Amex lift at Stratton today

[drjeff]

Well this doesn't look good for the Amex lift!

A pic from the IKON passholders FB group posted this morning!

For Stratton's sake hopefully it's not much more than a seized wheel in the mechanism that slows or speeds up the chairs to/from the haul rope as they enter/leave the base terminal depending on what side its on

 

[KustyTheKlown]

if a lift is to go down at stratton at least its that one. really just a lower mountain lift that I've only used to avoid the gondola line to connect to ursa/snowbowl. pretty inconsequential lift in terms of access. stinks for their beginners/ski school if a long term problem

 

[cdskier]

I just looked back at the Stratton webcam which you can rewind to the exact point where that happened. The lift had been stopped for a bit by that point (people were already getting out of line) and it looks like that smoke might be from the diesel starting up.

 

[Geoff]

Jeez. I had to pull up a trail map to see where that lift is. The Stratton from when I was a kid was fixed grip double chairs. I've never been back. So American Express is more or less where the old Standard double used to be.

 

[drjeff]

Jeez. I had to pull up a trail map to see where that lift is. The Stratton from when I was a kid was fixed grip double chairs. I've never been back. So American Express is more or less where the old Standard double used to be.

Yup, and then if you ever hear any reference to their URSA 6 pack, that's where the old North American double was (roughly)

 

[drjeff]

More stuff I am reading now suggests that the smoke was just a BIG plume from when they fired up the diesel back up to get people off of AMEX once whatever incident that caused it to shut down in the first places was deemed not an immediately repairable one.

I've seen plenty of diesel auxillary back up start ups over the years, just not with anywhere near that much of a smoke plume!

 

[cdskier]

It is always interesting how sometimes people jump to "worst-case scenario" type of conclusions instead of looking at the simple explanations first...

(Edit...not necessarily directed at you Jeff...as the original poster of that FB post in the Ikon group had implied something was on fire in the caption)

 

[Smellytele]

I once did see the attrash triple with flames shooting out of the base terminal 3 or 4 years ago

 

[cdskier]

FWIW...the lift is back open now according to Stratton's website.

 

[Geoff]

I've seen plenty of diesel auxillary back up start ups over the years, just not with anywhere near that much of a smoke plume!

I’ve certainly seen big plumes of smoke. It’s winter. The engine is stone-cold. It’s very incomplete combustion until the engine comes to temperature.

 

[Newpylong]

Yep, looks like the APU getting started stone cold. Ours was just like that.

At least they have the South American quad right next to it.

 

[VTKilarney]

For a second I thought that they were announcing a lift exclusively for AMEX card holders - which would make perfect sense since I just cancelled my AMEX card last week.

 

[Zand]

For a second I thought that they were announcing a lift exclusively for AMEX card holders - which would make perfect sense since I just cancelled my AMEX card last week.

Don't give Stratton any ideas!

 

[Geoff]

Don't give Stratton any ideas!

You mean you don’t have an AMEX Centurion card in your wallet? One of the little people. LOL

 

[thetrailboss]

Well this doesn't look good for the Amex lift!

A pic from the IKON passholders FB group posted this morning!

For Stratton's sake hopefully it's not much more than a seized wheel in the mechanism that slows or speeds up the chairs to/from the haul rope as they enter/leave the base terminal depending on what side its onView attachment 52498

Yeah, that ain't good.

 

[icecoast1]

if a lift is to go down at stratton at least its that one. really just a lower mountain lift that I've only used to avoid the gondola line to connect to ursa/snowbowl. pretty inconsequential lift in terms of access. stinks for their beginners/ski school if a long term problem

Considering the Gondola goes down for wind hold every time somebody farts at Bromley, Amex is pretty critical if you want summit access out of the main base area. Otherwise you're driving to the sunbowl if its windy

 

[NYDB]

Stratton upgrade alert - now that the snow bowl lift is a hsq it goes on wind hold as often as the gondola

 

[icecoast1]

you can still get to the summit via ursa, if it's windy enough for that lift to go down, it's probably going to be a pretty miserable day of skiing

 

[drjeff]

Stratton upgrade alert - now that the snow bowl lift is a hsq it goes on wind hold as often as the gondola

I know I've mentioned it here on AZ before, but 5 or 6 years ago I was riding up the Gondola 1 December day and a snowmaker was in the cabin with the rest of us. A woman asked him why the Gondola seems to always run slow, and his reply was "if a mouse farts over at Bromley, this lift goes on wind hold!"

 

[NYDB]

you can still get to the summit via ursa, if it's windy enough for that lift to go down, it's probably going to be a pretty miserable day of skiing

you can for sure. 30-40 minute wait though on a weekend. not my idea of fun.

the old snowbowl fixed grip ran in the wind more often. helped crowd dispersal better imo.