Sugarbush Lift Replacements?

[WinS]

In my opinion, you could have a heated gondola or a 6-pack bubble chair on the Slide Brook line, and it still wouldn't attract many over to Ellen. Again, with most of the seasonal programs and the lodging and the "village" atmosphere of Lincoln Peak base, that's where most people are going to ski. I've had many many excellent weekdays at the MEllen, and then see double/triple the amount of people at Lincoln.

It may seem like Slide Brook never runs, and I've heard that comment from some guests during my years there, but if the conditions aren't right, it won't run, for safety. Not too long ago, SB was only scheduled to run Fri-Sun and holidays. Then it was upped to, IIRC, every day but Tue-Wed. Then, it became daily once again, as long as conditions permit.

Castlerock actually runs quite fast for a fixed-grip. No way could you turn up that lift in its present configuration.... you'd never be able to "bump" it. It's a challenge as it is and requires skilled operators.

Summit was always one of my favorite lifts... probably because it has the nicest on-mountain view, and I remember some warm spring days in April/May. But truly, North Ridge is best for some nice vertical. I believe the trail map back in 90/91 had the ride time of Summit listed as 6.5 minutes.

Welcome back to AZ. We miss you up here.

 

[WinS]

While we're talking lifts, I really do appreciate the way the Valley House quad was implemented (FG with carpet). It's so great to have a warm, wind protected lift that accesses a great variety of train. I just wish it would run 7 days a week! Thank you Win.

Thanks. It has made a huge difference. It is cleared every day in case there is a issue with Bravo.

 

[WinS]

Yes, Patrick you are correct about the speed.

 

[Slidebrook87]

Valley House is extremely useful as it provides a reliable backup that the double just couldn't have been. Out of all the lift replacements you have made, I think it's the best investment. It can also run in higher winds than Super Bravo. The only thing that needs to be done is to flatten out Reverse Traverse. That would make it a true backup as most of the terrain off of Bravo could be skied from Valley House.

 

[shadyjay]

Welcome back to AZ. We miss you up here.

Thank you! I definitely miss the mountain, I'm going to try to come up the first full week of January. Congrats on the sale - I watched the open forum and it seemed like Alterra is the right fit.

 

[cdskier]

With Alterra's new ownership, what lifts do you expect to see replaced? I expect Heaven's Gate to be a priority and as North Ridge gets older, I can see that getting replaced as well.

Did you bother to watch the community forum at all? It would have been abundantly clear what the 3 main priorities in terms of CapEx were (and new lifts were not in the top 3).

As long as the lifts are running and reliable I don't care if any are upgraded. I'd rather see snowmaking heavily invested in and then, if the red tape could be navigated, some new terrain added. In the main SB thread a potential area or two have already been discussed.

Exactly...Win and his team have done a tremendous amount of work overhauling lifts the past few years. While they may not be all shiny brand new ones, they've still made rather significant investments in them that really should (and have) made a difference.

It seems as though Ellen and Lincoln have grown apart largely due to the fact that the connector lift hardly ever runs.

I still don't understand why people continue to make this comment. I'm really half tempted at some point to go through all the snow reports from the past few years to get some actual data on the number of days it was running vs not running. I really can't recall any time in the past few years where Slide Brook wasn't running and I said to myself "gee, it should be running today".

Also, as someone else pointed out, the Slide Brook lift running or not running has little to do with how much ME is utilized. There are many other factors. Some of it is also just perception that Lincoln has the "better" terrain. Personally I like both LP and ME and think they're both unique and both great in their own ways. When ME is open, I probably ski about 30-40% at ME and 60-70% at LP.

 

[Slidebrook87]

Did you bother to watch the community forum at all? It would have been abundantly clear what the 3 main priorities in terms of CapEx were (and new lifts were not in the top 3).



Exactly...Win and his team have done a tremendous amount of work overhauling lifts the past few years. While they may not be all shiny brand new ones, they've still made rather significant investments in them that really should (and have) made a difference.



I still don't understand why people continue to make this comment. I'm really half tempted at some point to go through all the snow reports from the past few years to get some actual data on the number of days it was running vs not running. I really can't recall any time in the past few years where Slide Brook wasn't running and I said to myself "gee, it should be running today".

Also, as someone else pointed out, the Slide Brook lift running or not running has little to do with how much ME is utilized. There are many other factors. Some of it is also just perception that Lincoln has the "better" terrain. Personally I like both LP and ME and think they're both unique and both great in their own ways. When ME is open, I probably ski about 30-40% at ME and 60-70% at LP.

If they advertise the resort as the two mountains being connected, the lift needs to run as much as possible. There actually are a lot of times when it needs to run but it “can’t”.

 

[Slidebrook87]

Some lifts are in better condition than others. Super Bravo is in quite rough shape.

 

[Slidebrook87]

This is how the panel should look

 

[Slidebrook87]

This is the Slide Brook panel.

 

[Hawk]

I hate the slide brook lift I hope it never runs again. What a waste of money that was. I also hope that altera works on snowmaking and does not waste any money on lifts.

 

[Slidebrook87]

I hate the slide brook lift I hope it never runs again. What a waste of money that was. I also hope that altera works on snowmaking and does not waste any money on lifts.

Um... There’s a reason it was installed. It joined two ski resorts to make one world class ski resort. If you don’t like it, then don’t ride it. Many people think it’s quite useful and it will hopefully continue to run for years to come. You didn’t even explain why you don’t like it. Maybe you’re just trying to be obnoxious????

 

[Slidebrook87]

Also, you may want to invest your time into a thing called punctuation and capitalization...

 

[cdskier]

If they advertise the resort as the two mountains being connected, the lift needs to run as much as possible. There actually are a lot of times when it needs to run but it “can’t”.

I'd love to know in your infinite wisdom how you think any other owner/operator would run it more than it currently does.

Some lifts are in better condition than others. Super Bravo is in quite rough shape.

Wow...some scratches and dents on the control panel and on the roof of the terminal. Better replace the whole lift ASAP!

 

[Hawk]

That did't take long. LOL Look I have been skiing Sugrbush for over 30 years and I have rode that lift about 10 times. Nice view but totally unnecessary. I much prefer to ski slidebrook, grab the bus down at the bus stop and head over to North. It's kind of funny. You show up here out of the blue with all kinds of piss and vinegar asking all kinds of questions. Sorry but some have different perspectives here. A very large contingent of people love SB mostly the way it is and only want some well thought out changes that work for the general good. Spending money on lifts that have been pretty much revamped over the last 5 years is not what they need. You should spend some time down at the castlerock pub and talk with the die hard patrons. We are there most Friday and Saturday nights. We are friendly and love open conversation and debate. and I am not going to check my spelling, grammar and punctuation. I don't really care. ;-) Now time to head out to Chianti's

 

[cdskier]

That did't take long. LOL Look I have been skiing Sugrbush for over 30 years and I have rode that lift about 10 times. Nice view but totally unnecessary. I much prefer to ski slidebrook, grab the bus down at the bus stop and head over to North. It's kind of funny. You show up here out of the blue with all kinds of piss and vinegar asking all kinds of questions. Sorry but some have different perspectives here. A very large contingent of people love SB mostly the way it is and only want some well thought out changes that work for the general good. Spending money on lifts that have been pretty much revamped over the last 5 years is not what they need. You should spend some time down at the castlerock pub and talk with the die hard patrons. We are there most Friday and Saturday nights. We are friendly and love open conversation and debate. and I am not going to check my spelling, grammar and punctuation. I don't really care. ;-) Now time to head out to Chianti's

I honestly don't use the SB lift that much either. I've used it a bit more than you, but not exactly a heck of a lot compared to the number of days I've skied. I really don't think I would be bothered if it wasn't there (but even so it still pisses me off when people complain about it "not running much" when in fact that isn't the case at all).

While you'll rarely find me at CRP, I suspect much of my thoughts would mirror Hawk and his crowd's thoughts. Honestly, any suggestion of replacing any lifts in the short term before other priorities is just silly. Maybe the lifts look beat up on the outside (although I ski SB 40+ days a year and never really even noticed that), but on the inside many are essentially quite shiny and new looking. People just never see that part so think nothing has been done.

 

[Slidebrook87]

So here’s what I’m going to say. Enough with the harsh responses. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, you can’t assume that nobody finds the lift useful.

To mec there are two types of Sugarbush skiers. 1. These people are like me. They get to Lincoln Peak early and ski a few runs before Slide Brook opens at 10:00. Once Slide Brook opens, they get on and head over to Mt. Ellen. 12 minutes later they’re on North Ridge and skiing some of Mt. Ellen’s awesome terrain. They have lunch over there, ski some more, then ride Slide Brook back and finish off the day where they started. These people appreciate Slide Brook and can’t imagine life without it. They ski both mountains as if it is one resort. 2. These people have been skiing Sugarbush for a long time since the mountains were separate. They like certain aspects about each mountain and would rather pick one to ski at for the day. They also would rather say they’re going to ski the day at Ellen or Lincoln rather than saying Sugarbush. Many of these people have Ellen only season passes. This is just what I’ve noticed. Some of these people respect Slide Brook and understand why it is there, but there a lone few that downright hate it. I don’t understand the hate. It’s a ski lift after all, and quite a useful one.

 

[Newpylong]

I lived in Waitsfield from 94 to 99 and saw the LBO transformation first hand. I think the Bush has one of the best, if not the best lift systems around (excluding apparent reliability issues which seem to be addressed or in the process of being addressed). IMHO nothing new is needed on that front - just major drive, gearbox and control overhauls on a schedule. In the ski industry there is a saying - You spend money on snowmaking first, more snowmaking, and when you're done with that, additional snowmaking. Obviously this is exaggerated but you get the point. The lack of capacity for various reasons on both sides absolutely should be addressed first. Win has the right mindset and I wish him and the Bush community up there the best. I miss it!

 

[Slidebrook87]

I lived in Waitsfield from 94 to 99 and saw the LBO transformation first hand. I think the Bush has one of the best, if not the best lift systems around (excluding apparent reliability issues which seem to be addressed or in the process of being addressed). IMHO nothing new is needed on that front - just major drive, gearbox and control overhauls on a schedule. In the ski industry there is a saying - You spend money on snowmaking first, more snowmaking, and when you're done with that, additional snowmaking. Obviously this is exaggerated but you get the point. The lack of capacity for various reasons on both sides absolutely should be addressed first. Win has the right mindset and I wish him and the Bush community up there the best. I miss it!

Yeah, snowmaking is where the mountain lacks. Some trails are great, for example Steins and Spring Fling, but others need better equipment. I do think capacity is more of an issue than equipment though. I do want to be clear though, never in this post did I say lifts were a priority for Alterra. What I was asking is, when Alterra replaces the next lift, what will it be?

 

[Hawk]

I don't think my post was harsh. It was honest. If you want harsh you should look back on this page and see some of the arguments in the past. I guess we can file this under to each his own. If that is what you like to do, then great. Have at it. Give me a wave as you pass over me coming out of pinball ally and crossing under the slidebrook lift.
Two things though. There are not that many people that do what you do. So you are a very distinct minority. Also you mention Mt Ellen only people coming over on the lift. They can't. Their pass will not allow them up the Gatehouse so how can they get on that lift?

I'm curious, do you ski the slidebrook woods at all?