The NEW Magic Mountain

[JoeB-Z]

Don't feed the troll.

 

[ne_skier]

Snow Report says Wand to Showoff will likely have snow made on them and opened for next weekend. I don’t know much about the work road situation, how does this impact Tower 13 access on Black (If at all)?

 

[machski]

Snow Report says Wand to Showoff will likely have snow made on them and opened for next weekend. I don’t know much about the work road situation, how does this impact Tower 13 access on Black (If at all)?

At this point, I think you have to toss Black out of the picture again this season. They need to figure out Red with the issues it is now having and whether it requires further repairs due to such. With any luck, between now and when Red is up, it will snow (hopefully a lot) and I doubt they try to get heavy equipment up a work road if nature finally turns kind.

 

[IceEidolon]

I figure Red doesn't need line work after the one chair is checked and back up, and Black doesn't need drive work. For a contractor with unlimited overtime in a vacuum, no problem - as is and from my warm house, 50/50 that it's done for President's Day, provided natural snow doesn't block access.

 

[skithetrees]

Aren’t there track cranes specifically for this purpose? What about something like this … https://www.smileyliftingsolutions....d_B9ssK4E2f1WJb0dVmyrJgIY4CSN3pMaAuzwEALw_wcB.
Put it on a sled and drag it up with a cat. Seems like they are still waiting on parts though. Not optimistic it is going to happen this year.

 

[slatham]

If I understand correctly, they need to install the full cross arm on #13. Thus they need a large crane like the one in Lot B.

But I image this is not front of mind until Red is done.

 

[skithetrees]

If I understand correctly, they need to install the full cross arm on #13. Thus they need a large crane like the one in Lot B.

But I image this is not front of mind until Red is done.

Interesting. I wonder if full cross arm or just a modified sheave train assembly. Either way, those spider cranes should be able to lift. Agreed this is not getting touched until red is done. If parts are still in machining, hard to imagine how it gets done this year.

 

[Hastur]

But I image this is not front of mind until Red is done.

when is that expected to be? I'm getting kinda worried with the radio silence regarding red lift status since Thursday.
(unless I missed something on traditional social media which I'm not on)

 

[JoeB-Z]

The silence is due to carefully figuring out a root cause(s). Then a remediation. I have strong nerves, but being in the middle of it, it was scary. I went up Red five times W and Th! Red ran so smooth the first time on Th.

 

[ne_skier]

I could be wrong, but I believe Magic has the new sheaves ready to be installed for Black and that now it's just a matter of getting them up there once Red work is done. My impression is that towers 6 and 7 are at a low enough angle to drive the crane right up Hocus Pocus, and a work road is needed for tower 13, that being Wand -> UMC -> Wizard -> Broomstick.

 

[skithetrees]

I could be wrong, but I believe Magic has the new sheaves ready to be installed for Black and that now it's just a matter of getting them up there once Red work is done. My impression is that towers 6 and 7 are at a low enough angle to drive the crane right up Hocus Pocus, and a work road is needed for tower 13, that being Wand -> UMC -> Wizard -> Broomstick.

Latest update said parts were still being machined.

 

[zoomzoom]

so is it "full cross arm on #13" or "new sheaves ready to be installed for Black" ?

a full crossarm install would require a crane for sure. if the crossarm is there, installing a sheave train (minus the sheaves of course!) using a 1 1/2T cable puller or coffing hoist is easy enough. unless there's no gantry or provision to install an "A"- frame, then once again a crane is needed.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Random thoughts.

From what I gather, the line speed surging caused chairs to swing excessively going around the top bullwheel. Would similar swinging not have occurred at the bottom? That's just another aspect to the operator error issue.

I hope the root cause investigation will adress the operator issue(s) not just the engineering issues.

From a PR perspective it's fortunate for Magic that no video from the incident has surfaced. Obviously the most important thing in every sense is the fact that there were no injuries, but from how I read the various firsthand accounts here, I think it would look a lot worse for Magic if there were videos floating around.

That all said IMO there HAS to be at least a few ppl with video on their phones. (Not necessary forum members.) But I'm guessing they're being kind and not posting it.

 

[slatham]

I am not expecting any communication on Red until either the situation is fully resolved, or its Wednesday.

The original work on Black were sheave trains, but I recall in one of the updates or social media posts Magic noting that for tower 13 they require a new cross bar. I could be completely wrong. In any event, I have not heard any update on the plan for Black since mid-Dec alpine update.

 

[zoomzoom]

yes, line surge will result in carrier swing around both bullwheels. think of line surge as excessive energy in the system that must be released somewhere.

it would be more noticeable at either station if the carrier guidage was in poor condition or mis-adjusted, however the walls at the loading station will mechanically correct excessive chair swing at that location. of course, the big problem with line surge are the variations on vertical sheave loading. the tension system on any ski-lift (either by counterweight or pneumatic/hydraulic means) is there to maintain constant tension in the hauling rope under varying loading condition. however they cannot react quick enough to control fast inputs to the motor, and line surge is the result.

here's some pics found online from 2002.

 

[ne_skier]

Some newer photos showing bullwheel guidage can be seen here: https://liftblog.com/red-magic-mountain-vt/

 

[skithetrees]

Random thoughts.

From what I gather, the line speed surging caused chairs to swing excessively going around the top bullwheel. Would similar swinging not have occurred at the bottom? That's just another aspect to the operator error issue.

I hope the root cause investigation will adress the operator issue(s) not just the engineering issues.

From a PR perspective it's fortunate for Magic that no video from the incident has surfaced. Obviously the most important thing in every sense is the fact that there were no injuries, but from how I read the various firsthand accounts here, I think it would look a lot worse for Magic if there were videos floating around.

That all said IMO there HAS to be at least a few ppl with video on their phones. (Not necessary forum members.) But I'm guessing they're being kind and not posting it.

The only issue as far as I can tell was a drive in need of calibration. My concern is that the running while surging created other non-software issues that will be harder to fix.

Re video, there certainly is as I saw people with phones out recording after I got off the lift.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i really f'ing hope they can have this shit sorted in the next ~month

i am not going to gripe or request a refund but my sunday pass will not go to use this season if there is no summit access and that would be a huge bummer. as of now i have reservations to stay at the blue gentian the weekend of feb 4-6 bc a friend wants to get wasted for the jamband coverband and i figured by February we should be ok

aside from wanting magic to succeed and enjoying the terrain so much, the southern vermont sundays option allows me to ski 20k feet and be home by 530 pm near NYC, and it would suck if stratton becomes the only option for that for me

 

[ThatGuy]

1/3 Brief Update:

The snowmaking crew turned on the guns last night on Wand down to Show Off and will continue making snow today and tomorrow until temps warm on Wednesday.

The latest on Red Lift is that we have a team of contractors on it and eliminating areas where there could be an issue. Importantly, the motor checked out in great condition by the experts at Troy Motors. The new drive for the motor is being gone through meticulously by All Ski Lifts' Larry Wollum, the electric drive engineer. Pfister's crew has been systematically going through all the lift mechanicals to make sure shaft, couplings, planetary are 100% as well.

We will keep you posted but we are doing everything in our power to get this lift back up and safely ready for this weekend if at all possible.

 

[skithetrees]

1/3 Brief Update:

The snowmaking crew turned on the guns last night on Wand down to Show Off and will continue making snow today and tomorrow until temps warm on Wednesday.

The latest on Red Lift is that we have a team of contractors on it and eliminating areas where there could be an issue. Importantly, the motor checked out in great condition by the experts at Troy Motors. The new drive for the motor is being gone through meticulously by All Ski Lifts' Larry Wollum, the electric drive engineer. Pfister's crew has been systematically going through all the lift mechanicals to make sure shaft, couplings, planetary are 100% as well.

We will keep you posted but we are doing everything in our power to get this lift back up and safely ready for this weekend if at all possible.

Seems like good news, but 75% of this would have been unnecessary if the lift had been slowed down and not run while surging for ten minutes.