Major summer improvements, especially new lifts, are happening at resorts across the country. WINDHAM, NY Windham is installing a new high-speed Doppelmayr six-pack and RFID access system, representing a $6.5 million investment for the 2018-19 season. The new six-pack will run from the base area to the summit, replacing the current Whistler Triple, better known as “F Lift,” installed in 1983. Removal of “F Lift” began in April, and installation of the new lift began in May. The old F Lift has been purchased by Greek Peak, N.Y. The six-pack will have a slope length of 5,105 feet, 1,300 feet of vertical, and an uphill capacity of 3,000 people per hour. The new lift will run parallel to the 25-year-old “A Lift” detachable quad, and take its place as the main base-to-summit workhorse to get people out of the base area. The six-pack increases capacity from A Lift’s 2,400 people per hour, and cuts the seven minute ride time down to 5.5 minutes. “A Lift” will serve as a backup this year and eventually be relocated elsewhere at Windham. With the addition of Axess RFID ticketing and gates for 2018-19 season, guests will enjoy another luxury: They will no longer have to present their lift ticket or season pass to a lift attendant prior to loading all base area lifts. In other work this summer, the Windham Mountain Bike Park expanded its trail system, adding new terrain from the summit. WINTER PARK, CO New owner Alterra is replacing the Zephyr Express quad at the Village base with the new 10-passenger Leitner Poma Zephyr Gondola, and has also begun to upgrade the resort’s snowmaking system, as part of a $28 million investment this year. The $16 million Zephyr Gondola is the first new lift at Winter Park since 2007. It will expand uphill capacity from the quad’s 2,300 guests per hour to 3,600, decreasing wait times by 15 minutes during peak season, and provide faster service out of the Village base area. The gondola will be 5,622 feet long with a 1,604-foot vertical, and has 75 carriers. It travels 1,100 fpm, powered by an energy efficient Leitner Direct Drive system, one of the first in North America. Ride time is just over five minutes. By August, the old lift had been removed and the area was pouring concrete for the terminals and towers. The latter were scheduled to fly in September, with the lift operational by mid-December. The $4 million upgrade to Winter Park’s 42-year-old snowmaking system includes 35,000 feet of new underground pipe, new fan guns, and new compressors that raise pumping capacity significantly. At press time the work was 85 percent complete, and scheduled to be completed by the end of August. “We had good luck with the weather, it’s been warm and dry, and that’s helped,” says communications director Steve Hurlbert. PARK CITY, UT A new family skiing zone at Canyons base and new dining options at Park City highlight Vail Resorts’ continuing investments here. In the Canyons area, VR is regrading the terrain above the mid-mountain Red Pine Lodge and creating High Meadow Park. With superb learning terrain, expanded snowmaking, two new “adventure” trails through the trees, and a Candy Cabin warming hut mid-run, this new family and beginner area has an entirely new look and feel. It will be served by a new Doppelmayr express quad that replaces the fixed-grip High Meadow chair, increasing uphill capacity by 50 percent and shortening overall ride time by 70 percent. VR is making two significant investments in the dining experience at Park City. It is nearly doubling the size of Cloud Dine, creating a modern mountain dining experience with more windows overlooking the resort and 200 additional seats. The popular restaurant can now accommodate nearly 500 people. Renovations and upgrades to the Mid-Mountain Lodge will bring fine-dining quality to this fast-casual, on-mountain restaurant. The interior redesign will reflect Park City’s mining heritage; the site originally was a boarding house for miners. It will host one of the area’s two full-service on-mountain bars. With a spruced-up deck and panoramic views, this is a prime location for weddings and conferences year-round. LOVELAND, CO The centerpiece of $5 million in development this summer is a new high-speed Leitner Poma quad chair that provides main access from the base area, and serves terrain that is among the first to open each fall. The new high-speed quad, the area’s first, replaces Lift 1, a 36-year-old fixed-grip Lift Engineering (Yan) triple that was Loveland’s workhorse chair from the base area. Called Chet’s Dream, after longtime owner Chet Upham, who died in 2008, the new detachable is 3,000 feet long with a 991-foot vertical. Initial capacity is 1,800 per hour, with the option to increase the number of chairs from 42 to 56 and raise capacity to 2,400 per hour. Travel time is just under three minutes, down from the old lift’s eight minutes. The bottom drive, bottom tension setup has a 500 hp AC motor. “We were very early in our commitments to Leitner Poma to insure we got at the head of the construction line, given this is the lift that has to run on day one,” says marketing director John Sellers. “We started to remove the old lift with snow still on the ground.” The load test is scheduled for late September, with turnover in early October just in time for a planned mid-October opening (weather permitting, of course). “We are confident that we will hit those dates!” Sellers says. SUGAR BOWL, CA Sugar Bowl kicked off an $8 million snowmaking project with the $3 million Phase I this summer. This replaces older equipment with new, low-energy snow guns, and new pumps that boost water-pumping capacity by 50 percent. The new snow guns consist of a mix of fixed and mobile HKD Vipers and both short and tall sticks, plus 17 tower-mounted fans. The latter will serve large open areas where their “long throw range” can be put to maximum use. Sugar Bowl is also adding a new 3,000-foot snowmaking spur along Union Street with 10 fixed, low-energy stick guns to produce critical early-season snow and ensure top-to-bottom terrain can be opened as soon as temperatures drop. The combination of the new snow guns and greater pumping capacity will allow Sugar Bowl to now make “the same amount of snow in one hour of cold temperatures that used to take three hours with the old system,” says marketing director Jon Slaughter. The new guns were scheduled to be deployed on the mountain in mid-September. Phases II and III will include the addition of more low-energy guns, the transition to all-electric air compressors, and—pending regulatory approvals—expansion of the system to cover terrain on Mt. Disney.
