Gore Mountain Adirondack Express Replacement.

Harvey wrote

Bottom drive.

TWSS

Looks like they left the old building.  I guess that this lift will have full chair parking like the old one did.  They also are keeping the old queue which seems like a bad idea because it was designed for lanes with 3 across, not 4 across.  I have still yet to see a picture of the new unloading area which hopefully I will be able to take myself this weekend.

Towers were flown today.

photo courtesy Vail Resorts

Harvey wrote

photo courtesy Vail Resorts

??
The photo is from Gore's facebook page, no?

It's going to be so weird skiing Showcase for the first few times this year. I've gotten so used to the towers being in their specific places, the change will be weird.

Adk Jeff wrote

Harvey wrote

photo courtesy Vail Resorts

??
The photo is from Gore's facebook page, no?

Just a gentle bust on something that Coach said that morphed into a joke that became a bit of a runaway train.

Harvey wrote

Just a gentle bust on something that Coach said that morphed into a joke that became a bit of a runaway train.

This is classic:

Dysfunction Junction says:       
According to Vail’s president of mountain ops “we were missing an incredibly cold, exceptionally windy mountain with all man made snow in our portfolio. Whiteface was the final piece to that puzzle."

mattchuck2 wrote

It's going to be so weird skiing Showcase for the first few times this year. I've gotten so used to the towers being in their specific places, the change will be weird.

always liked the whale back backside of tower 9, nice transition air

Harvey wrote

Adk Jeff wrote

Harvey wrote

photo courtesy Vail Resorts

??
The photo is from Gore's facebook page, no?

Just a gentle bust on something that Coach said that morphed into a joke that became a bit of a runaway train.

Yeah, I figured there must have been a joke I was missing.

Coach Z wrote

I have to say that all this work in a Early summer is very un ORDA like

They usually wait until as Late in the summer / fall as possible

The timing on this was pretty close to the timing on the Hudson Chair. I think heli-day for that chair was end of the first week in October, maybe one week earlier than the AE2.

It's freaking amazing that we have wasted 44 pages of our lives talking about a replacement lift.  It finally started to make sense when I heard that they planned to recycle parts of the lift for Sunway.  It's so un orda like to replace a functioning lift regardless of its age or replacement parts but reusing a lift is an orda thing.

Coach, there comes a time when every lift outlives its useful life.  This design was no longer supported and probably cost almost as much in the long run to fix it as to do what they did.  Why would they spend just as much to fix an old crappy lift when they could spend a little bit more and get something brand new?

That is exactly what they decided to do with the LWF lift.  Based on that this was taking a new tack.  It's set a good  precident moving forward.  The Bunny Hutch is ancient and needs replacement before the little used dark side lift.  The bunny hutch is a money maker as it supports the kids programs.  I know the Gore guys are going say that lift is something you guys feel is important but it's not a money maker.

Coach, I believe, wasn't saying it was logical to not replace the lift, he was simply saying its not "The ORDA way". Which given their past actions is an entirely solid observation. They have a tendency to drag out their 'usefulness'

Coach Z wrote

It finally started to make sense when I heard that they planned to recycle parts of the lift for Sunway.  It's so un orda like to replace a functioning lift regardless of its age or replacement parts but reusing a lift is an orda thing.

Are you suggesting that the lift didn't need to be replaced? We're you there last year when the Triple was down (and Burnt Ridge wasn't opened yet)? Did you see the enormous Gondola line?

To put it in Whiteface terms, imagine the Face Lift was closed for the entire Month of January. (and that slow double over on the left, so you HAD to take the Gondy of you wanted to get up the mountain). How would that affect your skiing experience?

It definitely needed replacement. That isn't an argument.

+1

The ADK Express was too old and they had a hard time getting replacement parts.  If they tried to fix it, they would have had to replace almost everything and it probably would have been almost as much as buying new.  On a fixed grip like the LWF chair, the parts are more interchangeable, so it is usually more economical to fix rather than replace.  On a detachable, the lifts don't work with lots of parts from different manufacturers, so to upgrade the grips, you'd have to change the sheaves, terminal rails, etc.  By that time, you may as well have bought a new lift.

The High Peaks Chair is older than the Bunny Hutch Triple, but both need an upgrade.  They are both built by a company that doesn't exist anymore, so they will probably be replaced.  I am thinking that the new High Peaks Chair will be a new double chair similar to Mountain Creek's Sojourn Lift.  That lift moves pretty quick and has cushy chairs, which Gore seems to want to make the standard on their lifts.  It seems like an ideal candidate to be done at Gore.  Speaking of the MC lift, it connects South to North and is pretty long, so good for a...   DRINK!!! 

The Bunny Hutch triple IMO should be a carpet loaded fixed grip quad.  That will make it easier for beginners to load.  Maybe even have the carpet unloading like Okemo has on one of their lifts.

Imagine the carnage if the Face Lift was down at Whiteface ESPECIALLY if the Gondola was on wind hold.  The old ADK Express definitely needed to go.

This is what the new High Peaks lift should look like.  I would love to have this on the Dark Side.  It would even work with MC's green paint scheme as it would match the Gondola, BRQ, and AE2.

Matt

Like eventful said I think it was needed but that replacement is not the old orda way.  In the past they just tended to fix the old lift.  This sets a good new precedent which is good for us all.

I do have to admit I'm tried of hearing about this but that is probably because the kid is obsessed with shiny new lifts

Coach Z wrote

Matt

Like eventful said I think it was needed but that replacement is not the old orda way.  In the past they just tended to fix the old lift.  This sets a good new precedent which is good for us all.

I do have to admit I'm tried of hearing about this but that is probably because the kid is obsessed with shiny new lifts

True, ORDA has tended to just fix the old lift and that is why the AE1 and old red gondola were around so long.  Yes, I am obsessed with shiny new lifts, but I mean who doesn't love a cushy chair on a high speed lift.  Sure beats Belleayre's lifts, right Coach?  If ORDA can afford to build a new HSQ at Gore, shouldn't they at least be able to give Belleayre some padding?