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Attitash Summit Triple Problems 2018-2019

thetrailboss

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A perennial item that folks want to see replaced. I can recall all the way back to 2004 here when folks complained about it.

According to liftblog.com, apparently Attitash is having serious issues with it as of late. Sounds like a lot of electrical issues.

https://www.attitash.com/blog/lifts/summit/

And I also saw that they had a big power outage recently due to a squirrel. Yikes.

Looks like this may be replaced sooner rather than later. Or maybe more band aids put on it. It's also funny how little I ever hear about Attitash on here or in general. I remember that 25 years ago it was a pretty popular spot.
 

GregoryIsaacs

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Judging by the laundry list of items already addressed and the amount of manpower being utilized I would assume they are slowly reaching their breaking point on what is one of the most hated lifts in east coast history. Added with the recent removal of the old double (and reluctance to touch the "overpass" ) I bet that liftline is the route they will take with a replacement. I just hope it'll be NH's first bubble.... that would definetly bring some much needed interest in what I believe iis one of the best skiing mountains in NH
 

deadheadskier

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I get that the shared tower would be an engineering nightmare to work out a replacement, especially with how important the lift is for summer operations. I think putting a replacement HsQ up the top notch Liftline would be a poor choice. The Yankee is already very close to the base lodge. Adding a second HSQ right there would be a mess. It would only make sense if they relocated the Yankee base to where the triple is now. Otherwise you have a huge gap between the high speed chairs and the Thad's area.

Definitely agree with you on Attitash having great terrain though. I'd rate it the fourth best ski terrain in the state behind Wildcat, Cannon and Loom

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DoublePlanker

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I get that the shared tower would be an engineering nightmare to work out a replacement, especially with how important the lift is for summer operations. I think putting a replacement HsQ up the top notch Liftline would be a poor choice. The Yankee is already very close to the base lodge. Adding a second HSQ right there would be a mess. It would only make sense if they relocated the Yankee base to where the triple is now. Otherwise you have a huge gap between the high speed chairs and the Thad's area.

Definitely agree with you on Attitash having great terrain though. I'd rate it the fourth best ski terrain in the state behind Wildcat, Cannon and Loom

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Yankee lift was stupid. Half measures don't work. I get they have an alpine slide.

Can't they just reuse some parts of the Yankee and put in a HSQ to the summit and clean it all up?
 

deadheadskier

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I think the Yankee is fine. I like being able to lap Grand Stand and Lower Ptarmigan on warm spring days when they are bumped up. Keep some of the traffic down low helps with the limited terrain off the summit; most of which is too advanced for intermediate skiers. If you forced everyone up to the top, Northwest Passage and Saco would be a skating rink by 10AM.

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jmgard

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Flying Yankee kinda feels like you are skiing Crotched... not huge vertical but very quick laps on some fun trails
 

Katahdin

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The Triple ran all weekend, but there still must be issues. They were only loading every other chair.
 

gregnye

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The summit triple at attitash is an example of why when investing in infrastructure it is essential to spend the extra time planning for the future, even if it is more painful to get the permitting.

Attitash missed their chance for a base to summit high speed lift with the Flying Yankee. Now their lift setup is seriously flawed. Say they went ahead and upgraded the summit lift to a high speed quad. Now you have two high speed lifts on a mountain that has nowhere near the trail capacity to handle crowds. Ammonoosuc and Saco are already icy everytime I go. Same with Moat.

My recommendation: Scrap both Flying Yankee and Summit and start over. Install one high speed lift for from base to summit on the old triple line. Thats all thats needed. Wildcat gets by with only one lift. And Peaks clearly doesn't want to invest in their New Hampshire properties, so one lift is the way to go.

Also side note: why does everything have to be a 6-person bubble chair recently? I dress for the cold weather so when I go inside a bubble chair or gondola, I start sweating/get way too warm. Also most of the time without a robust line coordinator, most of the chairs only have 5 people on them anyway. It's hard to coordinate 6 people.
 

deadheadskier

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The Triple ran all weekend, but there still must be issues. They were only loading every other chair.
Hopefully they get that sorted out before MLK weekend. To have issues with the main summit chair accessing the best terrain on the hill two holiday periods in a row is a terrible look. They risk alienating customers who will look up the road and see that fancy gondola going in at BW.

A bubble quad to keep up with the competition installed this summer would be a good move. Hopefully these issues elevate the priority for Peak of replacing the triple over Sunbrook at Mt. Snow.

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EPB

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As someone who grew up skiing at Attitash (and by chance happened to be on the triple when it was evacuated - I don't make it there often anymore), I really hope this is the straw that finally breaks the camel's back for Peak. Attitash had been a low priority for it's ownership groups for 20 years now, and the summit triple has been inadequate for at least that long.

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machski

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Hopefully they get that sorted out before MLK weekend. To have issues with the main summit chair accessing the best terrain on the hill two holiday periods in a row is a terrible look. They risk alienating customers who will look up the road and see that fancy gondola going in at BW.

A bubble quad to keep up with the competition installed this summer would be a good move. Hopefully these issues elevate the priority for Peak of replacing the triple over Sunbrook at Mt. Snow.

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First of all, that Fancy Gondola at BW is no where near completed yet.

Second, install a bubble quad to keep up with what competition? I seriously doubt Attitash competes too much with the So. Vermont areas (they tend to draw from different regions for skiers). To date, there are zero bubbles in NH, ME or No. Vermont to compete against. Sunapee got approval for West which in theory swings the current summit HSQ over there and a new Summit 6 goes in. Before I would have thought Bubble 6 but now that Vail owns it, I seriously doubt it gets a bubble chair. Katz has been very vocal that he doesn't care for bubble chairs and while Okemo has two, Stowe has none.

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Newpylong

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The new summit lift will go where the Triple is, and the Yankee will stay. Another project eventually will be to replace the Double Borvigs. They will replace snowmaking on Wilfreds Gaum to handle additional capacity off top.
 

EPB

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If the triple can be refurbished, it would make a good double-double replacement. Installing a carpet loading system would be smart, too. Those chairs are ancient and a ride takes a good 10 mins now.

At the very least, opening Wilfred's early would be necessary to spread out traffic. I have a healthy suspicion that nothing is wrong with the snowmaking on it... Peak would be wise to add a new intermediate run or two off the summit when the triple is replaced. They could potentially run a trail off Saco near the summit that could wind around and connect back to Ammonoosuc. They could also run one off the elbow of Wilfred's into the Stoney Brook area.

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Newpylong

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I wouldn't have said they are going to replace it if there was nothing wrong with it. There was a big freeze up a few years back and the line is toast, plus it is only 4". They are planning to replace most of the over capacity 4" starting next year.
 

EPB

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To be clear, I'm not doubting you. Rather, the communication out of Attitash. That's a low priority trail - one of the last to open each year,. It's convenient that a trail they'd likely never want make snow on anyway happened to have a snowmaking problem.

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deadheadskier

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First of all, that Fancy Gondola at BW is no where near completed yet.

Second, install a bubble quad to keep up with what competition? I seriously doubt Attitash competes too much with the So. Vermont areas (they tend to draw from different regions for skiers). To date, there are zero bubbles in NH, ME or No. Vermont to compete against. Sunapee got approval for West which in theory swings the current summit HSQ over there and a new Summit 6 goes in. Before I would have thought Bubble 6 but now that Vail owns it, I seriously doubt it gets a bubble chair. Katz has been very vocal that he doesn't care for bubble chairs and while Okemo has two, Stowe has none.

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Mainly referring to competing with Bretton Woods and Cranmore and the quantity of investment in their skiing product vs hardly anything at Attitash outside of snowmaking maintenance. A Bubble HSQ would be unique in the MWV and something that could be marketed more than a standard HSQ. I personally would be fine with a standard HSQ. I was more proposing it as a bigger splash. That's all.

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thetrailboss

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The summit triple at attitash is an example of why when investing in infrastructure it is essential to spend the extra time planning for the future, even if it is more painful to get the permitting.

Attitash missed their chance for a base to summit high speed lift with the Flying Yankee. Now their lift setup is seriously flawed. Say they went ahead and upgraded the summit lift to a high speed quad. Now you have two high speed lifts on a mountain that has nowhere near the trail capacity to handle crowds. Ammonoosuc and Saco are already icy everytime I go. Same with Moat.

My recommendation: Scrap both Flying Yankee and Summit and start over. Install one high speed lift for from base to summit on the old triple line. Thats all thats needed. Wildcat gets by with only one lift. And Peaks clearly doesn't want to invest in their New Hampshire properties, so one lift is the way to go.

Also side note: why does everything have to be a 6-person bubble chair recently? I dress for the cold weather so when I go inside a bubble chair or gondola, I start sweating/get way too warm. Also most of the time without a robust line coordinator, most of the chairs only have 5 people on them anyway. It's hard to coordinate 6 people.


True, but my long-term understanding is that it wasn't that simple. The NFS was going to require the EIS review. That was something that ASC and now Peaks would not do unless they had to.
 
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