• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

The "Sugarbush Thread"

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
Door Number 1.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

Trailboss, I used to be just like you standing there watching people lap the lift on powder days. I was probably standing there with you because I was usually there by about 7:00-7:15 to make sure I was one of the first people up the lift. It used to piss me off until they started offering the early ups pass. The first year it was $500 so I said no way. But now at $250 it is the best deal. So for the last 3 years my wife and I have been lapping the lift with the mountain to ourselves. I have to say it has been the best benefit I have ever purchased.
 

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
FYI cool little video of installing the Village Quad base bullwheel is on FB. It's not a primary post but a comment under a different thread.

I was up there again this weekend. They are moving along and things look good. I was talking to one of my friends who lives near the hill and used to work for the mountain. I found it interesting to learn that Sugarbush is installing the lift themselves with direction from Doppelmayr. It seems that they have had some difficulties but I guess with the money they will save, they can afford to do things over. As long as they have it done by the time the beginners show up things will be good.
 

tumbler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
1,404
Points
83
I was up there again this weekend. They are moving along and things look good. I was talking to one of my friends who lives near the hill and used to work for the mountain. I found it interesting to learn that Sugarbush is installing the lift themselves with direction from Doppelmayr. It seems that they have had some difficulties but I guess with the money they will save, they can afford to do things over. As long as they have it done by the time the beginners show up things will be good.

Oh boy. Trying to install a lift yourself to save a couple bucks. {face in palm}
 

Newpylong

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
4,938
Points
113
Location
Upper Valley, NH
Oh boy. Trying to install a lift yourself to save a couple bucks. {face in palm}

Not really, and it's not a couple bucks. They likely won't be doing the entire thing themselves ie installation of the gearbox, drives and controls, but providing a lot of equipment and manpower for setting the towers, terminals, ie the grunt work. If you have an experienced staff and the right equipment this can be done in house and save money. Some of the stuff they will inescapably need Doppelmayre for.
 

benski

Active member
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
1,114
Points
36
Location
Binghamton NY
Not really, and it's not a couple bucks. They likely won't be doing the entire thing themselves ie installation of the gearbox, drives and controls, but providing a lot of equipment and manpower for setting the towers, terminals, ie the grunt work. If you have an experienced staff and the right equipment this can be done in house and save money. Some of the stuff they will inescapably need Doppelmayre for.

How many full time construction staff does Dopplemayre even have. They only seem to need them a few months a year. It is probably cheeper to build a relationship with a local contractor than to hire your own employees
 

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
Typically you put the site work, concrete, tower/hardware/cabling out to bid with local contractors that are qualified and have experience in lift installation. Doppelmayr provides all the documents, engineering, grades and final design. They usually provide site visits and inspections to confirm the installation is to specifications. Then once all the hardware is in, they come in and install the Electronics, power and controls. In the end it is Doppelmayr that will get the state inspections and the sign off on the finished product so it is their liability.
 

tumbler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
1,404
Points
83
From the website blog- they plan on moving over to the SunnyD (Q) at Mt Ellen next and build that one too. Yikes.
 

villager

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
3
Points
1
Pics of Village Chair Project

I was up last weekend and took a few photos
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170909_091212.jpg
    IMG_20170909_091212.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 120
  • IMG_20170909_091214 - Copy.jpg
    IMG_20170909_091214 - Copy.jpg
    90.4 KB · Views: 118
  • IMG_20170909_091421.jpg
    IMG_20170909_091421.jpg
    132.2 KB · Views: 118
  • IMG_20170909_091443.jpg
    IMG_20170909_091443.jpg
    66.5 KB · Views: 116
  • IMG_20170909_103541.jpg
    IMG_20170909_103541.jpg
    116.5 KB · Views: 117

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
They were working this weekend on Saturday. I saw Mississippi working on the new operators shack at the top. So at this point they have all the new towers installed with the hardware, top and bottom stations are complete, The shack is almost complete and it looks like they strung the Power or communications cable up the tower line. Now they just need the ramp at the top, cable and chairs and the controls. Also I noticed that all of the mechanical for the lift is at the top. The bottom is just a simple bull wheel.
 

tumbler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
1,404
Points
83
Also I noticed that all of the mechanical for the lift is at the top. The bottom is just a simple bull wheel.

That is the way the old lift was also. Out west there are many lifts with the drive at the top instead of the bottom. I would think it would be more expensive to run the power up to the top but is there some physics that make a top drive more efficient?
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,415
Points
113
Location
NJ
That is the way the old lift was also. Out west there are many lifts with the drive at the top instead of the bottom. I would think it would be more expensive to run the power up to the top but is there some physics that make a top drive more efficient?

Yes and yes apparently. Interesting info here in this presentation that goes into some details on the whys: http://peakstoprairies.org/media/Lift-Operations.pdf
 

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
i'm interested to see how they grade/scape the area from rice and gadd brook new construction into the new chair
The grading at the bottom is pretty much done. If you go back to page 312 of this thread there are some pretty good pics. Basically the slope at the exit of Out to lunch coming from behind Rice brook at the bridge has not changed at all. At the bottom of the lift they built a big retaining wall to level of the area so they can have a flat lift line area. This is at the lower bridge below Gadd Brook.
 

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
It's how you set up your view. I do not have that many posts per page. So you will see the pics probably 1 or 2 pages back.
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,415
Points
113
Location
NJ
Mine must be setup like Hawk. This page is 316 and the pics Hawk is referring to are indeed on 312 for me.
 
Top