Killington snowmaking to start Oct. 26th, plus misc hype....

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

For the record, I've suggested various upper mountain lifts.

news to me..care to explain where you would like these upper mountain lifts?? Isn't the glades chair an upper mountain lift?

 

[deadheadskier]

news to me..care to explain where you would like these upper mountain lifts?? Isn't the glades chair an upper mountain lift?

Glades chair is poorly positioned to offer downloads from another lift.


For all the crap Highwaystar gets, including from myself, some of his ideas for Killington are right on the money. Having a downloadable lift above 3K feet would be great for early season, perhaps late too if they moved away from superstar as the late season trail.

 

[WWF-VT]

then you're not a serious skier..serious skiers drive from Pennsylvania for the ribbon..

Real serious skiers head to Woodbury Ski area for the junior WROD

 

[Highway Star]

Poma or handle tow, to allow you to ski over from the North Ridge triple, then ride up and download on the K-1

Summit chair:

This map shows the glades triple extended to the summit with more trails, and a new lift on upper downdraft/lower catwalk. Original idea was to offer year round skiing off lift D, using a refrig system, but it could also be done with an IDE snowmaking system (whatever).

And here's even more upper mountain lifts, including the middle-upper downdraft lift (my personal favorite), a catwalk lift, and a southridge lift.

So there you go.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Real serious skiers head to Woodbury Ski area for the junior WROD

LAME....uke:

anyway I think all northeast ski resorts should wait until the week before Christmas to open and close on St Patricks day..that when most people ski..anything more would be a waste of $$$$$$$...and there are also Palm Trees in Rutland..cause it's so warm..and also really fat women at the Price Chopper..

 

[Newpylong]

Outside of the handle tow and an extended Glades chair, I don't like any of those ideas. Cutting more liftlines in the middle of existing trail pods and adding to the already hornets nest that is Killington is the not the answer.

Two more:

Extending Canyon Chair higher - it would offer up more terrain than an extended North Ridge chair, being able to ski Cascade, Downdraft, DD, East Fall as well as the North Ridge terrain - but would the bottom of the chair be too low - probably?

How about if and when a lift on Snowdon is replaced with a High Speed lift - is it feasable to ski across to North Ridge and back?

 

[Highway Star]

Spinmeister has already said numerous times they have been looking at Upper Mt lift options. You just keep saying they should put in a handle tow or a midstation on K1. I can almost guarantee you they aren't looking at either of those as viable.

People dismiss the mid-station concept way too quickly, I did too the first time someone suggested it.

There are numerous benefits to the concept. First of all, new lifts are expensive. You have to buy them then install them. New fixed grip chairs are $1M++ depending on size and complexity of install.

Building a midstation is considerably less complex, but still a major project. Custom design. NOT like the skyeship mid with true terminals. You're talking about the detach system from a lift terminal - no drive, no bullwheel, no tension system, etc. Just something to pull the cabins off, run them slow, then put back them on. Call it 25% of the mechanicals in a detach terminal. Of course, how fancy does this need to be? Should it detach on both sides? Should it disengage and move out of the way so the cabins don't need to detach? All that adds to the cost. Then you have to re-size some towers to get the cable closer to the ground, and/or move lots of earth around, build a foundation and structure, etc. So yes, it's a bit more complex than a single fan gun, but I think it would be less than an entirely new fixed grip lift.

Anyway, it saves the need to run an entirely new lift, cut more trees down, etc. Definitely the cleanest way to offer early (and late?) season skiing - off one lift, just like the Killington Double. Plus, in theory (if built to return cabins), they could run the lower part on windy days that shut the summit down, to access the lower canyon/flume.

Another, cheaper, option is have a temporary chondola conversion. Set it up with some quad chairs, then run it at half speed, and use a conventional midstation. But you are talking about a longer lift ride, and having to ride back up to the summit to download - not as effective.

 

[mondeo]

Extending Canyon Chair higher - it would offer up more terrain than an extended North Ridge chair, being able to ski Cascade, Downdraft, DD, East Fall as well as the North Ridge terrain - but would the bottom of the chair be too low - probably?

How about if and when a lift on Snowdon is replaced with a High Speed lift - is it feasable to ski across to North Ridge and back?

Canyon chair base isn't much higher than the K-1 base, ~300ft. BUT, it gets rid of the exposure issue lower Bunny Buster has.

You'd have to hike a little to get to the top of Snowdon. But if they replace the quad and cut the triple back to the top of Conclusion/Highline, as long as the triple can support downloading, you could use that. Doing it through the replacement of Snowdon is my favored option, granted that they make it a decent traverse to get over to the Snowdon woods, Vagabond, and Great Bear (in an attempt to preserve snow quality.)

 

[Highway Star]

Outside of the handle tow and an extended Glades chair, I don't like any of those ideas. Cutting more liftlines in the middle of existing trail pods and adding to the already hornets nest that is Killington is the not the answer.

Trust me, the upper-middle downdraft lift shown in the last map is one of the best options (besides a K-1 midstation). It offers good terrain, is good for early season snowmaking, and has potential for a bump skiing (on Downdraft) and quick recovery trail pod midseason.

Two more:

Extending Canyon Chair higher - it would offer up more terrain than an extended North Ridge chair, being able to ski Cascade, Downdraft, DD, East Fall as well as the North Ridge terrain - but would the bottom of the chair be too low - probably?

The canyon quad line, extended, goes west of the summit, puting you ~800 ft away from the K-1 top, meaning a traverse would have to be cut through dense evergreens. Plus new trails at 4000+ ft. Good luck.

Bottom of the CQ at 2,800ft is too low for early season. There is a signifigant difference above 3,500 ft. Plus we're talking about having to make snow on east fall, etc....again good luck.

How about if and when a lift on Snowdon is replaced with a High Speed lift - is it feasable to ski across to North Ridge and back?

This is Geoff's wacky plan. I personally hate it.. Look at the logistics. You boot up at the K-1 base lodge, ski the traverse over to the snowdon quad, wait in line, ride up, traverse over to the Northridge, wait in line, ride up......and finally you can ski after 20-30 minutes. Now, what if you have to go in and warm up, eat, or use the facilites? You have to ski to the bottom of the NRT, ride a handle tow up killink (or ski down GN and ride up the snowdon poma), and skate over to the quad, then ride down the quad, then shlep yourself up hill to the K-1 lodge.....and you're there, after 30 minutes. Good luck getting that to work for anybody, and having any repeat buisness. It's just as bad and hokey as downloading on the canyon quad, and the truck.

The GREAT thing about using Killington Peak is that you already have the best lift for downloading (the K-1), and you have the Peak Lodge right there. People can upload on the K-1, and spend many hours up there, taking breaks at the peak, then download at the end of the day.

They should just get over themselves and put a temporary handle tow on upper downdraft early season...

 

[millerm277]

Well, since this thread is already off topic, I might as well add to it. I've got an awesomely retarded plan as well!

Improve the evenness of Spillway a bit, use it to drive people in shuttle buses (not open trucks) to the base of the Canyon Quad. Problem solved. Only problem would be facilities. For an amazingly crazy idea....you could mulch heavenly traverse, and let people walk the ~680ft to the summit lodge, which isn't that bad. About the distance from the superstar side of KBL to the Snowdon Triple.

Add a midstation at 3500ft on the Canyon Quad somehow, and you can really open early, and stay open. Double Dipper holds snow pretty well, and you can even expand into the Glades area and run the triple. There you go. 4.5 full runs above 3500ft elevation. (Rime, East Glade, GN, Powerline, and Double Dipper.). I know nothing about how downloading lifts works, but...if you could download from the top (midstation is unload only), you could even have intermediates out there.

Yeah, this is all a random pipedream, but not a terrible one IMO.

 

[drjeff]

Spinmeister has already said numerous times they have been looking at Upper Mt lift options. You just keep saying they should put in a handle tow or a midstation on K1. I can almost guarantee you they aren't looking at either of those as viable.

Plus, I'd bet like most business, powdr and K have 1,3,5 and 10 year business "goals/plans" and I'd bet that upper mountain lifts to potentially facilitate easier early/late season skiing + riding don't start appear on that business plan radar until atleast the 5, if not even the 10 year plan/wish list. Too many other infastructure issues with a higher corporate value likely on that list, and that doesn't even factor in the uncertainty of the economy for atleast this coming season.

 

[WWF-VT]

Yet another 10 page Killington thread......

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Yet another 10 page Killington thread......

Awesome!!! I've skied Killington maybe 15 days total in my life but can't get enough of their threads..Stowe is the best place to ski in the east in my opinion and the only Stowe threads are about their stupid hotel..

 

[mondeo]

Yet another 10 page Killington thread......

It's only a 5 page thread.

 

[Highway Star]

Well, since this thread is already off topic, I might as well add to it. I've got an awesomely retarded plan as well!

Improve the evenness of Spillway a bit, use it to drive people in shuttle buses (not open trucks) to the base of the Canyon Quad. Problem solved. Only problem would be facilities. For an amazingly crazy idea....you could mulch heavenly traverse, and let people walk the ~680ft to the summit lodge, which isn't that bad. About the distance from the superstar side of KBL to the Snowdon Triple.

Add a midstation at 3500ft on the Canyon Quad somehow, and you can really open early, and stay open. Double Dipper holds snow pretty well, and you can even expand into the Glades area and run the triple. There you go. 4.5 full runs above 3500ft elevation. (Rime, East Glade, GN, Powerline, and Double Dipper.). I know nothing about how downloading lifts works, but...if you could download from the top (midstation is unload only), you could even have intermediates out there.

Yeah, this is all a random pipedream, but not a terrible one IMO.

Cool idea, but....have you ever been up spillway without snow on it? It's a fairly rugged dirt road. Good luck getting a shuttle bus up that, without paving the road first..........which isn't going to happen. Maybe a 4x4 van?

Interesting idea about the midstation, but you're talking 300ft of vert only...humm...

 

[Highway Star]

Plus, I'd bet like most business, powdr and K have 1,3,5 and 10 year business "goals/plans" and I'd bet that upper mountain lifts to potentially facilitate easier early/late season skiing + riding don't start appear on that business plan radar until atleast the 5, if not even the 10 year plan/wish list. Too many other infastructure issues with a higher corporate value likely on that list, and that doesn't even factor in the uncertainty of the economy for atleast this coming season.

Considering the cost should be relatively low, they should move it up on their priority list.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

It's only a 5 page thread.

the cool kids on here have it set up for 10 posts per page..

 

[ta&idaho]

the cool kids on here have it set up for 10 posts per page..

Wow. I didn't realize I could change my settings. I'm loving the "Winter" colors and 40 posts per page. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[drjeff]

Wow. I didn't realize I could change my settings. I'm loving the "Winter" colors and 40 posts per page. Thanks for the head's up.

Yup, that "summer" green trim makes we want to puke when I see it

I'm thinking with the 1st frost advisories already come and gone across the North Country that Greg should be switching to winter blue mode for everyone real soon! :flag:

 

[2knees]

Yup, that "summer" green trim makes we want to puke when I see it

I'm thinking with the 1st frost advisories already come and gone across the North Country that Greg should be switching to winter blue mode for everyone real soon! :flag:

yes, and did you notice that in the summer it becomes the Northeast Mountain Biking, Hiking and lastly Skiing Forums.

Skiing rules, everything else just fills the time till we ski again.