199 replies to this topic

[Peter]

There isn't a lot going on yet. Really the only things that have been done are surveying the line and prepping at the bottom. There is rebar for the bottom terminal foundations in place. I don't think any tree cutting has happened except at the bottom next to the creek. There is going to be a lot of earthwork to do at the top; they haven't even marked the top terminal location yet. There are no parts in lot B yet either. Nothing has been done with Miner's Basin, so it seems it might not be removed after all.

As far as the route, towers 1 and 2 are right at the bottom terminal area and tower 3 is across the creek next to the bottom of Miner's Basin. Tower 4 is on the knoll at the bottom of Exterminator and the next 3 are on the skier's left of lower exterminator. I didn't hike by any other towers until the top of Iceberg Gulch, where there are 2 together. Then there are 2 more in Green Valley Bowl and 2 just under the Rex retaining wall. The last tower will be entering the top terminal. There are a total of 16 towers marked, not 13 like the website says.

[liftmech]

The Forest Service slowed the project down a bit lately; apparently they needed to get a valuation for the timber that will be cut for the liftline so they had to get a cruiser in. Pa said he hopes to begin cutting once that's done. There was still a bunch of snow up there last week, I guess.

[Peter]

Parts are arriving - from Crystal's site:

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[Peter]

Made it up to Crystal today. They are further along at the bottom and started digging at the top. The lift line has been cut as well. Parts are arriving in the lot; all of them seem to be for the top return terminal.

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[SuperRat]

Great pictures. I noticed an uncommon feature of this lift. It looks like it will have in-terminal parking for the cabins. In the picture of the contoured section of the terminal machinery you can see hydraulic rams for lifting the tire conveyor. This allows the cabins to be pushed together. I've read about it in Doppelmayr manuals but have never seen a lift with this feature except for maybe one in a World Book a while ago.

[lastchair_44]

The Village Eight Express at Perisher Blue Australia has in station carrier parking. I believe they park them every night? Same set up as you mentioned Super Rat. Doppelmayr installation, not sure what year, but it was farely new when I toured the machine rooms in 2005 or 2006.

[Phalanger]

lastchair_44, on 17 July 2010 - 08:13 PM, said:

The Village Eight Express at Perisher Blue Australia has in station carrier parking. I believe they park them every night? Same set up as you mentioned Super Rat. Doppelmayr installation, not sure what year, but it was farely new when I toured the machine rooms in 2005 or 2006.

A few of the chairs park in an off rail in the top station as they would not all fit within the normal stations. However this part is covered and looks just like the rest of the station.

[nickzeke]

Was at Crystal today, saw a truck arrive at the base with what appeared from a distance to be tower heads. There were also stacks of the very nice bricks in the plaza, clearly saved for when the gondola is finished.

[lastchair_44]

Phalanger, on 18 July 2010 - 04:57 AM, said:

A few of the chairs park in an off rail in the top station as they would not all fit within the normal stations. However this part is covered and looks just like the rest of the station.

I remember that. Isn't there an office back there?

[Peter]

Fun with photoshop

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[Crystal Coach]

Skier, on 19 July 2010 - 05:34 PM, said:

Fun with photoshop

I like it! Now if the weather cooperates...

[liftmech]

Sounds like the project is moving along pretty well. Pa said it took him three and a half days for the liftline, mostly because of the hiking involved, not not for the amount of timber like Northway. Several of the towers will be three-stagers (glad I don't have to climb them!)

[Phalanger]

lastchair_44, on 19 July 2010 - 01:53 PM, said:

I remember that. Isn't there an office back there?

Yes, it's 90deg off loading so half of it, uphill side, is the hut/maintenance/stairs. The other half is the off rain for the chairs. I can't remember how many it was as I just saw it getting built, but is just a few chairs.

[Peter]

Went on a long hike around Crystal today, which included stops at the top and bottom of the new gondola. The bottom foundations are done and the top ones are in progress. The top terminal is going to be right in the middle of the Rex unload area. It will probably be way up in the air so that skiers go underneath the accel/decel area of the gondola. There was a heli removing all of the trees that were cut from the line and some that were leftover from Northway. More parts in the lot, too. It seems the bottom terminal will be longer than the top. Top has just 2 straight tire banks while the bottom has 4 straight sections.

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[liftmech]

Maybe they haven't taken delivery of the other two top sections yet.

[vons]

The line speed is only 800fpm so one conveyor section a side is enough. The bottom is longer to the accommodate carriage travel for tensioning the lift.

[Peter]

liftmech, on 31 July 2010 - 04:07 AM, said:

Maybe they haven't taken delivery of the other two top sections yet.

The other reason why I assumed the top was shorter was because the straight tire banks are different lengths.

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[Crystal Coach]

Great pictures. I've heard lots of discussion from passholders about whether they will pay the extra cost or not. My guess is that most will- but we'll see.

I still haven't heard any talk about C1. Does anybody know if there are plans for that lift- elimination or... the gondola is only part of the long term upgrade plans. Perhaps Crystal is just moth-balling the lift in-place for a latter move?

Also the line speed: 800 fpm doesn't seem that fast. None of Crystal's high speed lifts seem as fast as those at Stevens or White Pass. I assume this is done to save money, correct?

[SkiBachelor]

Crystal Coach, on 05 August 2010 - 09:25 AM, said:

Great pictures. I've heard lots of discussion from passholders about whether they will pay the extra cost or not. My guess is that most will- but we'll see.

I still haven't heard any talk about C1. Does anybody know if there are plans for that lift- elimination or... the gondola is only part of the long term upgrade plans. Perhaps Crystal is just moth-balling the lift in-place for a latter move?

Also the line speed: 800 fpm doesn't seem that fast. None of Crystal's high speed lifts seem as fast as those at Stevens or White Pass. I assume this is done to save money, correct?

There are a number of reasons a resort would slow down the speed of its lift(s) from their designed speed. Energy savings, higher capacity (reduced misloads) and weather conditions. As for Crystal, it's probably doing it to save money and increase loading efficiency. Starting a lift on full load requires a lot of power. Just think if a lift was constantly stopping and starting all the time.

I believe it has been mentioned here on in a few threads, but several resorts will run their lifts 100 FPM slower on the weekends compared to weekdays.

[Peter]

I think limited space at the summit is part of it. A slower line speed allows for shorter acceleration/deceleration sections. We saw this at Beaver Creek where the Buckaroo Gondola's bottom terminal is sandwiched between a hotel and a steep hillside. It only runs at 600 fpm which allowed the bottom terminal to be very short. In addition, high capacity is not required at Crystal. The difference in ride time between 800 fpm and 1000 fpm would only be about a minute and a half anyways.