Ski Resorts with too much uphill capacity

[dmc]

Hunter to much summit capacity?

I think they are cognizant of uphill capacity...

Only really bad on holiday weekends..

 

[drjeff]

I think they are cognizant of uphill capacity...

Only really bad on holiday weekends..

I think that statement applies to 99.9% of all ski area GM's and Mountain/Lift Ops personel! (I'm guessing that I don't have to tell you this DMC as I'm asuming that you know the folks at Hunter who hold those titles, and if they're like the folks at Mount Snow that I know who have those jobs, they're pretty smart folks who tend to be thinking about 1000 other things related to ski area operations and management that most consumers of their product don't readily think about)

Just because they have the capacity doesn't mean that they always (or sometimes ever) use the maximum capacity. And the times when the do operate at their maximum are generally just limited to those days when you've got BIG crowds to move up the hill, and the vast majority of those folks that are making up the BIG crowds are expecting the crowds and tend to apppreciate the capacity.

For example, I know that Mount Snow when they ordered the chairs for their Bluebird Express last season only ordered about 2/3rds of what the lift was rated for to help regulate the number of folks they can send up the hill an hour. If they maxed out capacity on that lift they could send about another 1000 people an hour to the summit at full capacity.

My guess is that WHENever someone installs an 8 pack, you're going to see some big spacing between the chairs, not not because of the logistical issues of trying to get 8 people to the load line at the same time and then quickly unload them at the top terminal, but as a way to regulate uphill capacity and subsequently downhill density.

 

[dmc]

that's pretty much it...

I'm going to hit Mt Snow this year...
A friend of mine works in the finance dept and instructs... Gotta get over there for a visit...

 

[skiNEwhere]

My guess is that WHENever someone installs an 8 pack, you're going to see some big spacing between the chairs, not not because of the logistical issues of trying to get 8 people to the load line at the same time and then quickly unload them at the top terminal, but as a way to regulate uphill capacity and subsequently downhill density.

That doesn't make any sense to me why a resort would install an 8-pack with greater or double chair spacing, it seems to defeat the purpose of installing the higher capacity lift, when the same could be achieved by installing a quad with normal spacing. Is there a price difference? And are their even any 8 packs on the east coast? My east coast skiing has been minimal in the last couple of years.

 

[dmc]

I think the bigger chairs are more stable and can run in more conditions..

Also - they can control the speed to match the crowd...

 

[BenedictGomez]

That doesn't make any sense to me why a resort would install an 8-pack with greater or double chair spacing, it seems to defeat the purpose of installing the higher capacity lift, when the same could be achieved by installing a quad with normal spacing. Is there a price difference? And are their even any 8 packs on the east coast? My east coast skiing has been minimal in the last couple of years.

I'd assume in the above case, the purpose would be to have marketing materials showing an 8-pack to presumably attract casual skiers to your resort, much the same way some places have done with gondolas.

 

[drjeff]

That doesn't make any sense to me why a resort would install an 8-pack with greater or double chair spacing, it seems to defeat the purpose of installing the higher capacity lift, when the same could be achieved by installing a quad with normal spacing. Is there a price difference? And are their even any 8 packs on the east coast? My east coast skiing has been minimal in the last couple of years.

No 8 packs currently in the United States (and I'm pretty sure none outside of Europe at this time).

As for spacing, I know that Mount Snow went with 9 second spacing between the chairs on the Bluebird Express (the "usual" is about 6 second spacing. They did it for 2 reasons: 1) there was quite honestly with having had conversation with multiple admins and even some dedicated passholders, some questions about the ability to regularly get 6 folks to the loadline every 6 seconds - what good is it if the chair has to stop frequently and/or isn't regularly sending up full chairs?? and 2) Downhill density.

From a marketing standpoint, if an area puts in a new high speed quad, that's not exactly that uncommon these days and while there will be some likely increase in skier/rider visits to check out the new lift, it probably won't be that much of an increase. If an area puts in more of a "novelty" lift (granted they also tend to be very functional), but some type of lift where there aren't any or maybe just a few around, then that gives them the ability to market that lift in a different way, which very often translates into more buzz and hence more lift tickets sold from the day trip market wanting to check out something that is both new AND unique.

When someone installs an 8 pack in the US (especially if they're the only area that does so that year), you can bet that "come ride the ONLY high speed 8 passenger lift in North America" or something similar will be all over their webpage and media and print ads, and end up catching more folks attention than just "come ride our new high speed quad" a phrase that likely multiple other areas in that same basic market will also have in their marketing blitz that season.

Price wise, from what I've read, and been told by admin types at multiple areas, in the big scheme of things, if you're comparing a quad to a six pack or a six pack to an 8 pack, yes, the bigger the seat size, the more the lift will cost, but it's not that much of a difference.

Bottomline is that you can have a lift that *could* haul say 3600 folks an hour out of its base area, but it may only service a trail pod that is better suited (for various reasons) for 75% of that (or some other number), so you can have the "novelty lift' which will likely draw more folks to the area, customized to the ski areas needs, and that works on multiple levels

 

[from_the_NEK]

There are single and triple lifts, but after that, all lifts seem to be even numbers (quad, six-packs, octo-lifts). Why aren't there Penta or Septa lifts?

 

[jaybird]

This topic is crazy talk !
Too many choppers in an landing zone could be an issue. Lifts converging at peaks is not.

Plan your descent. Disembark the lift and get the heck out of my way.

Gheesh !

 

[x10003q]

Hunter's HS6 only carries 200 more people/hr when compared to the HSQ they moved to Hunter West. This is true only at the max line speed. Gore never runs its gondola at its advertised 1100ft/min. I am quite sure slowing down the line is a way to balance the crowd. It is also cheaper to run slower. The max capacity numbers are good for advertising but I bet ski areas go to max capacity less often then we think.

 

[dmc]

And that 6pack is sooooo comfy...

 

[drjeff]

And that 6pack is sooooo comfy...

I haven't ridden the new one at Hunter, but comfort wise if it's anything like the one at Mount Snow, I totally agree! I'd be more than happy (and comfortable) to stretch out on one and take a nap if it was say sitting in the middle of my living room infront of my TV! It's basically a 14 or so foot wide couch!

 

[oakapple]

Just like Mount Snow and Killington's Skye Peak, the problem isn't the lift system but the trail system. Hunter's got only one blue trail at the summit, so that trail gets too much traffic.

If you're a black-trail skier, there are plenty of ways to spread out at Hunter. If only they could cut another blue trail from the top, they'd solve a big part of their problem.

 

[skiNEwhere]

I haven't ridden the new one at Hunter, but comfort wise if it's anything like the one at Mount Snow, I totally agree! I'd be more than happy (and comfortable) to stretch out on one and take a nap if it was say sitting in the middle of my living room infront of my TV! It's basically a 14 or so foot wide couch!

I've had lifties get mad at me for that because I'm causing the chair to tilt to one side

 

[drjeff]

I've had lifties get mad at me for that because I'm causing the chair to tilt to one side

Since I'm actually about 13'6" tall from the bottom of my bases to the top of my helmet, I can get away with that :lol:

 

[jaytrem]

I haven't ridden the new one at Hunter, but comfort wise if it's anything like the one at Mount Snow, I totally agree! I'd be more than happy (and comfortable) to stretch out on one and take a nap if it was say sitting in the middle of my living room infront of my TV! It's basically a 14 or so foot wide couch!

The Hunter chairs are quite comfortable, but they're very different from the Bluebird chairs. They're just regular chairs compared to the highback/less open Bluebird ones.

 

[ScottySkis]

I haven't ridden the new one at Hunter, but comfort wise if it's anything like the one at Mount Snow, I totally agree! I'd be more than happy (and comfortable) to stretch out on one and take a nap if it was say sitting in the middle of my living room infront of my TV! It's basically a 14 or so foot wide couch!

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2
I have been on both Mount Snow and Hunter 6 pack and it is like sitting on a couch, that is heated, very comfortable.

 

[tarponhead]

I think they are cognizant of uphill capacity...

Only really bad on holiday weekends..

wasn't dissing hunter, actualy advocating for them. got a big lift card to boot (not used toi new look on this site. Hit "reply" instead of "reply with quotes")