Snowbird Update: Little Cloud Double to be Replaced, New Mountain Coaster

[thetrailboss]

I mentioned it in another thread, but the Little Cloud Double is going to be replaced with a new HSQ this summer. If you want a double to accompany the one you bought last weekend at the Balsam's, Snowbird is offering the entire 1980 Doppelmayr Double for $200,000.

http://unofficialnetworks.com/cool-200k-burning-hole-pocket-buy-chairlift-97398/#comment-71038

And last night the planning board/commission approved Snowbird's plan to install a new Mountain Coaster near the Peruvian Lift. Some information is here:

http://unofficialnetworks.com/update-snowbirds-proposed-mountain-coaster-90853/#comment-71045

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54134827-90/coaster-snowbird-lake-salt.html.csp

As I might have mentioned, next summer they are replacing Gad II with a HSQ. Both Little Cloud and Gad II will be realigned. I'm going to see if I can find some more info on that.....

 

[thetrailboss]

Here's an update as to other proposed changes:

http://www.snowbird.com/imagelib/dickbass/SnowbirdNoticeOfProposedAction05072012t.pdf

 

[jimmywilson69]

mountain coasters have jumped the shark...

 

[thetrailboss]

mountain coasters have jumped the shark...

Yeah, I personally don't care about them either, but Attitash, Okemo, and Park City have them, so someone must like them.

 

[jimmywilson69]

I guess in the summer they are no different than an alpine slide, so it's another source of income outside of ski season.

It's not my cup of tea. If I want roller coasters I go to a real amusement park.

 

[jaytrem]

Good read, thanks.

Interesting that they want to go with a gondola for mid-gad and have some learning areas further up the hill. Similar to Snowmass and Vail.

 

[thetrailboss]

So I had not seen that version of the Notice and there is more than meets eye. Read about the plans for Hidden Peak. That building is going to happen apparently. It will not be 50k sq ft, but 25k sq ft.

 

[snoseek]

I always liked gad2 on a pow day because its a little more chill. It's inevitable and it looks like the realignment might be interesting.

Is anyone that skis there actually stoked on the mountain coaster.

I'll take a faster lift at little cloud, it's a pretty cold ride imo.

 

[ScottySkis]

I always liked gad2 on a pow day because its a little more chill. It's inevitable and it looks like the realignment might be interesting.

Is anyone that skis there actually stoked on the mountain coaster.

I'll take a faster lift at little cloud, it's a pretty cold ride imo.

I loved that chair, especially in a dumping snowstorm, great memories.

 

[thetrailboss]

I don't know anyone here who thinks it is cool, but some friends that I took hiking today thought it would be neat.

 

[bobbutts]

I did the coaster at Cranmore, it's fun to ride a couple times, but not the kind of thing you'd do over and over. Something to get a few extra $ from visitors and another checkbox on the amenity list.

 

[dropKickMurphy]

I loved that chair, especially in a dumping snowstorm, great memories.

I found Gad 2 to be the best bet on a poor visibility day. Not only avoid the clouds/fog that sometimes engulf the peak, but also the terrain has plenty of trees and other features compared to the more open stuff off Little Cloud and Mineral Basin.

It's also great on days it may be drizzling/raining at the lower elevations. Sometimes the loading station is just high enough to avoid the rain.

 

[steamboat1]

That's a lot of additional up hill lift capacity for the Gad valley.

 

[AdironRider]

I think this is the wave of the future (the mtn coaster that is) in the ski resort industry. On hill terrain and snowmaking for most major resorts is built. The high speeds are there already, the terrain is sufficient for the amount of clientel, etc. With the real estate angle gone summer is where its at.

To be fair, people shortchange summer operations far more than they realize.

Summer lift ticket sales for the Tram at Cannon account for 70% of the revenue season pass sales do in the winter. Think about that for a second, a summer time "check on the amenity list" is the third largest revenue generator for Cannon. The same applies here at Jackson, so its not just some one time specific example.

This is why Jay has been so successful. People want amenities on vacation, not some diehard skiers vision. Jay not only found the funding but actually made the right decision about where to spend it, primarily off hill amenities.

 

[ScottySkis]

I think this is the wave of the future (the mtn coaster that is) in the ski resort industry. On hill terrain and snowmaking for most major resorts is built. The high speeds are there already, the terrain is sufficient for the amount of clientel, etc. With the real estate angle gone summer is where its at.

To be fair, people shortchange summer operations far more than they realize.

Summer lift ticket sales for the Tram at Cannon account for 70% of the revenue season pass sales do in the winter. Think about that for a second, a summer time "check on the amenity list" is the third largest revenue generator for Cannon. The same applies here at Jackson, so its not just some one time specific example.

This is why Jay has been so successful. People want amenities on vacation, not some diehard skiers vision. Jay not only found the funding but actually made the right decision about where to spend it, primarily off hill amenities.

I agree, I know several people who ski few times a year and they want spa and other fun stuff to do at night, even if they spend 80% , more their happy because it was a vacation,.

 

[drjeff]

I think this is the wave of the future (the mtn coaster that is) in the ski resort industry. On hill terrain and snowmaking for most major resorts is built. The high speeds are there already, the terrain is sufficient for the amount of clientel, etc. With the real estate angle gone summer is where its at.

To be fair, people shortchange summer operations far more than they realize.

Summer lift ticket sales for the Tram at Cannon account for 70% of the revenue season pass sales do in the winter. Think about that for a second, a summer time "check on the amenity list" is the third largest revenue generator for Cannon. The same applies here at Jackson, so its not just some one time specific example.

This is why Jay has been so successful. People want amenities on vacation, not some diehard skiers vision. Jay not only found the funding but actually made the right decision about where to spend it, primarily off hill amenities.

Agree 100% Sometimes the very passionate members of the downhill snow sliding community that frequent this board can forget that by far and away we're an area/resorts atypical and minority quantity clientele. And what keeps us happy/makes the most sense for us can, and often is far different than what the "masses" who pay a lionshare of the bills want/makes them happy.

Its all good in my book, a busy area/resort as many weekends as possible, even if it's full of people doing things that may not appeal to me is GREAT for the industry and as a result, GREAT for me!

 

[thetrailboss]

The latest on the Coaster with plans:

http://unofficialnetworks.com/snowbirds-mountain-coaster-design-plans-placement-99669/

 

[thetrailboss]

Bump.

Some more activity at Snowbird this summer.

First the obvious. Gad II is now a HSQ. Doppelmayr is working hard on it....they completely removed the old double, which is for sale and sitting in the parking lot. I think I heard that a ski club in NY bought it, but that might have been Little Cloud. Local talk is mostly negative about this--because Gad II is largely avoided and hides some good powder in the trees. Snowbird says that the HSQ will have reduced capacity to avoid overcrowding. We'll see. If Little Cloud is any indication, this will be a net plus. Little Cloud, as an HSQ, really made a huge difference, especially in late spring when it and Mineral Basin were the only things going. There was almost NEVER a line there. No real difference with traffic on the runs. Little Cloud is my favorite lift...so having it as a new HSQ made me

They redid the base of the GadZoom...and the Mountain Coaster is almost done, but it will cost a few dollar$ to ride it...$20 per ride :blink:

No movement on the summit lodge.

No night skiing work on Gad side yet. They do want to expand mountain biking over there.

The big news is what they are not saying but doing regarding this dream expansion. Last season they quietly started a cat skiing operation over there...donating the money to the Canyons Foundation. The new snowcat was pretty slick. I was pretty happy to see them offering that option. So there was skiing regularly happening in Mary Ellen Gulch. The one or two days I made it over to Bookends (pathetic for me ) I did not see the cat over there, but I did see more tracks than before. Well, that was in the winter. Yesterday after picking up the pass, we took the tram up and I saw some commotion over in the bookends...in the form of an excavator working on a new traverse road that goes from the bottom of Powder Paradise up and across the bookends to the Sunday Saddle and drop-in access to Mary Ellen.

What am I talking about? Well as they were talking about on Epic Ski, the zig-zag traverse on this map from three years ago:

Nothing has been advertised about more skiing in Mary Ellen or this new road/traverse, but I think that it at the very least is to help them with Cat Skiing back there and may eventually be used to...move a new lift over there? :idea::beer: Stay tuned!

 

[Ridge Racer]

Exciting. The tram to the twins would be awesome. I'd rather see it go up from mineral basin since I like riding the Peruvian lift but beggers can't be choosers. Thanks for the update.

 

[thetrailboss]

Exciting. The tram to the twins would be awesome. I'd rather see it go up from mineral basin since I like riding the Peruvian lift but beggers can't be choosers. Thanks for the update.

That's a good point actually. As it is there is not much room on the summit...and add the new lodge up there and there will be even less room. One thing I don't like is how hard it is to get from one side to the other....