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The "Sugarbush Thread"

slatham

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I can buy that - everyone has reported delays etc due to icing. This type of snow is going to cause a lot of things to not work.
 

WWF-VT

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Tough but a summit lift on a Saturday just days after 20". Just what the hell. At least you have a lot of other options at K and can always get up to Snowdon and make runs though other lifts or even the poma.

FWIW the rest of the lifts were running yesterday including North Lynx on all natural snow. When I did ride the HG chair it was ridiculously windy and there was about 5 foot visibility at the top of the mountain. Even when it was running there was no one taking the HG chair.
 

shadyjay

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I rode HG once on Saturday, and it was a "one and done" for me. Gusty winds plus poor visibility. Still, it was my first daylight ride on that lift for the season. Today it was less windy and the visibility was "slightly" better (10 feet maybe). The poor visibility and lack of crowds on the lift kept both Jester and Downspout in relatively good shape for a busy weekend.
Then again, maybe it was all the new snow of the past week that helped keep the usual slick spots "at bay".
 

shadyjay

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As of today, Sugarbush becomes the first resort in Vermont to be 100% open for the season. Pretty incredible for so early in the season.

However, the North Ridge chair at Mt Ellen isn't operational yet due to a delayed shipment on a part. Win has permitted Mt Ellen passholders to ride at Lincoln Peak until the lift is ready. Details in the latest "Win's Word" at sugarbush.com.
 

jimmywilson69

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Was there on Sunday 12/14 and conditions were great! I lapped Ripcord 5 times, because the soft snow was so good. The visibility was practically zero from the low clouds and snow making. However, the snow was so good it was totally worth it.

Those new HKD tower mounted guns really produce a nice product.
 

thetrailboss

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Mt Ellen was great today! trip report coming...

Good TR. Why no NRX? Oh wait....

Until upgrades on North Ridge are finished, Mt. Ellen season passholders may ski and ride at Lincoln Peak.

Why am I not surprised? :roll: Though it may appear that NRX is a redundant lift, anyone who has spent much time skiing "North" knows that it is a CRUCIAL lift and really separates this mountain from Lincoln Peak where the HSQ's there are merely "feeder" lifts. NRX allows one to get some serious vertical done in a short time and delivers some good high elevation terrain. It was probably one good thing that ASC did...although they did it half-assed as many Sugarbush skiers can recall.

It seems like the mountain ops have only gotten worse since I left in 2011. It's too bad because they used to have a top-notch mountain ops management team that got all the lifts running and ready before ski season and did a good job running the area.

And I just watched the 12/18 "First Tracks" Report in which they used the term "base consolidation" to describe the r&*n event. I have never heard that term before..... :blink:
 
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WWF-VT

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From Win's Word:

At North Ridge, that is also the case. The two communications lines are new--these connect the top terminal with the bottom and carry all the electronic impulses. So, too, are the drive and the electronic circuit boards in the terminal. We hired lift manufacturer Dopplemayr to perform this work. Unfortunately, the custom communications lines manufactured in Europe were over two weeks late in arriving, setting Dopplemayr’s schedule back. They have been working overtime and as fast as possible and now expect to have everything ready for the Tram Authority’s inspection early next week. It is disappointing that they could not meet the goal of having it ready this Friday, but the delivery of the line was beyond their control. Because of this, we will be allowing any Mt. Ellen passholder to ride Slide Brook and ski Lincoln Peak until the work on North Ridge has been completed. The Slide Brook lift is scheduled to spin on Saturday and then every day (weather permitting) until Mt. Ellen closes the last Sunday of March. Sunny D will also begin operation for the season on Saturday. - See more at: http://www.sugarbush.com/blogs/wins-....eLVvAF8K.dpuf
 

thetrailboss

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From Win's Word:

At North Ridge, that is also the case. The two communications lines are new--these connect the top terminal with the bottom and carry all the electronic impulses. So, too, are the drive and the electronic circuit boards in the terminal. We hired lift manufacturer Dopplemayr to perform this work. Unfortunately, the custom communications lines manufactured in Europe were over two weeks late in arriving, setting Dopplemayr’s schedule back. They have been working overtime and as fast as possible and now expect to have everything ready for the Tram Authority’s inspection early next week. It is disappointing that they could not meet the goal of having it ready this Friday, but the delivery of the line was beyond their control. Because of this, we will be allowing any Mt. Ellen passholder to ride Slide Brook and ski Lincoln Peak until the work on North Ridge has been completed. The Slide Brook lift is scheduled to spin on Saturday and then every day (weather permitting) until Mt. Ellen closes the last Sunday of March. Sunny D will also begin operation for the season on Saturday. - See more at: http://www.sugarbush.com/blogs/wins-....eLVvAF8K.dpuf

Wow. All I can say is those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That is a huge mistake.

As many longtime Sugarbush skiers and riders know, the NRX was the original GMX installed during a massiverive upgrade of North in 1991 or so. It is a Poma lift with Poma's proprietary engineering and design. In 1995 when LBO moved the lift, he used Doppelmayr and NOT Poma to do the work. In simple terms, they had no idea WTF they were doing because it was a Poma lift. When the work was done they came into the mountain ops office with a box of parts that they "didn't know" where they went on the lift. From 1995-2002 it ran terribly.

In 2002 Win paid Poma to fix the lift and do it right. They did it at the same time that Poma installed the GMX. It ran considerably better from then on with some hiccups every now and then. Admittedly the old cadence chain system is now quite obsolete.

So hiring Doppelmayr to come back and "update it" seems like a huge mistake. No doubt they offered to do it for less money, but considering the importance of that lift and its history it should have been Poma to do that work.

That's just MHO.
 

machski

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Well, I'm sure LBO using dopp to move it was tied into the package to do super bravo/gatehouse/slide brook which are all Dopp lifts. That being said, either Dopp is having a bad go of things lately or they have a higher bill rate for express jobs. Seems Dopp has been late in the northeast this year while LP moved at light speed given the install time for the all new Sunburst 6 at Okemo!
 

rtjcbrown

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Here we go again. At Mt. Ellen, the GMX has been down all day, as well as the North Ridge Express. Summit Chair is open, but I don't know how you get to it.
Just read about the new Gadd Brook development being announced today. Kudos on your priorities!
 

MadMadWorld

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No more excuses anymore IMO. This is going to kill them if they screw up during Christmas. It's time to pay up to get this taken care of now instead of later!
 

rtjcbrown

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Read the snow report. GMX has been down for some time for maintenance. Hopefully back up in a few days. Mt. E ticket is good at Lincoln Peak.
No offense Bill, but it is you who needs to read the snow report. It is the North Ridge Express that has been down for a while. It has been joined today by the Green Mtn Express. Good thing the Mt E ticket is good at Lincoln Peak because all you can get to is Inverness at Mellon
 

thetrailboss

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No offense Bill, but it is you who needs to read the snow report. It is the North Ridge Express that has been down for a while. It has been joined today by the Green Mtn Express. Good thing the Mt E ticket is good at Lincoln Peak because all you can get to is Inverness at Mellon

Right. My understanding was that NRX has NOT opened yet....at least according to the reports I saw.

Really hope that they get the lift thing fixed because if not they are toast.
 
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