Mid station loading?

I saw this pic today on Ski the Easts IG post and was flooded with memories of mid way loads and spring time Chute laps smashing slushy bumps all afternoon. That would be about 26 years ago now and maybe I’m imagining mid station loads but I think that was a thing.

Can anyone clarify? Do they still allow that or is it always too crowded?

Anyways, I sure do miss MRG.

The midstation is still there. I haven’t used it in a long time but I’m sure you can load there in the spring.

In other news, Eric Friedman the PR guy is retiring.  

mm

I thought he was moving on, but I didn't know where. How old is he?

The MRG mid-station can be loaded as long as empty chairs are available. I have done this in the past but rarely. When a mid-station load would be ideal (e.g. bashing mid-afternoon spring bumps down Chute on repeat), the Single is usually at capacity with no empty chairs. Probably a great option mid-week when there are no lines and Chute is prime.

I can't think of any other mid-stations that load during normal operations. Smuggs allows for an unload only on M1. Sunday River only loads their mid-station for early season before they have top to bottom.

Skyship Gondola at Killington. Lots of Gondolas out west, I guess (Breck, Whistler, etc.).

Some random lift at Durango was loading at mid.

New Collins lift at Alta?

The #6 double chair at Loveland

MC2 5678F589 wrote

New Collins lift at Alta?

Collins at Alta loads at mid-station and gets used during April a fair amount when daytime temps are over 40 on the lower mountain.  After 11:00am, the lifties at the bottom leave an empty chair on purpose for mid-station every 10.  There is an automatic gate with 4 slots that only opens when an empty chair is coming.

Not many travelers who are skiing Alta in April these days think of the current Collins quad as "new."  For first timers, it can take a while before they notice the signs with big letters that say there is no unloading at mid-station.  :-)

Jamesdeluxe wrote

The #6 double chair at Loveland

No more. They changed it all a few years ago.

This thread is drifting away from MRG, but, what the hell. I stayed in Belle Plagne in the French Alps this last season, which is an entire small village built around the mid station of an aging gondola that originates in Plagne Bellocote down below. There's a great bakery (hey, France), a charcuterie, a few bars, and even a four lane bowling alley, I swear. You walk out your front door, click in, and ski down to five lifts, or just grab an empty car at the mid station. I wanna go back.

Benny Profane wrote

I stayed in Belle Plagne in the French Alps this last season, which is an entire small village built around the mid station of an aging gondola that originates in Plagne Bellocote down below.

 
Would be nice to see a trip report/pix. You know -- help shoulder the Alps TR burden?

Jamesdeluxe wrote

 
Would be nice to see a trip report/pix. You know -- help shoulder the Alps TR burden?

Lol, not sure you're gonna get a lot of sympathy for the "It's so hard to be the only one writing TRs for awesome European adventures" take.

Hmmm, well, let me look into that. Didn't think this was a Euro kind of forum.
First time to the Alps, real eye opener, will be back next year. Can actually be cheaper than the west, especially retail lift tickets, but, pain in the ass to get to. Food is awesome.

The view of the terrain from our balcony.


And the view back from that terrain. Our hotel is in the buildings in the upper center.


Awesome place accessible by high speed train from London or Paris.

There is really mp way to link to the Euro stuff, but since it is mostly James (some from Z) here's a link to threads started by him:

https://forum.nyskiblog.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=user_nodes&user=84991&filter=topics_only

Regarding the original topic of mid station loading, I think MRG still lets you but they don’t reserve chairs for you so you may have to wait awhile for a seat. Mid station loading in general (other then gondolas) is mostly extinct because it’s usually a really really bad idea. Much of my short career as a liftie was spent bumping chairs at a mid station and it was pure chaos. Fun though.

Now I'm curious . . .

Looks like Breck has a lift with mid-station loading only.  The set up for the Peak 8 Superconnect looks similar to Collins at Alta, except without an RFID gate.  I've never skied Breck.

https://liftblog.com/peak-8-superconnect-breckenridge-co/

Someone would like the replacement for 1A at Aspen to include mid-station loading.  But there may not be enough room.

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/future-of-aspen-mountains-lift-1a-spins-into-next-phase-of-study/

marznc wrote

Now I'm curious . . .

One thing that happened a lot is intermediates/beginners that got on at the bottom would think it was the unload. There were warning signs everywhere and a liftie waving his arms in the air yelling at them to put the bar back down and they would still stand up- no unloading ramp there of course so splat goes the intermediate.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

The #6 double chair at Loveland

Benny Profane wrote

No more. They changed it all a few years ago.

I'm still seeing the same #6 double chair on this recent map. Are you saying that they got rid of the mid-station but the chair is still the same old one from the late 70s?


I haven't skied Loveland since 2017 and it now has a high-speed chair on the looker's left -- is anything sacred?

Chair 1 at Baker has a mid-station load.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Jamesdeluxe wrote

The #6 double chair at Loveland

Benny Profane wrote

No more. They changed it all a few years ago.

I'm still seeing the same #6 double chair on this recent map. Are you saying that they got rid of the mid-station but the chair is still the same old one from the late 70s?


I haven't skied Loveland since 2017 and it now has a high-speed chair on the looker's left -- is anything sacred?

Oh, 6, sorry, I thought you were talking about 2 that got split in two parts. Beginner lift, anyway. Dont think it ever had a mid station, I think you're thinking of the old mid on the two lift.

Anymore of this and I'll take the role of Abbott in the Who's on first routine.

I like that new quad. My fantasy, along with a lot of people who ski out of Denver, is a connection to ABasin. Not in my lifetime.

I feel like Killington had a mid loading station at one point- maybe on the chair that the new gondola replaced?