2017 Amendment to the 2002 Gore Mountain UMP

I love the idea of a connection from town to the ski area. That’s unfound out east and most of the west. That would be a huge attraction to visitors and a game changer to get people to stay overnight and spend money.

Does Gore have a limit on how much water they can use every season? And if so can their limit support a better snowmaking system?

I don’t love Sno’s mentioning of slope side trophy homes, that is a bummer. A village with modest townhouses would be more responsible and respectful imo.

raisingarizona wrote

I love the idea of a connection from town to the ski area. That’s unfound out east and most of the west. That would be a huge attraction to visitors and a game changer to get people to stay overnight and spend money.

Does Gore have a limit on how much water they can use every season? And if so can their limit support a better snowmaking system?

I don’t love Sno’s mentioning of slope side trophy homes, that is a bummer. A village with modest townhouses would be more responsible and respectful imo.

I believe the permitted limit is 9000 gallons per minute.  Last time I checked the system running at max could use maybe 5500, so there is room to grow under the permit.  My understanding is that the permitted level could be raised without to much risk to the river.

I like the lift way more than slopeside too.  I don't mind the way the ski bowl is zoned though. Maybe that is a double standard, but it's private property adjacent to state land.

Trophy homes are a necessarily evil that it needed to pay for all this.  I'd at least keep them confined to certain areas rather than on main trails.

There is no limit on how much water Gore can draw per season.  Just 9000gpm.  I'd build a reservoir and increase pumping capacity to 12000 gpm which would be enough to get every lift open by Christmas.

I really like the pulse gondola idea.  It would cost maybe 2 million and bring many times that per year in economic development to North Creek.  And make the downtown walkable and centered around that lift and it would rival Lake Placid.

I don't know North Creek very well but can someone comment on what they think is the "center of town".  Trying to think of possible alignments of my gondola.

snoloco wrote

I don't know North Creek very well but can someone comment on what they think is the "center of town".  Trying to think of possible alignments of my gondola.

There's a big empty lot at the north end of town. Not exactly the center, but main street isn't that long. And it is close to the Copperfield. The rumor is they want to put in a dollar store there, but I say stick your gondi there.  Might even be able to get some parking in that spot.

Right across the street from the North Creek Depot Museum...

I am looking at putting it just south of the shopping center that the grocery store is in.  There's a space next to it just to the south.  Pretty much right across the street from Marsha's Family Restaurant, Alpine Lodge, and Café Sarah.  Don't really need parking as you can just expand it at the ski bowl and have people ride the gondola into town.  Would be about 2000 feet long and very little change in elevation.

Your location does provide room for growth further to the north but would require the line to be a bit longer at 2400 feet.  Might need to go detachable to put it there as pulse lifts get increasingly inefficient with length.

Is the health center in the way?

I think the original idea was closer to the spot you are imagining.

It would have to cross over the health center so they'd have to get an easement to put towers on the property on either end of the building and it would cross directly over.  Tremblant's cabriolet crosses over several buildings.

I'm not usually a fan of the North Quad and it is in my homogenization plan to make it high speed, but I can't lie that the leisurely ride through the trees with the sun out and a light breeze was quite relaxing and enjoyable after skiing Sagamore fast and aggressively three times in a row.



And hardly anyone was skiing that side today so little to no stops and slows.

snoloco wrote

It would have to cross over the health center

I knew you were going to say that as soon as I read this:

Harvey wrote

Is the health center in the way?

Ethan Snow wrote

snoloco wrote

It would have to cross over the health center

I knew you were going to say that as soon as I read this:

Harvey wrote

Is the health center in the way?

I'm chuckling too Ethan. I was imagining rowdy kids dropping beer cans on the health center.  Who knows what visiting MC Cabrio miscreants might dream up?

Sno would it be easier to go around it from the dollar store?

Hows about a three stage gondola using the alignment of the proposed connector lift from Skibowl to the main lodge/base area. Go from town to Skibowl, then continue to a station at the base of Burnt Ridge then continue up to the main lodge. Create a small village at Skibowl, a cluster of really nice condo/townhomes off the access road at the base of BR and a small cluster at the main base area around the new gondola stations.

Next create an indoor water park where your North Creek/in-town station is.

I think this would get people to use that transportation gondola lift, get them in town and create better connectivity when the connector trails might not have enough snow to use. I'd create a really nice learning center at Skibowl as well as the principal park area. Maybe create a competitive WC style mogul course. Maybe throw lights on that stuff for local kids and ski programs. Now those folks uphill can hop on the gondi and go to Skibowl and town for various attractions. Another step might be on the city to create better pedestrian use throughout town, I don't know but that might be something to look at.

For summer use build a paved bike path from town and along/under the gondi connecting all bases and slopeside housing. Have a baller bike park, zip lines, adventure courses, mountain coaster, giant kids playground, massive tree house somewhere, hiking trails, and a summer concert/festival series. Get some art galleries in town, don't the New York City people love the arts? Maybe get a museum in town on ADK history so Harv can use that as an out from having to go to Virginia. :D

And get that dang snowmaking system up to Sno standards! FTW!

I seriously think if they got their shit together Gore and NC could give Killington a run for their money.

Maybe just create a fourth station for the gondi at the Health Center? Is the health center a small hospital? It sure would be easier to transport the injured :D

raisingarizona wrote

Maybe just create a fourth station for the gondi at the Health Center? Is the health center a small hospital? It sure would be easier to transport the injured :D

Could it stop at my place too?

As a lift nerd I love that idea, but the problem is the price.  It would be over 2 miles long, with two angle stations and likely require over 100 cabins.  A lift of that size could easily be 20 million.  Now similar projects have been done at Breckenridge and Telluride and were worth every penny and then some.

It would be cheaper to triple the snowmaking than to do that.  With that kind of a system I'd try and open a skiable connection to the ski bowl by Christmas every year.  With a high speed lift on that new alignment it wouldn't take all that long to get out of there anyways.

As for a beginner area, replacing the Sunway chair with a HSQ and re-working the trails in that area so that you had to ride that lift to get into there would create a Snowshed style beginner area that expert skiers wouldn't have to or be able to ski through.  You'd have two beginner areas with keeping the one at the bowl and I'm not sure what the practicality of that is.

The good thing about my pulse gondola idea is that it is cheap enough that it would be much easier to complete cost wise so it would have a greater chance of getting done.

And there is a solution to people potentially throwing stuff out of the gondola cabins.  Vented plastic covers are placed over the windows that open so that it's impossible to get anything through the holes that could fall on someone and hurt or damage a car or building.

As long as you don't mind a few hundred coming over every night to party!

snoloco wrote

As a lift nerd I love that idea, but the problem is the price.  It would be over 2 miles long, with two angle stations and likely require over 100 cabins.  A lift of that size could easily be 20 million.  Now similar projects have been done at Breckenridge and Telluride and were worth every penny and then some.

It would be cheaper to triple the snowmaking than to do that.  With that kind of a system I'd try and open a skiable connection to the ski bowl by Christmas every year.  With a high speed lift on that new alignment it wouldn't take all that long to get out of there anyways.

As for a beginner area, replacing the Sunway chair with a HSQ and re-working the trails in that area so that you had to ride that lift to get into there would create a Snowshed style beginner area that expert skiers wouldn't have to or be able to ski through.  You'd have two beginner areas with keeping the one at the bowl and I'm not sure what the practicality of that is.

The good thing about my pulse gondola idea is that it is cheap enough that it would be much easier to complete cost wise so it would have a greater chance of getting done.

And there is a solution to people potentially throwing stuff out of the gondola cabins.  Vented plastic covers are placed over the windows that open so that it's impossible to get anything through the holes that could fall on someone and hurt or damage a car or building.

And holly crap, the 20 mill start up cost would just be the beginning.

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_b8ec1825-c8bd-57ea-9a95-10330e9a5803.html

I like some of your ideas, guys.  Sno, and RA, have the right ideas, although I’m sure similar ones have been dreamed about before.

As someone who would love me some more Gore, and a consumer who spends a fair amount of money on ski trips for myself and my family, the very money North Creek and Gore want to get, let me add a few thoughts.

Having a gondola to town is of little value if there isn’t a town that more people want to spend time in.  I’m sure North Creek has it’s charms, but I’ve driven through it, in google maps you can literally get to street level and walk down Main Street.  It needs to begin a transformation from what it is currently to something more like a mini Lake Placid.  As a consumer, and a skiing family with a non-skier in it, I’m not taking them to Gore because Main Street as is just is not an attraction.  Needs to be pedestrian friendly, more shops, more hotels.  Chicken and egg I know, but building the Gondola without other commitments in hand for Main Street development would be short sighted.

Lodging.....agree with Sno, need more, and higher end.  What are we looking for in ski lodging?  Quaint or rustic, cozy fireplace(s) to sit by, nice restaurant/bar, pool and hot tub (preferably outdoors), activities like skating and snowshoeing, etc.  all in one place.  I’ve looked and haven’t seen anything that fits that bill in town.

I also think North Creek needs to capitalize on the biggest natural asset it has......the Hudson River.  We stay in Lake Placid and my wife loves to walk around Mirror Lake.  Where is she going to walk in North Creek?  Riverfront development, some kind of promenade or walkway, would be a huge attraction.

Just a few thoughts from a guy who would love to spend time and money at Gore if we could find more of what my family looks for in a ski destination.

These ideas are all well and good, but if Gore can't even properly staff or handle what they have now, how the hell can they expand?

raisingarizona wrote

Hows about a three stage gondola using the alignment of the proposed connector lift from Skibowl to the main lodge/base area. Go from town to Skibowl, then continue to a station at the base of Burnt Ridge then continue up to the main lodge. Create a small village at Skibowl, a cluster of really nice condo/townhomes off the access road at the base of BR and a small cluster at the main base area around the new gondola stations.

I have seen concept plans for a development at the ski bowl. it was probably 2005 ish. combination of condos, hotel and homes. I also believe it included a connector chair to the main mountain.