. So not something to just throw away any time soon IMO.

They used to be heated so perhaps the old venting on the floor looks out of place?
 

Pez

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I love taking skyeship all the way from 100. Such a fun ride for some reason.


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benski

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Surprised they're not replacing the cabins on the Skyeship. I was there yesterday for the first time in 20 years and thought it seemed much older and tireder than K-1.

They said they are going to move the old K-1 cabins to Skyeship. Powdr considers K-1 more important, and I think those cabins are very similar.
 

bdfreetuna

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I love taking skyeship all the way from 100. Such a fun ride for some reason.

It's the #1 most accessible lift from the lodge and shaves 10 minutes off your commute, avoiding several hard miles on the vehicle. So, sit in a gondola on the way up for 10 minutes instead? That's actually a pretty great option.
 

machski

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The SkyeShip was a pretty epic project under ASC. What did you find tired and old about it? Moves along at a decent clip... seats people... retro art. Each cabin actually had a different artist design the original art for it. So not something to just throw away any time soon IMO.

They used to be heated so perhaps the old venting on the floor looks out of place?
The SkyeShip pre-dated ASC, still SKI when it was installed and Preston Smith still at the helm. I seem to recall many lambasted it at the time for not continuing all the way to Killington Peak like it's predecessor did. I still wish the would make Valley Plunge. It's the first trail you see driving in on 4 from the East and hate seeing it bare.

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bdfreetuna

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I stand corrected... remember seeing a documentary about it last season but missed that detail

Remember parking at Sunrise base when I was a kid. Now it's a snowmobile tour area. I spent about a decade out of New England... talk about being confused when I came back.
 

xlr8r

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Skyeship is a great lodge setup if you just need the basics. But it seems like the Skyeship lift is one of Powdr's last priorities, remember they tried closing stage one on weekdays the first year of ownership. The cabins are the same as K1's, the grips might be the same as well. So I would expect Powdr to just combine the 2 cabin fleets, they should have plenty of space to store them all at Nortbrook station, to get many more years out of Skyeship without replacing its cabins.
 

millerm277

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Surprised they're not replacing the cabins on the Skyeship. I was there yesterday for the first time in 20 years and thought it seemed much older and tireder than K-1.

K-1 operates way more hours a year (much longer ski season operations, summer operations, etc). Mechanically, those cabins have a lot more abuse on them.
 

skiur

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Except it is from rt 4, not 100. 100 was where the sunrise base was.
 

ceo

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It's a lovely lift (and I too wish they'd built it to the summit like the old gondola), but the cabins just seemed really worn and rattly.
 
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