Belleayre Gondola Discussion Thread

Yes it was that way last season.

I can see on the discovery lodge webcam that they're pouring the footings for the base terminal.

purchased my belle season pass last week before the prices went up! Looking forward to hunting season and then ski season!

louie.mirags wrote

  Looking forward to hunting season and then ski season!

MY MAN!!

Now it's confirmed on the website that there will be a connector trail between the bottom of Tomahawk and the Discovery Lodge.  I was getting concerned that there wouldn't be for 17-18.  It's currently referred to as Deer Run Extension, but I'm guessing it may take up the name Lower Deer Run.

They say that it will begin to the right of the Tomahawk parking lots, and I'm 99% sure they mean looker's right.  It will have a tunnel under the road and then go back towards looker's left, emptying out onto Iroquois just above Running Bear (the bunny hill).  They haven't posted anything showing the exact route yet.  However, they said that they started cutting it on July 31st and it would take about 2 weeks to complete, so it's probably already done by now.

The parking lot entrance road is in the same area it seems the trail will go.  There will only be one tunnel, so the trail will have to go to the outside of this road, or the road would need to be removed (there's another entrance to looker's left).

I'm going to do a bike ride on the nearby Catskill Scenic Trail tomorrow (or today since it's just after midnight), so I will swing by Belleayre and try and get some pics as long as they don't have the site all locked down.

I was able to visit Belleayre today, and I got a bunch of good pictures of the gondola.  I stopped in a few locations to check things out.

On my way up the access road, I noticed that the new trail was already pretty much finished.  The first picture is looking up from the access road, and the second one is looking down.  They haven't removed the remains of the trees they cut from the above the road, but below the road has been graded out.  The trail will be going under the road, but they haven't built the tunnel yet. I'm guessing they will do it "cut n cover" style.  This means they will dig out a large trench where the road is, and then put in an overpass.  The overpass needs to be high enough for a groomer to fit under it.  They also haven't put in the snowmaking equipment yet, so we'll see if that happens before the season.





The trail will be parallel to the Tomahawk parking lot entrance road near the top.



I then stopped at the Tomahawk parking lot.  The Tomahawk lift is being repainted this summer.  They have done the first 3 towers and most of the bottom terminal.  It will be interesting if they keep the towers above midstation black, or paint everything blue.



I also looked at where the new trail will start.  It's going to be just to skier's left of the Tomahawk lift, and if you're on Deer Run or Dot Nebel, you can ski onto it without going into the area where the chair loads.  You'll be able to get to it from Tomahawk Crossing, but will need to pass by the lift to do it.



I then went to the other side of the parking lot where the gondola will cross.  The footing for tower 8 is pictured here.  Since they didn't cut the trees right next to it, I'm guessing it will be pretty tall in order to clear them.  Knowing Doppelmayr's tower designs, this is not a footing that would be used for stacked tower (which are required for very tall towers), so it'll probably be near the upper limit for that of a standard tower.



A zoomed in picture looking up the lift line.



Overview of the Tomahawk parking lots.  The gondola will run above here.



On my way down to the Discovery Lodge, I stopped to take a look down the lift line.  You can see that the footing for tower 7 is much larger than for tower 8, so this will likely be a stacked and very tall tower.  I believe the new trail joins the lift line around where the grass ends, but I'm not sure.



Upon arrival at the Discovery Lodge, I was greeted by this sign advertising the project and thanking the governor for allocating the funding.



At the bottom, they had a machine parked in a location that made it difficult to get a good view of the terminal location from the side.  The first picture shows the main terminal support.  If you look closely, you'll see the uphill terminal support under the arm on the machine.  It's still being poured and has the wooden box.  The supports seem kind of close together, but I'm guessing it just looks that way due to the terminal not being built yet.  The second picture shows where the gondola is in relation to the double double.  It'll start right in front of the lodge deck, while the double double starts below it.





I took this picture by holding the camera up over the arm of the machine.  It has a pretty good view of the large pit they dug at the bottom.



Moved up to the top of the pit after that.  It appears that the gondola will have a very steep initial climb.



A unique shot of one of the tower footings that was poured, but not covered yet.  What you see when riding the lift is really only the tip of the iceberg, and it gets a lot wider underground.



Lastly, I took this shot looking up the lift line from the bottom.



There were no lift parts on site yet.  At least not in any area that was easily accessible to the public.  It appears that most of the concrete work is done, and then the next step will be installing the terminals and towers.  We shall see what happens as we move into the fall.  I'm excited to ride the new gondola come December.

Disclaimer:  This was not an official tour and is completely my own observations.  No signage or barriers were ignored or disobeyed in the making of this post.

So, what exactly is the governor getting for this gondola? Isn't that the most interesting question in this whole project??  I suppose, time will tell...

He's using it, and many other infrastructure projects as resume items to run for president in 2020.  He's completed two major infrastructure projects that were stalled for decades.  One of those is the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and the other is the 2nd Ave Subway Line in the city.  He wants to be seen as someone who can really get things done.

Making New York great again, one gondola at a time.

snoloco wrote

He's using it, and many other infrastructure projects as resume items to run for president in 2020.  He's completed two major infrastructure projects that were stalled for decades.  One of those is the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and the other is the 2nd Ave Subway Line in the city.  He wants to be seen as someone who can really get things done.

Despite asking the question if anybody really needs that thing getting done.   People like him and of his political persuasion think they know better than the stupid voters what they really need and will give it to them regardless of the costs.