Burke submits act 250 application for new Lift

[from_the_NEK]

any updates?

Apparently I suck at blogging, due to no free time. Last week I got a few pics of the rebar/bolt frames that are at the mid-lodge. There were no holes in the ground for the lift towers at the mid lodge but there was a trench being dug that looked like it was dug to repair a waste water pipe.
I didn't make it to the summit to see what progress had been made there. I'll try again this week.

 

[jimmywilson69]

no worries. I'm sure you have better things to do. Lift construction isn't really all that interesting until they move the towers in. Then there is another lag until they string the haul rope, and then it's done.

 

[psyflyer]

Update

Mid Burke still has those bolts I had mentioned last time in the parking lot, and seems to me they have brought in a few more. The holes have been mostly covered but a new trench has been dug. I will update on this as things evolve.

The wind tower is moving ahead swiftly. Today there was a crane at the top and a couple of sections of the wind tower are installed. There were numerous workers and seems like they may be done in the near future.

 

[kingdom-tele]

got word they are resdcheduling the burke hillclimb race over labor day weekend due to the lift installation on Sat morning- just in case anyone wants to make popcorn and watch

 

[thetrailboss]

got word they are resdcheduling the burke hillclimb race over labor day weekend due to the lift installation on Sat morning- just in case anyone wants to make popcorn and watch

The lift installation that is happening, but Burke is not admitting to you mean?

 

[Masskier]

Wind Tower is up. It was installed right at the top of the Dippers

 

[from_the_NEK]

Wind Tower is up. It was installed right at the top of the Dippers

I went up on Saturday and checked it out. Hopefully I'll have some more photos up tomorrow. The wind tower is a bit shorter than the big TV/Radio antenna at the summit. Since, the wind tower is a bit off of the summit it isn't visible from downtown Lyndonville.I can see it from my house but it isn't prominent.The blades are black and the column is white. If they had painted the pole dark grey it would have been even less visible. the white really stands out when the sun hits it.

Right at the top of the Dippers. This photo was taken from where the traverse from the Willoughby chair crosses the toll road.

 

[thetrailboss]

I went up on Saturday and checked it out. Hopefully I'll have some more photos up tomorrow. The wind tower is a bit shorter than the big TV/Radio antenna at the summit. Since, the wind tower is a bit off of the summit it isn't visible from downtown Lyndonville.I can see it from my house but it isn't prominent.The blades are black and the column is white. If they had painted the pole dark grey it would have been even less visible. the white really stands out when the sun hits it.

Right at the top of the Dippers. This photo was taken from where the traverse from the Willoughby chair crosses the toll road.

Seems ironic that the resort that was so anti-wind only a few years ago that they bought the development rights to a nearby proposed wind development now has a wind turbine at the summit of their own mountain.

 

[from_the_NEK]

IMHO there is a huge difference between putting up a turbine this size at a location that is already "developed" with a paved road and putting up a "farm" of 450' tall tubines after plowing of the top of a realtively undeveloped wilderness mtn.

Then compare this (Top of Burke from near the airport on Pudding Hill):

To this (5 towers built so far in Sheffield):

 

[thetrailboss]

IMHO there is a huge difference between putting up a turbine this size at a location that is already "developed" with a paved road and putting up a "farm" of 450' tall tubines after plowing of the top of a realtively undeveloped wilderness mtn.

Then compare this (Top of Burke from near the airport on Pudding Hill):

To this (5 towers built so far in Sheffield):

I agree, but I still think that it is ironic. However, I imagine it was the ownership/management that has been forced out that had that opinion.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Also Blog = updated (finally)

 

[Zand]

Did the installation of the wind tower have any effect on the entrance into Sasquatch? Not that it would be a huge loss...

 

[thetrailboss]

Nice pics and blog, FTNEK.

 

[jimmywilson69]

nice blog, thanks for the update!

FYI "wind farms" have polluted many ridge tops here in PA. I don't neccesisarily disagree with wind power, but if you don't have a constant wind, then they are kind of usesless. it seems more often than not, they are sitting iddle. Maybe they are still building them, and they haven't been "turned on" but it seems they have been installed for more than year or two at all of the locations I have seen.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Did the installation of the wind tower have any effect on the entrance into Sasquatch? Not that it would be a huge loss...

It does not effect Sasquatch at all. The tower is just uphill of the entrance.

 

[Boardguy]

I was up at Burke the past couple of days and as "from the NEK" says the hole below the mid Burke parking area does look like it is for the foundation for the lower end of the new lift. There was also digging being done at the summit end. There was a machine up there and they were moving rocks and digging what looked to me to be the foundation hole for that end. In the parking lot the steel frames with bolts that go into the tower footings ( I assume) were still there. I counted twenty two of those. In regard to the wind turbine, from the base lodge you can just see the the top of the unit. The turbine itself and just a little below the hub of the blades is visable from where I was. I heard that the crew to install the lift is starting next week. We have heard that before though huh. Things are still happening so that is a good sign.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I was up at Burke the past couple of days and as "from the NEK" says the hole below the mid Burke parking area does look like it is for the foundation for the lower end of the new lift. There was also digging being done at the summit end. There was a machine up there and they were moving rocks and digging what looked to me to be the foundation hole for that end. In the parking lot the steel frames with bolts that go into the tower footings ( I assume) were still there. I counted twenty two of those. In regard to the wind turbine, from the base lodge you can just see the the top of the unit. The turbine itself and just a little below the hub of the blades is visable from where I was. I heard that the crew to install the lift is starting next week. We have heard that before though huh. Things are still happening so that is a good sign.

I have comfirmation that the base terminal is indeed going to be located where the large hole is being dug on the lower edge of the former parking lot.

According to my source, this frees up more area in the meadow below the lift for future development. Personally I think it is a good move. That extra 75' of vertical (500' horizontal distance) that was part of the Act 250 approved liftline was going to be garbage vert of flat runout. My source also added that the summit terminal isn't due to be delivered until the end of November :-o, with final load testing slated for Christmas Eve :smile:. I really hope they don't plan on opening this thing for the first time Christmas morning. :-?
There is also a stumping contractor currently onsite, grinding and removing the remaining stumps from the lift line. :smile:
There is an article in the Caledonian Record today about the wind tower. It is supposed to go online by the end of August once the electricals are hooked up.
The article also quotes Tim McGuire:
"We're making some very significant improvements to our ski offerings that will be ready for this upcoming ski season... The resort's managment is trying to keep the details under wraps. Officials want to announce a handful of developments all at once closer to the ski season to generate some excitement and publicity."

Also updated the blog with some of this info.

 

[thetrailboss]

More news about the major HSQ installation that is happening but yet isn't.......

I guess that makes sense.

Stowe just had a nice blip on WCAX about their work. They regularly update their FB page with the pics and that generates consistent attention. So does Sugarloaf and Mount Snow. By the time they do announce it, we will all be saying, "yeah, yeah, tell us something we don't know." And then again, maybe there is something that we don't yet know......

 

[thetrailboss]

...and considering how late the project started, they are damn lucky that they could get a new HSQ custom built as soon as they did. That is good for Poma (two major jobs in Vermont this summer alone).

 

[from_the_NEK]

...and considering how late the project started, they are damn lucky that they could get a new HSQ custom built as soon as they did. That is good for Poma (two major jobs in Vermont this summer alone).

I think that may be a big reason they have been playing the cards close to the vest. The late start has probably resulted in a somewhat unclear timeline as to when Burke can expect parts to be delivered. Considering the fading daylight hours and almost constant cloud cover in November (not to mention it can get pretty cold up there), that summit terminal install, combined with the subsequent rope pull and chair hanging, is going to be interesting. . The late "official" announcement is likely going to be made when a more complete final installation time line has been established.