Waterville to Host Moguls World Cups in 2024 and 2025

[thebigo]

This is why I lap the Snowdon 6 at K. The limo of lifts.

You really need to ride a doppelmayr d line if you think poma is the 'limo of lifts.'

 

[Zand]

You really need to ride a doppelmayr d line if you think poma is the 'limo of lifts'

I would agree that the Dopp lifts are the real limos (based on Jordan and Kanc) but the Poma lifts are fine. But if those are limos then the Waterville lift is a Bonnie and Clyde car.

 

[urungus]

Speaking of which...I now understand why everyone says the Waterville bubble is very ghetto. Almost every bubble has tape over some cracks, a few of them have full-on holes in them that totally defeat the purpose of the bubble. On one of my rides the bubble randomly went up mid ride and wouldn't go back down. Idk if the random company that Waterville hired used super cheap plastic compared to the Poma and Dopp bubbles because I've never seen a hole in a bubble before today and that lift is only a few years old.

Agreed .. I was shocked at he number of bubbles with taped over cracks or even huge holes … guy I was talking to on the lift said Waterville had been working with a local plastics manufacturer (since original lift manufacturer went bankrupt) to fabricate replacements. Apparently chair #66 was the first to have its bubble replaced, you can tell because it’s clear plastic and not tinted like the originals.

 

[Zand]

I wonder if my first ride was on chair 66. I had to keep my goggles on because the sun was very bright and I was able to take a nice video. Other than some glare you wouldn't even know the bubble was there.

Every other ride, even if there were no holes the bubbles were definitely more shaded and were usually covered in crap that you couldn't see past anyway.

 

[urungus]

That lift is barely 2 years old … makes you wonder what other components the manufacturer cheaped out on

 

[KustyTheKlown]

the jordan and kanc chairs are luxe but i personally hate riding an 8. a 6 is pushing it. the queues can be a real pain in the ass. the kanc is so inefficient

still prefer it to having to go skis off for a gondola.

 

[drjeff]

That lift is barely 2 years old … makes you wonder what other components the manufacturer cheaped out on

There may be a reason why MND, the lift's manufacturer, chose not to further pursure any projects in the US, as that Waterville bubble 6 was their 1st US project. They do have a presence in Europe, although nowhere near as big a presence as Dopp or L/P

 

[oldfartrider]

I’m with Kusty. I hate chair lifts with over 4 people. First time I rode the kank 8 at least half the people fell getting off. It’s just too many people for an unload ramp. I haven’t ridden it since

 

[machski]

There may be a reason why MND, the lift's manufacturer, chose not to further pursure any projects in the US, as that Waterville bubble 6 was their 1st US project. They do have a presence in Europe, although nowhere near as big a presence as Dopp or L/P

They had a working agreement with Bartholet for their detach tech. That partnership ended, and MND no longer has access to that detach tech. They have said they plan to engineer their own but the Waterville chair is all but orphaned tech.

 

[doublediamond]

Bankrupt isn’t the word.

MND is recently-formed huge European conglomerate buying up all things ski related these days. They merged Areco (red fan guns), Sufag (green fan guns), and Snowstar into one brand. The huge initial snowmaking upgrades — you know all the shitty black towers all over the mountain — are courtesy of MND. They are the MNDSnow Street.

MND also gobbled up LST. That’s why the summit T-Bar is an LST which only has a couple of surface lift installs in the US.

LST never could get their detachable grip to work. In fact their first detachable lift in France closed in less than 2 years of operation. So MND/LST partnered with Bartholet — a very well-regarded Swiss lift manufacturer — to build their detachable lifts rebadged as MNDRopeways. That partnership soured before the Six Pack was complete when HTI (Leitner-Poma) acquired Bartholet.

There will never be another Bartholet in the US whether branded, or rebadged as HTI wants Leitner-Poma branding on this side of the pond and there won’t be partnerships with MND. So in essence it’s a one-off. But at least WV should be able to source the mechanical parts as the lift design is made in Europe.

What’s a real one-off is the carriers which were allegedly designed as Porsche and designed for the US market. Clearly there was plastic issue. I‘ve had no issues with the seats themselves though I’d say both Leitner-Poma and Dopp D-Line bubble chairs are comfier.

I for one have never understood why WV has kept going with an untested conglomerate for their ski needs. Either they paid off the governor, or they made WV a deal they couldn’t refuse to get market share.

The school purchased TA fans. And WV recently purchased Polecats so I think the WV-MND marriage is on the rocks. I can’t imagine MND is happy about all the great press WV receives with their USST freestyle training early season camps at WV.

 

[2Planker]

BW was great on Monday
SR was great on Tues
WV was just OK on Weds