Unofficial Networks Ranks the Top Ten Lifts in the World; Your East Top 10?

[snowmonster]

I'd like to give a shout out for Jay's Green Mountain Freezer: coldest chairlift in God's creation. When the tram is down because the wind is blowing and you crest THAT ridge on the Flyer, your tears will freeze in their ducts. The only chair I've ever considered jumping off just to get out of the wind. Access to Beaver Pond, Andre's Paradise, Staircase, Everglades, etc. is a plus.

 

[deadheadskier]

So some consistent names for the East Top Ten, especially with the same criteria that UON used and in no particular order, appear to include:

• Magic's Red Chair
• Smugg's Madonna Double
• Stowe's Fourrunner
• MRG's Single
• Wildcat's Quad
• Castlerock Chair
• Cannon Tram
• Jay Tram

Any others folks want to echo?

I'd rate Stowe's Gondola higher than the Forerunner personally. They're both two of my favorite lifts in the East, but the Gondola is the gateway to the best slack country in the East. The greatest percentage of any of the Meatheads Film footage comes from terrain accessed by that lift. The REALLY good stuff, you have to hike up to the Chin to get to, but there are still hundreds of acres of amazing tree skiing that requires no hiking at all, just an easy traverse out and back from the Notch.

 

[riverc0il]

I'd like to give a shout out for Jay's Green Mountain Freezer: coldest chairlift in God's creation. When the tram is down because the wind is blowing and you crest THAT ridge on the Flyer, your tears will freeze in their ducts. The only chair I've ever considered jumping off just to get out of the wind. Access to Beaver Pond, Andre's Paradise, Staircase, Everglades, etc. is a plus.

Ick. I'd put the Freezer in a worst ten lifts. You can get to all that terrain from the Bonnie any ways and it is even better when the Flyer is on wind hold.

I'd rate Stowe's Gondola higher than the Forerunner personally. They're both two of my favorite lifts in the East, but the Gondola is the gateway to the best slack country in the East. The greatest percentage of any of the Meatheads Film footage comes from terrain accessed by that lift. The REALLY good stuff, you have to hike up to the Chin to get to, but there are still hundreds of acres of amazing tree skiing that requires no hiking at all, just an easy traverse out and back from the Notch.

As noted before, this thread is going in the direction of terrain rather than the lift itself. There is nothing special about the Stowe Gondi. Lots of mountains have gondi's. And let's be straight, you still have to hike to the ridge.

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I am probably in the minority, but I don't have much love for the Jay Tram. Maybe it should be on this list due to its novelty of only being one of the two trams in the northeast. But it doesn't service a lot of terrain and usually has a horrific line. I ride the Metro Quad more than I ride the Tram in any given season at Jay. Some great terrain off the ridge when the snow is good. Valhalla and Green Beret are nice but short. I just don't find the terrain is worth the line unless I specifically want to ski the terrain off the ridge when the snow is good.

 

[thetrailboss]

As noted before, this thread is going in the direction of terrain rather than the lift itself. There is nothing special about the Stowe Gondi. Lots of mountains have gondi's. And let's be straight, you still have to hike to the ridge.

I think that the terrain should be a consideration.

 

[mediamogul]

South Ridge Triple @ Killington.

Was the slowest, coldest lift on the mountain. The only reason the terrain is any good is because they leave it natural. Bear quad at K gets my vote (at least for that particular mountain).

Im surprised there are no Sugarloaf nominations. Never been there personally but you'd think with all the vert and terrain it would be in there somewhere.

 

[deadheadskier]

As noted before, this thread is going in the direction of terrain rather than the lift itself. There is nothing special about the Stowe Gondi. Lots of mountains have gondi's. And let's be straight, you still have to hike to the ridge.

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????

Still hundreds of acres of tree skiing accessible with no hiking, only a traverse. Even if you don't head out into the Notch, there's still Tombas, Big Tits, Riverbed, the Kitchen Wall and several other shots off the Gondola. The reason I nominate that lift IS the terrain. If you don't think there is killer terrain off the Gondi at Stowe without hiking the Chin, then I'm sorry, you don't know the mountain well at all. I spend much more time riding the Gondi at Stowe than I do the Forerunner. Why? Better terrain.

 

[thetrailboss]

Was the slowest, coldest lift on the mountain. The only reason the terrain is any good is because they leave it natural. Bear quad at K gets my vote (at least for that particular mountain).

Im surprised there are no Sugarloaf nominations. Never been there personally but you'd think with all the vert and terrain it would be in there somewhere.

Thanks for that mention. I had suggested SuperQuad, but nobody else chimed in on that lift. Great speed, good vertical, great terrain that is served by that lift, in terms of acreage and variety.

As for Stowe's Gondi, I'm now convinced that it would be up there because of vert, capacity, speed, and variety/amount of terrain served.

 

[bigbog]

Chamonix is pretty nuts. I think they do a lot of paragliding / hang gliding there in the summer.

..maybe a little basejumping, just a fun little bolt of excitement for the day..:lol:

 

[bvibert]

Im surprised there are no Sugarloaf nominations. Never been there personally but you'd think with all the vert and terrain it would be in there somewhere.

I think DHS mentioned the Sugarloaf t-bar..

I almost mentioned the former spillway lifts, because I liked the unique side by side design. I also like King Pine because it's off to the side all by itself serving plenty of good terrain, but there's nothing really all that special about the lift itself to me. Though, it can be fun riding it if there's someone ripping down the bumps on Haul Back.

 

[bigbog]

Thanks for that mention. I had suggested SuperQuad, but nobody else chimed in on that lift. Great speed, good vertical, great terrain that is served by that lift, in terms of acreage and variety.

Yep...the easiest way to head towards the top.

 

[mondeo]

As noted before, this thread is going in the direction of terrain rather than the lift itself. There is nothing special about the Stowe Gondi. Lots of mountains have gondi's. And let's be straight, you still have to hike to the ridge.

So what's special about KT-22? Or the Peak chair at Whistler? Or TS Marte?

It's all terrain.

 

[Nick]

We should def. start a worst 10 chairs thread

 

[Riverskier]

And that's about all you can give it, a mention.

Based on the criteria, the Chondola isn't even close with it's puny vertical and access to mostly intermediate and beginner terrain and only minimal coolness factor. They put a gondola on the line every 4-5 chairs, so what?

I don't understand the hate with this lift though, SR has needed a lift to shoot you to mid-mountain quickly for years. I have no problem with the Chondola overall, though. If you wanna get on quick, or on a beautiful day take the lift. If you wanna kick back, have a beer or smoke, or if it's frigid then wait for the gondola.

I understand why they invested in this lift (night skiing, signature lift, people mover, events at the peak, etc.) and it MAY have been a wise investment, but I also understand why many hate the lift. It was a huge investment that doesn't benefit many SR regulars, such as myself, that try to avoid South Ridge at all costs, and that large sum of money could have funded many other projects. It increased congestion on the North Peak trails, which causes conditions to deteriorate rapidly. It also caused more high speed traffic (people flying down to ride the lift) in the slow skiing area of South Ridge, which isn't good beginners new to the sport. Additionally, they run the North Peak high speed quad less often, which was a favorite for many for a few quick laid back runs in the afternoon. Many people don't want to have to ski all the way down to South Ridge to lap those trails.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Reserving a spot here for Burke's new Mid-Burke Express HSQ :razz:
Serves all of the 1600' vert of sweet terrain on the upper mountain.
AND it is steeped in history...









History about why it took so long to get a HSQ to the summit :smile:

 

[thetrailboss]

Reserving a spot here for Burke's new Mid-Burke Express HSQ :razz:
Serves all of the 1600' vert of sweet terrain on the upper mountain.
AND it is steeped in history...









History about why it took so long to get a HSQ to the summit :smile:

Ha. Tell me about it. The HSQ that has been 20 years in the making. Imagine if Quinn had installed an early model HSQ in 1989 instead of the fixed grip.

 

[riverc0il]

????

Still hundreds of acres of tree skiing accessible with no hiking, only a traverse. Even if you don't head out into the Notch, there's still Tombas, Big Tits, Riverbed, the Kitchen Wall and several other shots off the Gondola. The reason I nominate that lift IS the terrain. If you don't think there is killer terrain off the Gondi at Stowe without hiking the Chin, then I'm sorry, you don't know the mountain well at all. I spend much more time riding the Gondi at Stowe than I do the Forerunner. Why? Better terrain.

Sorry, we seem to have had a mis-communication there. I never said there isn't good terrain off the Gondi at Stowe. I've skied it. You seemed to be suggesting that the hike to terrain was the only reason you were nominating the lift. I was just saying it is not like the gondi dumps you out at the ridge.

 

[mlkrgr]

I'm another one for the Wildcat Quad; you can't beat the speed and the view of Mount Washington that comes up at top. That quad keeps me coming back there year after year (and I just like to head into N. Conway too). I do agree that Wildcat is the place for spring skiing; especially with Peaks owning it now, I see they have a commitment to running Attitash during early season and closing that early while opening Wildcat later and closing that later. Heck, I didn't really want to plan going to Wildcat until at least late January last year; even I met some people from Wildcat's ski team on the lift at Loon who were there since it was tough at Wildcat on New Years Day.

I have to give props to the Killington Skyeship Gondola. Going down to the Skyeship base may not be on top of everyone's list, but its not a bad place to kick back for the 12 minute ride up and eat and drink something that's in your coat (most times its been the lunch spot for me at K); especially the gondola is never packed fully on Stage I to let more people on for II. And even when the lines on most lifts can be 10 minutes+ at K, there's no or short wait at Skyeship base.

 

[steamboat1]

Someone posted this picture on another site.

Coolest looking tram I've ever seen.

 

[thetrailboss]

Someone posted this picture on another site.

Coolest looking tram I've ever seen.

That is cool! Thanks for posting it!

 

[loafasaur]

Sight unseen, the Loaf's Spillway replacement, "Skyway" (Ehh. That'll take getting used to). Promised to be faster and more wind resistant that the old Spillway, which had 1454' vert. They're adding a few feet. You can access a huge amount of great terrain from this lift (easy traverse to Brackett) and do laps on a whole lot of it.

This will be the ultimate spring skiing lift in the east. Quick laps on steep fall-line runs well above the slushy base area.