Next Upgrades at NY Ski Areas

I am always interested in upgrades at ski areas and since many are going on this summer such as Okemo's new 6-pack, Gore's new HSQ, Windham's new trail, and Stratton's new gondola cabins, I like to think about what is next.  I will keep this to NY  since this is the New York Ski Blog. I left Whiteface and Gore up for grabs because I know that future upgrades to both are a touchy subject.  I may post what I think is coming to WF and Gore later.

Windham:  They added new trails for the 2nd year in a row and plan to add snowmaking to Upper Wipeout and Way Out, if not, they already did.  This hints at adding lift capacity next.  Their summit lifts need an upgrade, so I am guessing that we will see the old and slow F-Lift be removed and replaced with a new 6-pack.  I don't know if they will decide to enter the lift arms race with Vermont and make it heated and bubbled, or decide that it is unnecessary to do that.  The HSQ would either be relocated to replace the C-Lift and provide high speed lift access to the fancy ski houses along that trail, or remain in place as a backup.  As for new trails, the area between East and West Peaks is already being developed with a new trail this year.  I would think that they would continue to expand there and add some trails from the East Peak side.  Maybe make one right smack the middle similar to Plattekill's Blockbuster.

Hunter:  They have already done all of the possible lift upgrades.  I have heard that they want to expand the West Side to skiers left of Annapurna (IDK why they want to expand when Annapurna is seldom open).  They have little room to expand trails on the front side, and expanding trails there is expensive since the mountain is too rocky and steep, so blasting is needed.  I am guessing that some of their antiquated snowmaking infrastructure will be replaced with higher efficiency equipment.  When I took a groomer ride this past season, the driver told me that a lot of their snowmaking equipment is really old and for that reason it is less efficient than some systems at other resorts.

Tuxedo Ridge:  Everything there is antiquated, poorly maintained, and run down.  The proposed casino project will involve a complete rebrand of Tuxedo Ridge into Adventure Mountain.  They plan to install an aerial tram to the top of the mountain from the casino.  As of now, all the lifts infrastructure needs major upgrades.  Two of the lifts are "standing, but not operating".  One hasn't operated since 09-10 and the other hasn't operated since 10-11.  They don't have the money to get the parts needed to fix them.  Hopefully the casino will be built which will give them the money to replace everything that is needed on the mountain and expand trails.

"When I took a groomer ride this past season, the driver told me that a lot of their snowmaking equipment is really old and for that reason it is less efficient than some systems at other resorts."

But NOT less powerful!!! Hunter can pump out 40 TONS of machine made snow per minute. Granted the older pumps and compressors probably cost more per hour in electric costs to run than more modern versions. Someone said Hunters monsterous air compressors came out of old Navy ships.

Big D wrote

Hunter can pump out 40 TONS of machine made snow per minute.

Way?

"Overall snowmaking capacity equals 40 tons of snow per minute"

From Here:

http://www.huntermtn.com/huntermtn/mountain/snow-making.aspx

He told me that everything was powerful, but very old.  Hunter has some of the best capacity of any mountain in the east and it really showed back in the non winter of 11-12.  That year, Gore couldn't manage to open the ski bowl at all, but Hunter opened most of the trails that they opened in 12-13 and 13-14.  They had far better conditions too.  I just worry, and I'm sure management does too, that their old equipment will eventually have a catastrophic failure like their HSQ did before they replaced it.  Hunter gives snowmaking top priority, so I'm sure that the equipment will be upgraded when necessary.  BTW, I have been there when the system was running at full capacity, and you can hear the compressors while riding the E-Lift or C-Lift in Hunter One.  It is so cool to hear and see them in action.

Harvey wrote

Big D wrote

Hunter can pump out 40 TONS of machine made snow per minute.

Way?

That is amazing if you think about it.  80,000 lbs of snow per minute??  

Tux Ridge pics from last summer when I was passing by and took a look.

I originally left WF and Gore out of the original post.  I am adding them in now.

Whiteface:

They decided to modify the LWF chair and not fully replace it.  As far as other lift upgrades, I think that the Kids Kampus triple might get an upgrade at some point as they have moved all the learning programs over there and not just the kids programs.  The other lifts I do not see them upgrading, Face Lift isn't that old, although sometimes it could benefit from having 6-pack capacity.  There is this thing called money and I don't see ORDA spending a lot of it to upgrade a lift that isn't that old.  They fixed the Summit Lift motor, so that is not going to be upgraded to high speed anytime soon.

For trail upgrades, I am thinking that the third Lookout Mountain trail will be cut.  That section needs a trail that doesn't require as much snow as the Wilmington Trail to open.  It also would spread more crowds out to that lift.  WF already has a ton of snowmaking and I would just like to see them blow snow on every trail that they have the capability to do so.  I don't think that the trails without snowmaking need it added.

Gore:

For lift upgrades, the AE2 was done this summer.  As already known, the High Peaks Chair will be next to be replaced.  I personally hope that they don't increase capacity as it would destroy that area's feel.  In most cases, I am all for snowmaking, grooming, and increased lift capacity.  However, I think that the Dark Side should be minimally groomed when there is fresh snow.  I am in favor of adding grooming to Lower Steilhang, but I don't think that it should be groomed often.  I say that if grooming and ice closure are the choices, then groom it.  Otherwise, leave it ungroomed, especially after a storm.

For trail upgrades, like I mentioned Steilhang was widened to allow for grooming.  They also added new tower guns to Topridge.  The Pipeline Bridge at the Ski Bowl has also had snowmaking added.  I think that next, there will be a trail from Burnt Ridge to the Ski Bowl to connect the two better.  Snowmaking capacity will also be increased and snowmaking added to Moxham and 46er.  Maybe one of the glades on the other side of the lift will become a trail.  I also see more high efficiency tower guns added to reduce air consumption and increase capacity.

If I recall correctly Hunter is pretty high elevation even at the base and it's like well above gores base which is why they can blow so much snow

And Mountain Creek  is not in NY

Yes I know it isn't in NY, but it's pretty close.

Base elevations...

Windham 1500, Hunter is around 1600, Bell and Plattekill are above 2000.

Gore...it depends on how you measure it.

Hunter blows so much snow because the have hundreds of thousands of skier visits and they can afford it.  It's become their brand and those skiers expect it.

Is Connecticut like a New York suburb also?

That double that runs on the other side of gore, which I think you refer to as the "Darkside" is already too fast. Some of those Hippy/Baby booming bearded decked out in black free heeled  mofos barely have enough time to pack their one or two hitters as it is.

For their sake I just hope this all just conjecture / speculation.

Chris@GORE wrote

That double that runs on the other side of gore, which I think you refer to as the "Darkside" is already too fast. Some of those Hippy/Baby booming bearded decked out in black free heeled  mofos barely have enough time to pack their one or two hitters as it is.

 

If true, they are doing it wrong.

Chris@GORE wrote

That double that runs on the other side of gore, which I think you refer to as the "Darkside" is already too fast. Some of those Hippy/Baby booming bearded decked out in black free heeled  mofos barely have enough time to pack their one or two hitters as it is.

For their sake I just hope this all just conjecture / speculation.

excuse me that is profiling !

Coach has said a while back that Belleayre's lifts needed an upgrade.  I think that the only lift there that really needs an upgrade is the double-double at the bottom.  It surprises me that a bunch of eastern ski areas still run those old things.  The one at Belleayre is 3,800 feet long, so it is Belleayre's longest fixed grip.  Since it serves beginner areas, making it a high speed quad would be great.  It is long enough and with a high speed quad it loads slower.  If they got a high speed quad there and ran it at 800 fpm, they would have almost no accidents and stops, and the ride time would be under 5 minutes.  I don't think that any of their other lifts really need an upgrade, the Tomahawk Quad was installed in 1999, so it is a full year younger than most of Mountain Creek's lifts.  For an area that doesn't get a lot of traffic, 3,600 feet long isn't that bad for a fixed grip.  Killington has a detachable that is only 3,200 feet long, but it needed to be high speed, or it wouldn't take any pressure off the Skyeship Gondola next to it.  The Lift 7 triple isn't long enough to be high speed at only 2,800 feet.

snoloco wrote

Tuxedo Ridge:  Everything there is antiquated, poorly maintained, and run down.  The proposed casino project will involve a complete rebrand of Tuxedo Ridge into Adventure Mountain.  They plan to install an aerial tram to the top of the mountain from the casino.  As of now, all the lifts infrastructure needs major upgrades.  Two of the lifts are "standing, but not operating".  One hasn't operated since 09-10 and the other hasn't operated since 10-11.  They don't have the money to get the parts needed to fix them.  Hopefully the casino will be built which will give them the money to replace everything that is needed on the mountain and expand trails.

Yes, the casino will certainly make the lift problems at Tuxedo Ridge seem insignificant.... just look at Atlantic City!

THE ONLY THING A CASINO ON 87 WOULD DO IS MAKE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN NYC GO UP THE BRUCKNER TO NE TO SKI VERMONT EVERY TIME. THAT IS ALL.

Nope still not NY

I think Bell could greatly benefit from those fixed grip conveyor assisted loading thingies

Coach Z wrote

I think Bell could greatly benefit from those fixed grip conveyor assisted loading thingies

Are you thinking about something like this?  Helped a lot when they were put in for the two base lifts that beginners use all the time at Massanutten.  Conveyor loading was added to the Supreme lift at Alta a few years ago.