Pats Peak Summer Improvements

[tcharron]

Was just taking a peak at what Pats was up to this summer, and this was kinda alarming:

http://www.patspeak.com/pr_improvements.htm

New Lift-Serviced Terrain Park That Sets The Standard For Other Areas
A new Terrain Park for high-end riders and freestyle skiers called "F5" will make its debut this season. This terrain park will have its own surface lift for maximum laps in the park. The addition of this terrain park gives Pats Peak a total of three terrain parks with jumps and rails of all sizes for all level of skiers and snowboarders.

Sooooo.. Are they losing the FIS trail, or twister? I really can't see where else on the mountain they could put this, and have it's own lift.

RIP weekly trail swapping for races this year?

 

[thetrailboss]

This was interesting:

New “Secret Gladed Areas”
This year some dedicated glade skiers cleared some fantastic “secret lines” that require you to hike. These areas are in addition to the already seven gladed areas on the mountain, giving even more options to enjoy a variety of terrain.

Not sure they get enough snow to make that work...

And did they ever get the summit pond built? That would be awesome for their snowmaking.

 

[Puck it]

What is the bare area at the top from? Always wondered.

 

[thetrailboss]

What is the bare area at the top from? Always wondered.

Their new snowmaking pond. They are, or were, building a 'top down' snowmaking system, in which the water comes from the summit pond.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

..Sooooo.. Are they losing the FIS trail, or twister? I really can't see where else on the mountain they could put this, and have it's own lift.

RIP weekly trail swapping for races this year?

I think you're a little premature with saying that .. there is a couple of areas I can think of where that park would fit in nicely.

 

[thetrailboss]

I think you're a little premature with saying that .. there is a couple of areas I can think of where that park would fit in nicely.

Are you familiar with Pats Peak, iwon't?

 

[hammer]

Sooooo.. Are they losing the FIS trail, or twister? I really can't see where else on the mountain they could put this, and have it's own lift.

Those trails are a bit steep for a terrain park IMO...

Also, I only know of one terrain park at Pats Peak. Am I missing something?

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Are you familiar with Pats Peak, iwon't?

Very familiar, it was ( and still is) my primary learning and lesson hill.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Those trails are a bit steep for a terrain park IMO...

Also, I only know of one terrain park at Pats Peak. Am I missing something?

The area above Knight slope would be perfect for this park. There is nice pitch and is really only used when they have had a lot of natural snow fall. I believe the article stated they were going to be using a surface lift for this area. I will have reread it to be sure. But this area is still accessible from the chair lifts. They have a small beginner park on Whisper usually.

 

[tcharron]

I think you're a little premature with saying that .. there is a couple of areas I can think of where that park would fit in nicely.

They're saying it will have a dedicated lift. They seem to also be infering that would be much larger then their existing Turbulence park. I wonder if they're just going to make turbulence much bigger.. But they also said it would be for 'high end' freestylers, so I don't think they could do much at all to make Turbulence steeper in order to go bigger.

Knights really doesn't seem long enough to make a decent sized park, unless they cleared a whole lot of stuff, like vortex. Even then, lifts going *over* the park just seems like a bad idea.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

They're saying it will have a dedicated lift. They seem to also be infering that would be much larger then their existing Turbulence park. I wonder if they're just going to make turbulence much bigger.. But they also said it would be for 'high end' freestylers, so I don't think they could do much at all to make Turbulence steeper in order to go bigger.

Knights really doesn't seem long enough to make a decent sized park, unless they cleared a whole lot of stuff, like vortex. Even then, lifts going *over* the park just seems like a bad idea.

well it should be interesting to see where this park ends up but they making more parking and adding or up grading rest rooms which are big pluses in my book. I wish Gunstock would upgrage their rest rooms. I have a midweek pass at Pats this season. I still think Gunstock has the most under rated park in the area.

 

[dcarbs]

the rumors that i've heard is that pats will be installing an old handletow (willi II?) on knight slope for the new terrain park.

 

[deadheadskier]

If there was an improvement I think Pat's needs, it's to move one of their chairs over to the skier's right side of the mountain. I've only been once in the past several years, last season. They had East Wind open from the top and then a long traverse back to the Hurricane lift. All of the terrain on that side of the mountain requires that traverse back over to the main face.

I'm not advocating for more lifts, just repositioning one to improve the skiing experience on that side of the mountain.

 

[bobbutts]

If there was an improvement I think Pat's needs, it's to move one of their chairs over to the skier's right side of the mountain. I've only been once in the past several years, last season. They had East Wind open from the top and then a long traverse back to the Hurricane lift. All of the terrain on that side of the mountain requires that traverse back over to the main face.

I'm not advocating for more lifts, just repositioning one to improve the skiing experience on that side of the mountain.

good idea, I agree with this, three basically redundant chairs on the front of pat's and and forced runout on all the east side runs are not ideal. It's really bad come spring when the snow slows down. I'd move the hurricane chair to that side, upgrade the peak chair and use it as the primary instead of hurricane, and either remove vortex or leave it for racers.
Of course they could just go with a high speed quad. For me the biggest drawback for Pat's is the ride time on hurricane chair vs. the run down. It's about 7mins/1min if I'm riding the groomers, probably 7min/3 if I take Hurricane trail. Vortex chair is much better, but only runs occasionally. With local/night places I like to get lots of runs in fast, so for me a high speed quad would be ideal. Then they could just remove all 3 existing peak chairs.

 

[speden]

One of the improvements they listed is buying some new rental gear. Man, I hope they are upgrading their rental boots. I have never seen crappier rental boots than they have there. It was impossible to tighten those contraptions to get any kind of solid fit around the lower calf. I don't know how my kids could even ski in them. I like skiing at Pat's, so this year I think I'll look for a place that rents gear for the whole season for the kids, and skip the Pat's rental shop.

The slow lifts are the other problem at Pat's. A detached lift would really increase the number of runs you could get in, but it's probably not cost effective for them to put one in. It would be nice though.

 

[thetrailboss]

Pats is a nice place to ski. Not the biggest, but the pitch is really good in places and the expert stuff is legit. My last season as a pass holder they blew snow on the Vortex Liftline and got it open. March 2005 they had enough snow to open the liftline under the Peak Double and man was there some fun lines there. Even the glades I skied which had enough snow, except for FIS and the one at the very top of Hurricane, were legit. The one halfway down the Hurricane Liftline, when there is snow, is reminiscent of some of the stuff up north I have skied.

I don't know about an HSQ though. That would make a bad problem worse, and that is the amount of traffic on their trails. Why they don't groom runs before Saturday night sessions is beyond me. There were many nights when I skied that it got downright dangerous after 8pm. But when I was a passholder I rarely skied nights. That said, the POP crowd was usually church, school, scout groups who had no experience skiing or riding and putting them on bad conditions was just not good.

I will say that they have snowmaking that is great, some trails had deep bases like at Sunday River, and their service is really good. I never felt unwelcomed there.

 

[thetrailboss]

Love the Peak!

March 2005.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Love the Peak!

March 2005.

I feel the same way about the place. I have no issues with the lifts. Gives me a break to rest and reflect. I have had some nice mid week night runs there.

 

[bobbutts]

If all 3 peak chairs are running, that's (just using general numbers for chairs) 1800/hr Hurricane Triple, 1200 hr each vortex and peak, so we're talking 4200/hr to the peak. High speed quad would carry 3000/hr at best, so I don't think the crowd argument applies here.
Not really complaining or saying this is a necessary thing, IMO it would be an improvement though. If it's a slow lift I like it to be taking me to be a long vertical drop and no other lifts terminating at the same spot. Like Spear triple at Ragged or Spruce chair at Sunday River.

 

[bobbutts]

Why they don't groom runs before Saturday night sessions is beyond me. There were many nights when I skied that it got downright dangerous after 8pm.

Strongly agree with that. Afternoon groom would be really nice, especially on busy days.