The Summit Chair at Whiteface

From Whiteface:

"...as of today we think we have a solution to the problem... we will know more later today. We have had the Dopplemayr crew here assisting.  

It is a fairly complicated issue which has taken some time to discern."

It is a fairly complicated issue which has taken some time to discern."

Space station is complicated, not a fixed grip chair lift.

I admit I know nothing about lift technology.

But I'd think that if the manufacturer is on the hill for a few days and the issue isn't resolved, there must be something to it.

Speculation......Old Lift, scarce parts, other similar parts near crapped out, time for a machinist, new lift? Just guessing.

I'm not close enough to what's going on at Whiteface to speculate on what's going on with their lifts, but they've had more than their share of difficulties.  This article may be of interest to readers here.  In addition to WF's difficulties there is some discussion of the Gore Interconnect.

you can only defer maitenance for so long before things like this pop up.  This many lift issues in a short period of time is not a coincidence its a trend.

ORDA/NYS seems to take too long on updates of existing lifts. Gore's original gondola probably went 5-10 years beyond its useful life. Right now the adirondack express HS3 is closing in on 30 years. How much longer will they run it before they replace it? This is the problem with state run capital intensive ventures. In an effort to control spending they spend more trying to maintain old and out of date equipment. Then when something fails they have to pay much more to fix the situation (Straightbrook double to double to quad in a 3 year period).

Adk Jeff wrote

I'm not close enough to what's going on at Whiteface to speculate on what's going on with their lifts, but they've had more than their share of difficulties.  This article may be of interest to readers here.  In addition to WF's difficulties there is some discussion of the Gore Interconnect.

I'm wondering about others take on John Warren's article. It links the opening of the Gore Interconnect / Ski Bowl with the difficult that Whiteface has had with the summit chair. While the grouping of the two issues may be coincidence, John labels the closing of the interconnect last Sunday as a "snafu (that) was the latest in a string of problems that have plagued the area's state-run ski areas."

He also call Sunday's closure of Pipeline a "stutter start (that) was one of a series of travails that have beset both state-run Adirondack ski areas."

I think of a snafu as a human mistake, not an act of god - a lack of natural snow on a natural snow trail.

Look I know I'm a homer, so maybe it's hard for me to be objective. But in my opinion the article presents an overly negative view of the progress of this season.  Anybody agree or disagree?  Whether or not you believe in the idea of the Interconnect... what do you think of the angle taken by the article?

Harvey44 wrote

 Look I know I'm a homer, so maybe it's hard for me to be objective. But in my opinion the article presents an overly negative view of the progress of this season.  Anybody agree or disagree?  Whether or not you believe in the idea of the Interconnect... what do you think of the angle taken by the article?

I agree with you, Homer.

Harvey44 wrote

I'm wondering about others take on John Warren's article. It links the opening of the Gore Interconnect / Ski Bowl with the difficult that Whiteface has had with the summit chair. Look I know I'm a homer, so maybe it's hard for me to be objective. But in my opinion the article presents an overly negative view of the progress of this season.  Anybody agree or disagree?  Whether or not you believe in the idea of the Interconnect... what do you think of the angle taken by the article?

Because some people have to complain about everything. Arm chair quarterbacks who don’t know or understand what different situations call for.

I don’t know a lot about cars, but I always bring mine in for the mileage service that is called for in the manual. I’m sure this proactive maintenance has saved me from a lot of car problems. That said, sometimes something unforeseen happens and I have to have the problem repaired. I can bitch and complain about it and point fingers at the manufacture and/or mechanic or I can learn what caused the problem, have it fixed, and learn from the experience so I don’t let the exact same thing happen again, then move on.

There is often more to the story, than the average Joe knows.

On Sunday at Gore, there were lift delays from the ice. Mike Pratt was walking the Gondi line and giving skiers the info.  It did help reduce the frustration.

One thing I didn't know - the electrical system has to be shut down in a thunder storm. And the process of rebooting is time consuming, as it has to be done in sequence.

Sorry about the thread drift.

All is well now as the Summit Chair has been weight tested and is running.

Harvey44 wrote

He also call Sunday's closure of Pipeline a "stutter start (that) was one of a series of travails that have beset both state-run Adirondack ski areas."

I think of a snafu as a human mistake, not an act of god - a lack of natural snow on a natural snow trail.

Look I know I'm a homer, so maybe it's hard for me to be objective. But in my opinion the article presents an overly negative view of the progress of this season.  Anybody agree or disagree?  Whether or not you believe in the idea of the Interconnect... what do you think of the angle taken by the article?

Given the amount of debate and criticism that has occurred right here in this Forum regarding the Gore interconnect project, I think the perspective expressed in the article is valid.  Though Warren doesn't delve into the details that critics here have (after all, Adirondack Almanack isn't for a ski-specific audience), the late opening and subsequent closure of the interconnect highlight the key challenges that Gore faces:  inadequate snowmaking capacity, closure of terrain pods, poor access/flow between certain terrain pods.  Those issues threaten the ultimate success of the interconnect project:  if the terrain can't be covered with snow, if the lifts aren't run, or if skiers are simply unwilling to plod over there, then it would be hard to justify the expense of the project.