Whiteface Summit lift motor is kaput

I heard that the motor on lift 6 died during some work over the summer.  A new motor is 40 grand and has to be shipped over from Europe by boat.  No word on the Eta.

Hopefully the new motor can run the lift faster.  It one of the longest fixed grips I have ridden, being almost 4900 feet long.  It takes over 10 minutes to ride it.  The only ones that I have ridden that are longer are the F-lift at Windham which is 5010 feet long, and the Summit Local at Mount Snow which is 7200 feet long.  If I was running the show I would replace Facelift with a 6-pack that ran 1100 fpm and use Facelift to replace the summit chair and upgrade its speed to 1100 fpm as well.  Of course it would cost more, but how cool would it be to get base to summit in just under 12 minutes vs. the 17 minutes that we have now.  

Coach, are these motors built to order or does the manufacturer have them hanging around in a warehouse?  If they need to built to order that could add significantly to ship time.

Man that stinks

Better now than in January

A HSQ to the summit would not work given the weather and potential for ice build up.  So what that its a long ride its that long because that lift alone is the vert of many VT ski areas.  It services close to 2000 vert of steeps with almost no run out.  Enjoy the view on the way up and let your legs recover.

A 6 pack where the face lift is would have serious wind issues as well and is really not needed there.  That lift only has a long line when it's windy when the Gondi is down.

I doubt there are $ 40k motors sitting around waiting for some to order them.

As Monty Python said... "I'm not dead yet!"

It may be repairable.

Summit lift was struck by lightning.  

Agree w Coach Z, High Speed Det lift would really not be feasible for the summit of WF. Hopefully a new motor for the existing fixed grip will solve the reliability problem that has plauged this lift for years. Additionally, by putting a HSD lift on the summit the terrain would be skied off 5 times as fast. It's kind of nice on a rare Pow day to do laps and have the surface refreshed by the time you get back to the top. Slow lifts are not always a bad thing.

snoloco wrote

Hopefully the new motor can run the lift faster.  It one of the longest fixed grips I have ridden, being almost 4900 feet long.  It takes over 10 minutes to ride it.  The only ones that I have ridden that are longer are the F-lift at Windham which is 5010 feet long, and the Summit Local at Mount Snow which is 7200 feet long.  If I was running the show I would replace Facelift with a 6-pack that ran 1100 fpm and use Facelift to replace the summit chair and upgrade its speed to 1100 fpm as well.  Of course it would cost more, but how cool would it be to get base to summit in just under 12 minutes vs. the 17 minutes that we have now.

The internet:  Where really dumb ideas get dressed up as serious proposals and then are discussed ad nauseum.

Noah John wrote

snoloco wrote

Hopefully the new motor can run the lift faster.  It one of the longest fixed grips I have ridden, being almost 4900 feet long.  It takes over 10 minutes to ride it.  The only ones that I have ridden that are longer are the F-lift at Windham which is 5010 feet long, and the Summit Local at Mount Snow which is 7200 feet long.  If I was running the show I would replace Facelift with a 6-pack that ran 1100 fpm and use Facelift to replace the summit chair and upgrade its speed to 1100 fpm as well.  Of course it would cost more, but how cool would it be to get base to summit in just under 12 minutes vs. the 17 minutes that we have now.

The internet:  Where really dumb ideas get dressed up as serious proposals and then are discussed ad nauseum.

Give the kid a break. It just a case of youthful exuberance.

Noah John wrote

The internet:  Where really dumb ideas get dressed up as serious proposals and then are discussed ad nauseum.

Does someone piss in your coffee everyday or is this just a menopause thing?

Coach Z wrote

I doubt there are $ 40k motors sitting around waiting for some to order them.

I didn't think so... thinkin' about it from a logistics point of view as I used to ship goods from Europe.  Turnaround time to build a new motor, and perhaps 4-6 weeks to ship it.  Anyone care to guesstimate an arrival time at Whiteface?  

Its best that it happened now.  There have been a lot of issues with that lift the past few winters.  If its ordered now, and built by September 30, it can be installed in mid november.
My wife is always worried getting on that lift because of the various delays and breakdowns.

As for speed, there is no place for people to go when they get off the lift.  As it is, tourists cant seem to make the left turn and tumble over each other at the top on the way to the follies.

Didn't know it was a kid.  Sorry kid.  Pretty dumb idea though.

I get spoiled by Mountain Creek which has 3 high speed lifts serving almost every trail (they need it with the Disney style crowd that they get).  A summit lift that was a detachable would definitely have wind issues.  A better solution to the ride time issue would be a conveyor loading system like they have at Sugarloaf (will never happen).  However if it did, the speed could be increased from 450fpm to 550fpm reducing the ride time to about 8.5 minutes.  A six pack Facelift would actually be better in the wind as long as it had regular non bubble chairs.  The extra weight keeps the chairs from swinging.  I've never seen the Hunter 6-pack go on wind-hold even with 60mph gusts (it was running slower however).  The greater lift capacity would also help when the Gondola goes down for wind.  Probably won't happen for many many years, so don't start any rumors.

snoloco wrote

I get spoiled by Mountain Creek which has 3 high speed lifts serving almost every trail (they need it with the Disney style crowd that they get).  A summit lift that was a detachable would definitely have wind issues.  A better solution to the ride time issue would be a conveyor loading system like they have at Sugarloaf (will never happen).  However if it did, the speed could be increased from 450fpm to 550fpm reducing the ride time to about 8.5 minutes.  A six pack Facelift would actually be better in the wind as long as it had regular non bubble chairs.  The extra weight keeps the chairs from swinging.  I've never seen the Hunter 6-pack go on wind-hold even with 60mph gusts (it was running slower however).  The greater lift capacity would also help when the Gondola goes down for wind.  Probably won't happen for many many years, so don't start any rumors.

6 packs are good in cross winds but the problem with the face lift is very strong head winds.  Sorry kid you just don't know Whiteface all that well but what you lack in knowledge you make up for in enthusiasm.

I have only skied Whiteface once but I didn't find the summit quad to be that slow. It seemed to move along at a respectable clip for a FGQ. I've ridden much slower fixed grip quads. It is the right lift for that location, IMO.

snoloco wrote

 Probably won't happen for many many years, so don't start any rumors.

 Don't worry - your secret's safe.

Noah John wrote

snoloco wrote

 Probably won't happen for many many years, so don't start any rumors.

 Don't worry - your secret's safe.

snoloco wrote

I get spoiled by Mountain Creek

...said no one ever.