Sunshine Village
Management at Sunshine Village, Alberta, spent an estimated $17 million CDN (slightly more than $11 million US) this summer to replace its circa 1978 Von Roll gondola that transported skiers and riders from the resort parking lot to its main base area. The new access gondola is a Poma eight-seater, which follows the original alignment for about 75 percent of the 3.2 miles length. The first leg of the journey will be along a new alignment to the first of two turning stations in the line. The gondola is being replaced because parts are increasingly difficult to find and because managers have always felt the Von Roll six-seater’s capacity was too small to handle the traffic especially as the sole access to the resort. The replacement increases capacity from 1,500 pph to 2,800 pph using 165 new CWA Omega III cabins. With a vertical gain of 1,800 feet, the gondola has a VTFH of 5,040. Management expects the gondola to be running at its design capacity by mid December.
Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe
The owners of Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, Nev., spent an estimated $2 million in snowmaking improvements this past summer, supplementing improvements made to the system last year. This summer’s work included a new pump station to supply the system with the necessary water pressure to bring snowmaking to the summit of Slide Mountain. The expansion, which means management can now cover a third of the mountain in machine-made snow, includes 8,000 feet of new pipe, 54 HTM hydrants, and two Flowtronics 200 hp and two Torrent Engineering 150 hp pumps to increase pumping capacity to 12,000 GPM. The resort expects to get a jump on the season and offer experienced skiers advanced terrain in November. Mt. Rose has also added an 80-foot Wonder Carpet adjacent to the Rosebuds Children’s Ski And Snowboard Center for beginner skiers and riders. Other improvements, planned for later in the fall, include expanding parking at the main base area by 450 spaces for a total of about 1,500.
Angel Fire
Angel Fire Resort, N.M., hired terrain-park consultant and designer Chris Gunnarson of Snow Park Technologies and snowboard director at Summit Mountain Resort, Calif., to build a new 500-foot-long halfpipe. Crews used heavy equipment to move an estimated 20,000 yards of dirt to create the foundation for a 100-foot-wide, 12-foot halfpipe. Crews also added a variety of rail slides to one of two existing terrain parks at the resort and have designated another area for a third park to be opened this season. Management purchased a Bombardier HPG 12 and three new BR2000 groomers to service the enhanced parks and crews realigned snowmaking pipe to run along the new halfpipe foundation and keep it covered in snow. Additional work included the clearing of an eight-acre site to make way for the construction of a 130-million-gallon snowmaking pond next summer and the removal of a circa-1970 Riblet double to improve the unloading area of the Southwest Flyer, a high-speed quad that the ski area installed three years ago.
Ragged Mountain
Construction activity this summer at Ragged Mountain, N.H., involved real estate expansion, snowmaking improvements, new trails and a $2.1 million detachable six-pack. The new Poma lift, which replaces a Hall-Borvig double that has been in service at Ragged since 1987, climbs 1,100 feet over a line length of 4,800 feet and increases capacity from 1,200 pph to 2,900 pph for a VTFH of 3,190. While the lift was being installed, another crew added 20,000 feet of snowmaking pipe for additional coverage of terrain opened last season. In addition to the pipe, 60 HKD tower guns and two new Ingersoll-Rand vertical turbine pumps, each capable of putting out 600 GPM, were installed. Five new advanced trails, to be accessed by the new six-pack, were cut over the summer. Contractors are currently building 54 condominiums to provide winter guests with ski-in/ski-out convenience and summer guests the proximity to Ragged’s 18-hole golf course.
Stratton Mountain
This summer, building crews and lift technicians installed two new Garaventa CTEC six-passenger chairlifts at Stratton Mountain, Vt., and moved two existing Poma quads to different locations on the mountain. One of the six-packs replaces a Poma quad originally built in 1986 to serve the Sun Bowl area. The new lift starts at the resort base and climbs 1,110 vertical feet to the Sun Bowl summit. It will run at a speed of 1,050 feet per minute and carry 94 chairs for a capacity of 3,600 pph over a distance of 4,657 feet with a VTFH of 3,996. The quad it replaced was moved to serve beginner terrain in the same area. Once passengers debark the first six-pack, they will be able to board the second, which rises 785 vertical feet to the North Face summit. It will run at the same speed and capacity as the first, using 71 chairs to carry passengers over a distance of 3,425 feet. The VTFH of the second chair is 2,826. The combined ride time is just shy of eight minutes. The fourth lift project moved a 1985 Poma quad to the base area to provide access to the load terminal of the Ursa Express, another summit lift, that is 578 vertical feet above the base. Workers also added 11,115 feet of pipe and 35 new HKD tower guns to provide additional snowmaking coverage to beginner terrain.
Arapahoe Basin
Summer work details at Arapahoe Basin, Colo., replaced a 1974 Heron Poma double chair with a fixed-grip, Poma triple. The new $1.3 million lift extends the length of the original by moving the top terminal approximately 350 feet to the west. The bottom terminal location remains the same. The realignment took place because it was impossible to replace the lift and avoid a wetland area. (The old lift had three towers in the wetlands and those towers have been removed.) The adjusted top terminal also makes it possible for guests to access the entire upper mountain. During low-volume periods, the ski area will save energy and labor costs by opening just the new triple, which covers 4,037 feet and climbs 1,015 vertical feet. Using 164 chairs, the triple will increase capacity from 866 pph to a design and operating capacity of 1,800 pph for a VTFH of 1,827.
Hunt Hollow
Summer work crews at Hunt Hollow Ski Area, N.Y., a private ski club, spent the off season on the first phase of a two-year project to double snowmaking capacity at the skier-owned 80-acre area. Construction workers moved 15,000 yards of dirt to expand the capacity of the area’s snowmaking pond from 750,000 gallons to four million. They also built a new pump house for four new pumps, one of which has been installed: It’s a 400-hp Floway vertical-turbine pump operated with a variable-frequency drive supplied by Ratnik Industries. The first pump replaces three split-case horizontal pumps and increases total pump capacity from 600 to 900 GPM. Hilltop pressure improves from 150 psi to 250 psi. Workers also installed 1,300 feet of 12-inch pipe and 3,500 feet of 10-inch. Next summer the plan is to install a 300-hp Floway pump and another 6,500 feet of pipe as well as 35 HKD tower guns to two trails.
