Gore Improvements Summer 2015

Looks like Sno is getting part of his plan put into place regarding the season opener. They are blowing snow on Showcase and it looks like the AEII will be the opening day lift.

It makes all the sense in the world.  Why make it so you have to remove skis on every run?  Showcase and Quicksilver beats the slightly longer gondola run any day.

seems like it's more about opportunity at this point.

blowing foxlair down to base requires a heckuva a lot more acre-feet than showcase. And they're in a serious time crunch here as a result of lousy snowmaking weather and Thanksgiving in a week.

They're opening with the AE2 because it makes so much more sense to run a chair when only one lift is open than a gondola.  It did not make sense with the AE1 because it was getting old and could easily break down leaving the entire mountain out of commission.  They opened with the gondola last year because the AE2 had not been approved by the state yet.

I'm guessing they always use the AE2 for the future early season lift.  In a good snowmaking year, would you waste time and money putting a ribbon of ice on Foxlair, or would you use it to open a second and far more enjoyable run off the AE2?  The gondola serves zero purpose until Topridge is open, so why bother putting tons of snow on Foxlair and Ruby Run which are equally lame, icy bottlenecks.  Wait till Topridge is ready to open before opening the gondola.

Phase 1 - Open Showcase and front side trails to AE2
Phase 2 - OPEN THE DARKSIDE!

Case closed.