174 replies to this topic

[Snowy Ferries]

We've seen the master plans. We know what the resort CEO's are thinking about future expansions. But, I'm curious: what do YOU think?


I have some ideas for Whistler Blackcomb.

1. A new 8-passenger Gondola linking Whistler Village, Blackcomb base, and Base two. This gondola would replace Magic chair and stage 1 of the Excalibur Gondola. Replace Stage 2 with a High-speed Six.

2. Build an 8-passenger gondola from Blackcomb base to the bottom of Jersey cream and replace Jersey Cream with a High-speed Six. Use the Jersey Cream HSQ to replace Franz chair.

3. Replace Wizard and Solar with High-speed Six chairs. Re-locate Wizard and Solar to replace Olympic and Catskinner, respectively.

4. Replace Emerald with a High-speed six and relocate Emerald to run from the Bottom of Symphony to Flute Peak.


I also have some ideas to improve the Summer Alpine experience. For those unfamiliar, Whistler operates extensive sightseeing operations in the Summer. Summer lifts include the WVG, P2P, Peak Express, Wizard, Solar, and Seventh Heaven.

1. Instead of running Wizard and Solar as the means up Blackcomb, run the new Blackcomb Base-Jersey Cream Gondola and Jersey Cream. This would allow access to the Restaurant and a more scenic way up the mountain.

2. Operate the Creekside Gondola and Big Red Express during Summer. This would allow one to start at Creekside base instead of having to drive to Whistler Village.



These are some of my ideas for Whistler. Now, I have some for Grand Targhee. For those unfamiliar, Targhee is a relatively small resort (5 current lifts) in western Wyoming.

1. Run a new High-speed Quad from Papoose Creek up to the Summit of Peaked and relocate the Cat-skiing into one of the bowls to the South. (This lift is currently in the Master plan and Targhee is trying to get some money to erect it.)

2. Replace the Aging Blackfoot Lift with a new fixed double on a new alignment that goes up from the bottom of the current lift to Headwall. This would allow you to easily lap The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly without having to ski all the way back to the base.

3. Build a fixed double up to Mary's Nipple from the bottom of Painted Pony.

4. Build a platter lift from Powder Reserve Traverse to Teton Vista Traverse. The PRT is a very flat, long, grueling traverse and the only way to get back to the base from Sacajewea. This platter would allow one to bypass it completely.

5. Build a Platter Lift from the base to the bottom of Sweetwater. This would allow one to easily lap the Terrain Park.




For Mission Ridge WA, my home resort, I have these ideas:

1. Replace Chair 1 and Liberator Express with a two-stage High-speed Quad from the Base Area to the Summit, with the Midway terminal at the Midway Resturant.

2. Use the original Chair 1 to build a Chair 5 from Midway up to the top of the Bomber Cliffs.

3. Use the original Chair 2 double to create Chair 6, a new beginner lift from a basin below the base up to the base with a midway unload just below the parking lot. (This idea is currently in Mission Ridge's master plan and is scheduled to be built as soon as a viable design plan is put into place, though probably not on the exact alignment I'm hoping for.)


These are my ideas for the future of my favorite resorts. What are yours?

This post has been edited by Snowy Ferries: 14 February 2015 - 10:11 AM

[NHskier13]

I would change Ragged's new "Pinnacle Peak" expansion a bit in terms of lifts:

I cannot see what specific types of lifts they may wind up using, but considering that the Spear Mountain Triple is still in storage that lift will probably be reused. To be honest, I cannot stand how slow that lift is, so let's hope they shoot for another high speed quad.
Anyways
1. The smaller lift on Pinnacle will be the old Spear Mountain Triple (but with a base to summit HSQ you wouldn't even need the smaller one.)
2. The longer one will extend all the way to the base area and be a high speed quad.

I think that Wildcat looks like it could have potential for expansion, as seen on the map:

Both expansions probably would never happen, but to the left side of the mountain you could have some steeps going down to that little valley, and to the right side you can see some etches in the woods over there. That could be another area as well, but I do not think it would be easy to have a small base area for the lift if the map is right in that it is fairly steep until you get to the road.

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 13 February 2015 - 01:55 PM

[DonaldMReif]

I've recorded more EpicMix check-ins at Breckenridge Ski Resort than at any other EpicMix mountain, and I've only been to three of them: Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail. Now, terrainwise, there's nothing wrong with the mountain's terrain. It's all great, and they definitely made a move in the right direction this year by upgrading the Colorado SuperChair to a high speed six pack.

However, sometimes I've wondered how the mountain could make itself better: some upgrades to the lift system. Of course, none of these will happen, but seeing as I'm a dreamer, I took the liberty of Photoshopping the map to create what I like to call "Breckendelle", which is basically the map of Breckenridge Ski Resort with some Frozen renaming:



To summarize, the ideas are:

1. A fixed grip quad running from the bottom of Cimarron to the access gate for Mustang, allowing people to ski the trails on Peak 10 south of Doublejack without having to deal with the long traverse back to the Falcon SuperChair. I call it the 'Wilson Chair' on this map as a joke, since the existing lift on Peak 10 is known as the Falcon SuperChair, and Falcon was the nickname of a Marvel superhero.

2. A triple chairlift on Peak 7 running from where Wirepatch meets the feeder trail (feeder as in "returns all traffic from Peak 7 and 6 back to the Independence SuperChair") to just uphill from where the Peak 6 Parkway joins Wirepatch, allowing skiers finished doing laps on the Kensho SuperChair to return to Peak 8 base while bypassing Peak 7 base and the icy last hill where they have yellow jackets doing speeder control. If said lift existed, some trail signs would look different (image courtesy of Paint and Photoshopping):



3. The upgrading of Lift 5 to a fixed grip quad for increased uphill capacity

4. The upgrading of Lift 6 to a high speed quad due to the increased rate at which skier traffic can flow into that lift with the Colorado SuperChair's higher uphill capacity

5. Upgrading of Lift E to a high speed quad. This one might not happen for 15 or so years, or not until Lift E is actually due for upgrading due to age.

6. Upgrading of the T-Bar to a high speed quad. This one will never see the light of day because of the high amount of wind exposure on the above-timberline parts of the T-Bar's uphill and downhill lines.

7. Upgrading Lift C to a high speed quad. This one I've seen on the master plans at times. There was at least one proposal the resort sent to the USFS sent as an alternative for on-mountain upgrades if the Kensho SuperChair and Zendo Chair weren't approved in their alignments that called for the Colorado SuperChair to be upgraded to a high speed six pack (which did come to pass in real life), Lift C to be upgraded to a high speed quad and be realigned so as to run up Peerless instead of American, and Lift A to be upgrade to a high speed quad that had a turn station at the current mid-unload station and then ran up to the top of Country Boy.

8. A new double chairlift originating at Beaver Run and running up to a point in the space between Ten Mile Station and the Falcon SuperChair. In real life, if such a lift existed, it would probably end up being one of those auxiliary lifts that only operated on weekends, holidays, and any time Quicksilver Super6 broke down.

9. A new T-Bar providing access to the Back 9 Chutes, originating at the top of the Mercury SuperChair and following the current hiking route. High winds will probably mean this one never sees the light of day. The name chosen on the map (Pluto T-Bar) is a pun because if the Mercury SuperChair is named for the closest planet to the sun, then the highest lift on Peak 9 should be named for what used to be the farthest out planet.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 13 February 2015 - 04:26 PM

[trj820]

Here's what I think should happen to Mammoth Mountain:

Lift Upgrades

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:06

1. Upgrade Broadway, Stump Alley, Gold Rush, and Canyon to six pacs.

2. Build a gondola running from Canyon Lodge to McCoy Station.

Canyon Improvements

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:06

3. Upgrade chairs 7 and 8 to High Speed Quads.

Whitebark Express

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:06

4. Upgrade Chair 12 to Whitebark Express. Realign to end at the top of Whitebark Bowl.

5. Build and egress lift from the bottom of Whitebark to the top of Discovery.

Red's Bowl

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:07

6. Upgrade chairs 13 and 14 to High Speed Quads. Realign 13 to the old top of 12.

7. Cut two runs out of the clade beneath 14.

Sunshine Express

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:05

8. Realign chair 25 as a HSQ.

9. Cut a run out of the Sunshine Glades.

Backside Expansion

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:07

10. Construct two High Speed Quads on the backside, and cut runs accordingly.

Mary's Bowl

Album: Mammoth Upgrade

Uploaded 14 Feb 2015 - 01:07

11. Construct a Fixed Grip Quad in the bowl above Lake Mary, and cut runs.

[SkiDaBird]

Alta needs quite a bit as far as lifts go so I will start there. Wildcat needs an upgrade, the current lift is quite long and slow (~10 min ride time is standard). The top terminal should, and will, be relocated uphill to give better access to the shoulder. Supreme needs more capacity, it will need to be a HSQ, but I don't think it should be realigned. The runout below the current lift is too flat and narrow to support the traffic that would come through the area. The proposed Flora lift may seem a bit redundant, but EBT is closed for Avi risk too often. It really disrupts the flow of skiers from Collins Gulch to Albion Basin. The tram up Baldy would be awesome, although I hope they require a beacon and partner, just to restrict people who will try the chutes. Albion and Sunnyside need more capacity uphill. I would like to see a HSS replace Sunnyside, with the HST going to Flora. Albion could be shortened to where it intersects with Crooked Mile, with a small run cut to connect with Patsey Marley. Alta doesn't have a good first time skiers lift, as Sunnyside is about a mile long and all the greens are fairly steep. The only issue is space for the future Grizzly Gulch lift, which will happen at some point. My only issue with Grizzly is that it is SW facing on a significant part of the face, which just isn't a good angle for snow at all.

[Backbowlsbilly]

Donald good thoughts about Breck, I would love a lift for the Back 9 Chutes as well as the South Side of Peak 10 plus the lift on Peak 7 to relieve crowds on Independence would be nice too. Another one at Breck for me would be replacing Quicksilver with an 8 passenger chair/10 passenger gondola, to improve capacity while giving beginners an option with the gondola to reduce misloads.

At other places, a new high speed quad for Legends at Purgatory, Mongolia Bowls hsq at Vail and an access lift at the Cirque at Winter Park to eliminate that hike are all lifts I'd like to see, I'm also really looking forward to Keystone's current lift expansion plans in the bowls and relocation of the catskiing ops to new terrain, plus Tucker Mountain at Copper and new catski ops on Jacques Peak there too. Beavers at A Basin will be great too, especially looking forward to the Steep Gullies chutes that come as a part of that expansion.

[DonaldMReif]

Upgrading Legends to a high speed quad is on Purgatory's master plan.

[SkiDaBird]

I was at Big Sky today and they need to do something about Headwaters/Challenger. Perhaps replace both with a low capacity High Speed Quad on the Challenger line?

[Backbowlsbilly]

SkiDaBird, on 15 February 2015 - 08:59 PM, said:

I was at Big Sky today and they need to do something about Headwaters/Challenger. Perhaps replace both with a low capacity High Speed Quad on the Challenger line?

Off topic but how was the snow up there?

As for other future expansions, Battle Mountain at Vail will be interesting to watch and Beaver Creek has the McCoy Park beginner expansion into what is now the nordic area.

[missouriskier]

SkiDaBird, on 15 February 2015 - 08:59 PM, said:

I was at Big Sky today and they need to do something about Headwaters/Challenger. Perhaps replace both with a low capacity High Speed Quad on the Challenger line?

When I was there in February 2013, I noticed that they needed to upgrade something in that Challenger area, and Shedhorn was slow and had longer liftlines than I would have expected, too. Really, about three or four HSQs could help out big time up there. For the trouble it is to get there, it would be nice not to have to wait in liftlines and ride old, very slow chairlifts to get to the good terrain.

[Peter]

missouriskier, on 16 February 2015 - 11:15 AM, said:

When I was there in February 2013, I noticed that they needed to upgrade something in that Challenger area, and Shedhorn was slow and had longer liftlines than I would have expected, too. Really, about three or four HSQs could help out big time up there. For the trouble it is to get there, it would be nice not to have to wait in liftlines and ride old, very slow chairlifts to get to the good terrain.

Big Sky hasn't seen a new lift in over 10 years. The place got hit extra hard by the recession and has a lot of catching up to do.

[silence]

Here's my master plan for Sugarbush which isn't too far off from the one they actually came out with 7 or 8 years ago. I added a bit to it of course...

Upgraded lifts:
Valley House FGQ (re-aligned & extended)
Sunshine HSQ (re-aligned & extended)
Super Bravo HSS
Heaven's Gate HSQ
shortened Slide Brook HSQ
Inverness HSQ

New Lifts:
Clay Book FGQ (with new trails between Castlerock & North Lynx)
Lockwood Brook HSQ (with new trails on the south side of Mt. Ellen)
German Flats FGQ (with new trails to the south of the current trail Tumbler)
Stark Mountain FGQ (with new trails)

Also added new tree skiing areas...

Attached File(s)

•  Sugarbush-mp.jpg (1.24MB)
  Number of downloads: 152

This post has been edited by silence: 16 February 2015 - 01:17 PM

[snoloco]

Here's my master plan for Killington.

Upgrade Snowdon FGQ to HSQ.

Upgrade Bear Mountain FGQ to HSQ.

Upgrade Skye Peak Express HSQ to HSS.

Upgrade Snowshed HSQ to HSS.

Upgrade Canyon FGQ to HSQ

Upgrade North Ridge Triple to FGQ with load carpet.

Install new South Ridge Triple HSQ.

Remove Snowshed Doubles without replacement.

Upgrade Ramshead Express HSQ to HSS and extend to the former true summit of Ramshead Mountain.

Reopen lower Northeast Passage slopes by replacing the triple with a HSQ that has a mid station at the old Hawk's Nest to lap the lower terrain or continue to the top to access the rest of the mountain.

Build the planned village at the Ramshead and Snowshed Base areas. Eliminate the Access Road past these areas and install a 10 passenger transfer gondola from Ramshead to K1 base.

Connect Killington to Pico using two removed HSQ's from Killington. Install one on Ramshead near the top that connects to the already cut connection trail and serves a small trail section of it's own. Install one near the top of Pico that has it's own trail section and connects to a connection trail from Killington.

Install base to summit gondola at Pico so that the interconnect can be accessed in one lift ride from anywhere on the mountain.

Renovate the two HSQ's on Pico with new chairs with better padding and footrests.

Replace Bonanza Double with magic carpet.

Replace Outpost Double with new triple.

Replace Little Pico and Knomes Knoll Triple with removed FGQ's from Killington.

Upgrade Pico's snowmaking to near 100% coverage and get more grooming machines to handle the expanded terrain and groom more trails daily. Add Snowmaking to some of Killington's trails that don't have it.

[eagle628]

Apparently someone subscribes to the "make no small plans" school of thought...

[SkiDaBird]

Backbowlsbilly, on 16 February 2015 - 06:41 AM, said:

Off topic but how was the snow up there?

As for other future expansions, Battle Mountain at Vail will be interesting to watch and Beaver Creek has the McCoy Park beginner expansion into what is now the nordic area.

North facing runs and groomers were good, the rest was really firm. The problem is Big Sky mostly is SE facing. The base is low, but it is everywhere. I had fun though.

[missouriskier]

Peter, on 16 February 2015 - 11:50 AM, said:

Big Sky hasn't seen a new lift in over 10 years. The place got hit extra hard by the recession and has a lot of catching up to do.

That's interesting. I really did not know how much Big Sky Resort itself got hit by the recession. I remember that the two private resorts both went bankrupt during that time. Moonlight also had serious troubles, as I recall, but it was heavily real estate based, so that's not too surprising. While Big Sky also has done lots of real estate stuff, I always thought of that as somewhat secondary to the skiing.

The St. Louis area got hit very hard by the recession, particularly in the construction industry, which is my family's business, so it always seemed to me that most of the places I traveled during that time were doing better than my own.

Now, let's hope that the merger with Moonlight and the better economy can help Big Sky reach its full potential.

[vons]

Challenger will most likely get a new drive terminal soon and rumors have it that the YC wants a "big lift" from their side of the resort, guessing this would be a Shedhorn replacement. There is a second detachable planned on the Moonlight side of the resort along with fixed grips and trails to connect to the golf course clubhouse area too, unfortunately these will not happen for quite some time.

[boardski]

A-Basin: The Beavers should open soon as planned, however some upgrades that would be nice that are not entirely part of the master plan would be: Relocate current Lenawee triple to replace Pallavicini, replace current Lenawee Triple with detatchable quad. Leave Norway in place to be used if the HSQ Lenawee needs to close due to wind.

Loveland: Install proposed lift 10, restore lift 5 to regular operation using existing lift with new drive terminal if that is what is needed. Split lift 2 into two lifts the lower would utilize the current shortened triple and the upper would be a new lift running the line of the current platter lift and terminating at the top of current lift 2. The platter would then be relocated to the ridge near the top of lift 9 to ease access to a bit more of the terrain (as in the Master plan). Looking up the hill at the Valley about half way up lift 3, to the left looks like some nice gladed terrain. A triple chair would serve that area nicely.

Mary Jane: HSQ or low capacity HSS upgrade for Sunnyside, current triple Sunnyside relocated to replace Pony Express and extend to the top of Iron Horse (leave Iron Horse as is for awhile). Current double Pony Express relocated to the Cirque to enable laps without so much hiking.

Monarch: HSQ from bottom of Breezeway to top of Panorama (replacing Panorama), T-Bar to top of Mirkwood

Copper: Lift serving Tucker Mountain, Chondola for Flyer, upgraded R-Lift extended Low enough to reach from top of Eagle.

Purgatory: Rope tow or Platter tow system similar to Alta from the bottom of lift 8 to top of lift 4 with load/ unload stations at bottoms of lifts 3 and 5

Ajax: HSQ from bottom of Little Nell to top of Bell Mountain, and HSQ upgrade for Gent's Ridge

Aspen highlands: HSQ beginning at bottom of former Grand Prix Poma and top at top of former Olympic lift

[NHskier13]

Quote

Upgrade Bear Mountain FGQ to HSQ

With a liftline like Bear Mountain's, i'm not sure if HSQ is a good idea :P

Plus if it's only around 3000 feet, I think there's more important lifts to replace with a high speed, just saying.

[liftmech]

boardski, on 20 February 2015 - 06:51 PM, said:

Copper: Lift serving Tucker Mountain, Chondola for Flyer, upgraded R-Lift extended Low enough to reach from top of Eagle.

Chondola? Can I just have one or the other :)