Chair vs. Gondola?

[AdironRider]

Gondolas are nice for safety meetings, blow jobs, and sensitive sallies who dont like being outside.

They seem to cover longer distances though, which is nice.

I prefer chairs personally, mainly cause when its a slow day you can literally ski on and off without even unclicking (bonus points if youre a snowboarder). Much faster laps this way.

 

[riverc0il]

Marketing. Its all about marketing. How many new gondolas do you see being constructed in the east? The last two were HSQ/Gondola (aka Chondola) which gave the ski area the option to take the gondola cars off when the wind blows to hard for the gondola cars. Regular folks have a fondness and appeal for gondolas and trams. Serious skiers and riders overwhelming don't care much for lifts that require you to wait in long lines, take longer to load, and make you take your skis off.

Wind protection is not much of a factor because if the wind is really blowing, a gondola is more likely not to run than a chair. Warmth on a cold day is far more of an appeal to family with kids than expert skiers charging hard every run. So +1 on enclosed lifts for families but -1 for skis being taken off and being carried by Dad.

Trams have really slow cycle times. Jay Peak lines for the Tram on a weekend are redonculous. Not much of a fan of Cannon's tram but that IS an enclosed lift that really is great when the wind is honking. If the tram ain't running because of wind, then it probably is not a good day to be outside any ways.

So yea, basically marketing and selling a place to family types is the primary reason for a gondola, IMO.

 

[deadheadskier]

you know, I've never really been bothered by taking my skis off; only takes two seconds. Never really got on the Stowe Gondola and said to myself, I wish this was a chair.

definitely agree on the marketing thought and in some cases a lift becomes part of a mountain's 'image'; like Jackson Hole with their Tram. Heck there are people who are still begging for a Gondola to return to Sugarloaf even though from what I've heard it only ran about 50% of the time. Despite the lines of the Jay Tram, I bet when it's reached it's time for replacement, many would be furius if they decided to put a chair in instead.

 

[sullydog]

I'm thinking a chondola with 6 pax cabins and 3 quad chairs in between 'em. Thoughts, comments, ideas?

 

[deadheadskier]

if your concern is capacity, less chairs can be used on a six pack. Ragged does this. Their six pack capacity is set at 1800 ppl per hour I believe.

A six pack is better than a quad in wind due to the weight of the chairs. Wind can be an issue at Waterville.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

I'm thinking a chondola with 6 pax cabins and 3 quad chairs in between 'em. Thoughts, comments, ideas?

And why are you worrying about this? Are you doing some type of report for school or something? Chondala's are especially dumb, never understood the point unless you are doing something like night skiing in which people would be able to wait to get one of the warm gondolas. During high traffic periods, most people would not be able to use one of the gondolas and would probably create a cluster fuck with people wanting a ride in one of the nice new shiny cabins.

 

[tjf67]

Hmmm...this + question about amount of time to cut a trail + question on NELSAP about time to erect a lift = where are you installing a new lift? If not you, who and where?

College Project?

 

[bvibert]

you know, I've never really been bothered by taking my skis off; only takes two seconds.

I wouldn't want to do it on every ride up, but I'm not too bothered by taking my skis off either. I don't mind the occasional gondi ride, I like the break from having my feet dangling from the chair.

 

[sullydog]

High school day dreaming.

 

[threecy]

High school day dreaming.

You're in the wrong thread then. See the Linsday Vonn/Julia Mancuso thread.

 

[Telemechanic]

Loon Gondola is almost all disadvantage vs. HSQ in my book.
It's slow, low capacity, and you're forced to remove your equipment.
The upside is that a significant part of the crowd is waiting in line for it, so other trail and lifts have less people.
I don't like riding it myself, but at least Stratton's gondola has big capacity, so it eats through the line better.

The disadvantage of Loon's Gondola has nothing to do with speed, unless your referring to times when it runs slow or closes during high winds. Its top speed is the same as most detachable chairlifts: 1000 fpm. Its definitely low on uphill capacity, only about 1000 pph vs. 1700 to 2000 pph for Loon's detachable quads.

Gondolas are sometimes built more to impress than serve a purpose, like Loon's. In 1966 the original gondola was probably a real asset to the brand new ski area. When gondolas (or chondolas) are built for a purpose its to entice non skiers to ride, either to go sight seeing or to visit an attraction up mountain like a restaurant.

 

[LineGjibber]

I prefer a HSQ/6 any day over a gondola except at loon. Loon gets to packed if they put a HSQ where the gondola is it would create more traffic across the mountain. Plus the Gondola keeps me warm on the ride up and i get to enjoy a smoke.

 

[Johnskiismore]

I'll take a chair anyday