The 2011-2012 Ski Area Improvement Thread

[WJenness]

wow, that is a big glade for sure. Hopefully they do it right and don't over clear like they did in OZ.

Agreed... If they keep the feel of Blind Ambition the same and just expand the breadth of it, it'll be a huge hit... Here's hoping they've learned from past mistakes.

When they say, "First ever slopeside real estate development" I'm assuming that means by Boyne? There are obviously quite a few slopeside condos and homes at Sunday River already.

Yeah, that made me scratch my head a bit too... but since that isn't really something I'm overly interested in, it was only passing confusion for me.

-w

 

[Vortex]

Darcy runs the communication department at Sr. The snow reporters work for her I believe.

The River will benefit from and intermediate/beginner glade expansion. That part of the mountain gets the most natural snow as well. Glad to see money going into snow making too.

 

[Vortex]

Darcy runs the communication department at Sr. The snow reporters work for her I believe.

The River will benefit from and intermediate/beginner glade expansion. That part of the mountain gets the most natural snow as well. Glad to see money going into snow making too.

update./edit

A couple buddies looked at the glade on sat. Looks like a thinning not a clear cut. I will take a look next weekend.

 

[snowmonster]

update./edit

A couple buddies look at the glade on sat. Looks like a thinning not a clear cut. I will take a look next weekend.

Pictures please, Bob! Blind Ambition is a great intermediate glade. A bunch of SR regulars and I hit it last season after a snowstorm. The rope just dropped and it was untracked. We spent the morning making tracks in soft and deep snow. Unreal! Like what wjenness said, I trust that they will be selectively pruning some trees on skiers' right to expand the area. No use clear-cutting what is already an awesome place. I always said that SR's glades are underrated. Hopefully, this gets the place on the map for glade skiers.

 

[Vortex]

I'll see what I can do. Sounds like the glades will not meet Excalibur until the base.

They did a good job re- clearing some of the glades last year. I think this will go well.

 

[bigbob]

Darcy, Any further info on what lifts will see some love this summer?

 

[thetrailboss]

Update: just drove up to K-1 Base Area and some sheave trains from a former Yan or Poma chairlift have appeared in the parking lot with the old Killington blue/gray and sea green paint. The sheave trains were cut off of the towers based on the pieces of frame that are still attached. The pieces were on a Killington flatbed truck. No other components. Lots of scrap from the Summit Lodge.

 

[AdironRider]

You don't need a helicopter to remove towers, except maybe if you want to reuse them. (unlikely). Otherwise, they'll go down just like a tree on a hill would when you cut it down...

OK HEMAN, you going to carry em out one in each arm once you cut em down?

 

[snoseek]

I freaking love Blind ambition! More is even funner!

This should spread things out nicely on Jordan. I found some really cool stuff over there last spring.....

 

[Geoff]

OK HEMAN, you going to carry em out one in each arm once you cut em down?

Easiest thing would be to wait until winter and drag them out with a snow cat.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Easiest thing would be to wait until winter and drag them out with a snow cat.

or drag them out with a dozer with some skids under them.

 

[drjeff]

Easiest thing would be to wait until winter and drag them out with a snow cat.

That's one of the main reasons why Mount Snow really got mooving quickly on taking down the old Summit Local Triple last March/Early April. So much easier, and less of a potential environmental impact, in dragging large, heavy steel objects over snow than over dirt/rocks/stream beds/etc. And it's also WAY cheaper to be able to drag them out of there with a snowcat than to have them flown out with a helicopter!

 

[Geoff]

or drag them out with a dozer with some skids under them.

People like Big Bob probably know this but I imagine that there's much more wear and tear on a dozer doing all those round trips in the summer than a snow cat doing the same distance in the winter. It certainly would beat up the Jug trail a lot more.

 

[Vortex]

Snowmonster. They posted pictures of the glade clearing on the River site. I don't know how to transfer them. I won't be taking any shots. Lolla is closed with all the heavy equiptment working over there.

 

[snowmonster]

Thanks, Bob. Heading over in a bit.

 

[speden]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this already, but I got an email from Wawa saying they are putting in a new quad lift in the beginner area. That's good news since I always thought that lift was was agonizingly slow. Kind of a tossup between the Spear triple at Ragged and the beginner lift at Wachusett as to which is the slowest lift in New England. I guess Ragged will hold that crown next season if the new lift at Wawa is decently quick. Anyway I'm happy to hear about this lift at Wawa since it might keep more people over at the beginner area.

 

[thetrailboss]

FWIW Killington regulars will be interested to know that the Peak Lodge is completely gone. It is the weirdest sight you see when looking up from the base. I guess the last time the skyline looked like that was probably over 40 years ago.

 

[Nick]

Having grown up on Killington practically, that is wierd. Where the K-1 Gondola usually deposits?

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[thetrailboss]

Having grown up on Killington practically, that is wierd. Where the K-1 Gondola usually deposits?

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Yes. The huge building on the left of the old double pictured below is now gone.

Or the big building at the top in the pic below. Compare that photo from like 1980 to this one from 2008 or 2009:

 

[thetrailboss]

...and FWIW either the original or newer edition of Karen Lorentz's book (Killington: A Story of Mountains and Men) is worth the read. Though the first edition is a real treat if you can find it.