Belleayre 2/24/2008 - They still need to get their lift act together (caution ~ rant)

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Ah....but the vertical is the real deal at WF. And no, lets not start a WF is this and that thread. But the real difference is that it can take you 10 to 15 minutes to get down WF, under 2 for Bell. I think I clocked a 1;40 to the bottom of Dot Nebel. this fact alone makes handeling 5500 people a lot easier at WF than at Bell, especialy when Bell had 2 lifts running and WF has I think 10, with a Godi that seats 6 to 8. this is a huge difference!!!!!!!

I remember it taking me 5 minutes to ski the full 3216 vert at Whiteface when I was there 11 years ago in my senior year of high school on my 195 Pre m5as,,I bet it would take me 3-4 minutes now since a fast cruiser off the Bridger gondola at Jackson hole takes me under 3 minutes for 2740 vert..with my helmet whistling..lol..

Whiteface and Belleayre shouldn't be compared but I was just clarrifying that Whiteface is not 5 times larger than Belleayre and pretty tiny compared to the cool VT areas..

 

[gladerider]

maybe not 5 times, but i can see how someone can make that statement.

BUT, whiteface tiny compared to VT areas?? what are you smoking? exactly which VT area would that be? sounds like you've never been to whiteface....
if it take you 5 min for whiteface and 3 minutes for JH, how long does it take you to ski Blue? 10 seconds? LOL

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

maybe not 5 times, but i can see how someone can make that statement.

BUT, whiteface tiny compared to VT areas?? what are you smoking? exactly which VT area would that be? sounds like you've never been to whiteface....
if it take you 5 min for whiteface and 3 minutes for JH, how long does it take you to ski Blue? 10 seconds? LOL

In Skiable acres Whiteface is small compared to Stowe, Okemo, Sugarbush, and Killington.

Switchback at Blue takes me about 45 seconds..I think Razors is just over a minute...but I don't make many turns..lol

Why would I lie about going to Whiteface. I was there with my ski club in 1994 and 1997

 

[kingslug]

OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gladerider]

GSS, i am not accusing you a liar. your comment on whiteface being tiny got me going. just busting your chops man, no hard feelings...

 

[dmc]

it seems Bellayre is the new Hunter...

Just got back from Hunter. We where at bell on Sunday and yes it was nuts, but not as nuts as the day before.I heard they had over 5000 people show up. Where the hell did they put them. I can' even imagine what that was like. I was at Whiteface the weekend before, when 5500 showed up. But WF is 4 times the size of Bell. I found the conditions at Bell to be pretty scratchy. Not so much in the beginning but later on some runs became a slide for life for most people. Dot Nebel the worst. My poor niece almost had a heart attack on it but my wife got her down. She's getting better and better and is liking th moguls more and more.
Here's the strange part. Hunter today had completely different conditions. Not a drop of ice, except in the moguls of course. I skied lap after lap on all the runs and it just got better as the day went on. racers Edge which is usualy pretty skied off was awesome the whole day. I guess Hunter just has a much better base.
As far as the lift being broken at Bell. I work with big machinery, they can be a bitch to fix, too many safeties, relays, etc. If you don't have the exact spare part in stock, you're out of luck until you get it. Maybe the crowds put too much a strain on it. Who knows.

 

[adamti91]

Ever since Superchief was put in they suck at running it. I've been stuck for 20+ minutes at least like 3 times on the lift, not to mention all the times it was just closed. So annoying, and 7 and Tomahawk are so damn slow.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Ever since Superchief was put in they suck at running it. I've been stuck for 20+ minutes at least like 3 times on the lift, not to mention all the times it was just closed. So annoying, and 7 and Tomahawk are so damn slow.

The new Superchief high speed quad is such an improvement over the old fixed grip..12 minutes vs..5..I'm sure they'll get the bugs worked out..I remember lift 7 having mechanical issues in 2006..

 

[dmc]

The new Superchief high speed quad is such an improvement over the old fixed grip..12 minutes vs..5..I'm sure they'll get the bugs worked out..I remember lift 7 having mechanical issues in 2006..

thats a good chair..
Psyched to hit Bell this April..

 

[abc]

I only caught this TR today. I was at Bell on 24th. Yes, I wish I've stayed home!!!

But I went again the 27th (Thursday) and it's a whole different world. Not being a weekend day, there may be about 2-300 people tops. They dropped the rope under Tomahawk as I was riding up it. So natrually I skied it. The powder was amazing. But everybody knows that...

I had to go back to Bell today at the end of the day, because I dropped my glove there on Thursday. My god, am I glad I didn't ski there today (went to Platt instead)... I think I agree with the statement Bell is the new Hunter. Lets hope it takes some of the pressure off Hunter? I haven't skied there for more than 5 years since the last terrible experience...

For weekend, I'll stick with Platt. The lines at Bell can easily eat up more than 30 min. (the extra drive time to get to Platt). Not to mention all the extra skiers scraping the snow away by 11 am!