A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski resort

Communicate with fellow Zoners

Moderators: SkiDork, spanky, Bubba

hillbangin
Wanted Poster
Posts: 3016
Joined: Feb 7th, '12, 20:37

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by hillbangin »

rogman wrote:
vlt.JPG
The yellow represents where Vermont Land Trust owns. I'm not sure this rendering is surveyer quality, however. Pretty safe bet that hell will freeze over before they allow Killington to cut a trail on their land. I believe Juggernaut, et al, are grandfathered in.

Their interactive map is here: http://www.vlt.org/land-weve-conserved/ ... d-land-map
Lotsa room to cut one in right under Blue heaven skiers right of the Jug. That would be some pretty good blue terrain mid season. I'd hate to see alot of traffic over there though.
Highway Star
Level 10K poster
Posts: 12009
Joined: Feb 7th, '05, 16:16

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Highway Star »

The large majority of land that Solitude or Juggernaut are on, south of South Ridge, is Vermont land trust land. I vaguely recall seeing signs up there saying to stay on the trails or to stay off them in the summer. Well, the border to that land is about 600ft out perpendicular from the edge of the trail at Upper Pipe Dream, and about 300 ft out at the bottom of Lower Pipe Dream. The border is just before the end of the first dogleg on Solitude, and a little ways out from the bottom of Jug Handle. SEE THE MAP HERE:

https://anrweb.vt.gov/PubDocs/ANR/Plann ... 20Plan.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, you could make some sort of new trail in there, but it's not going to be anything special, and it's going to be right on top of the Jug. I guess you could make some sort of moderate width trail down the fall line, like Jug, but 80% of it would be flat. They need to be real careful of taking out too many trees in that area because of wind issues - if they were to widen jug and cut a wide trail next to it you may end up killing the border trees between them in a few years. Ditto for glading. In all likelihood they'll widen the Jug by some minor amount, like 30ft, and do nothing else. There's no good skiing in there right now, it's all dense pine and pretty flat - it would be way to much of a pain to glade it vs. the payoff, you would literally have to take out half the pines, then you'd have a glade that's super flat for 80% of it, with one slight pitch around Jug Handle, and the trees might die in a few years, just like the original pipe dream glade.
"I'M YELLING BECAUSE YOU DID SOMETHING COOL!" - Humpty Dumpty

"Kzone should bill you for the bandwidth you waste writing novels to try and prove a point, but end up just looking like a deranged narcissistic fool." - Deadheadskier at madhatter

"The key is to not be lame, and know it, and not give a rat's @$$ what anybody thinks......that's real cool." - Highway Star http://goo.gl/xJxo34" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"I am one of the coolest people on the internet..." - Highway Star

"I have a tiny penis...." - C-Rex

XtremeJibber2001 - THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA HAS YOU COMPLETELY HYPNOTIZED. PLEASE WAKE UP AND LEARN HOW TO FILTER REALITY FROM BS NARRATIVES.

"Your life is only interesting when you capture the best, fakest, most curated split second version." - Team Robot regarding Instagram posters
skixc2
Black Carver
Posts: 496
Joined: Nov 13th, '14, 09:34
Location: Enfield Ctr, NH

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by skixc2 »

ski wrote:Great resource here . . . 1904 survey of Parkers Gore

https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/460099/A204149.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very Cool!
Raise 'Em Jay
skixc2
Black Carver
Posts: 496
Joined: Nov 13th, '14, 09:34
Location: Enfield Ctr, NH

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by skixc2 »

Mister Moose wrote:I see room between VLT and Jug, and between Pipe Dream and Roundabout.
Don't go wrecking roundabout glade man, that's awesome!
Raise 'Em Jay
Big Bob
Postinator
Posts: 6568
Joined: Feb 23rd, '06, 17:17
Location: Where the host of Dancing with the stars lives.

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Big Bob »

skixc2 wrote:
ski wrote:Great resource here . . . 1904 survey of Parkers Gore

https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/460099/A204149.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very Cool!
Looks like there used to be a road to the summit from the west going to the Killington Mountain house.
2 hours and 10-minute drive to K
2023/2024 Ski Days: 30 days for the season
Killington: 12/14, 1/4, 1/9, 1/11, 1/17, 1/23, 1/31, 2/5, 2/20, 2/26, 3/4, 3/20, 3/25
Loon: 11/29, 12/8, 12/21, 1/8, 1/19, 1/22,1/30, 2/7, 2/15, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22
Sunday River: 3/12
Sugarloaf: 3/13, 3/14
Cannon:1/15, 2/22
User avatar
ski
Wanted Poster
Posts: 3306
Joined: Nov 13th, '08, 17:30
Location: In front of you on a POWDER DAY ! . . .

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by ski »

Big Bob wrote:
Looks like there used to be a road to the summit from the west going to the Killington Mountain house.
Old postcard of the road . . . view is from somewhere near Wheelerville Rd

Image
"Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell"
User avatar
ski
Wanted Poster
Posts: 3306
Joined: Nov 13th, '08, 17:30
Location: In front of you on a POWDER DAY ! . . .

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by ski »

Killington Mountain House
Image
"Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell"
Big Bob
Postinator
Posts: 6568
Joined: Feb 23rd, '06, 17:17
Location: Where the host of Dancing with the stars lives.

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Big Bob »

ski wrote:
Big Bob wrote:
Looks like there used to be a road to the summit from the west going to the Killington Mountain house.
Old postcard of the road . . . view is from somewhere near Wheelerville Rd

Image

I have seen both of these photos in the past.
I always thought this was taken along where the Access Road is, but I stand corrected!
2 hours and 10-minute drive to K
2023/2024 Ski Days: 30 days for the season
Killington: 12/14, 1/4, 1/9, 1/11, 1/17, 1/23, 1/31, 2/5, 2/20, 2/26, 3/4, 3/20, 3/25
Loon: 11/29, 12/8, 12/21, 1/8, 1/19, 1/22,1/30, 2/7, 2/15, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22
Sunday River: 3/12
Sugarloaf: 3/13, 3/14
Cannon:1/15, 2/22
User avatar
RENO
Whipping Post
Posts: 7914
Joined: Nov 5th, '04, 08:14
Location: Ceti Alpha V

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by RENO »

Big Bob wrote:
ski wrote:
Big Bob wrote:
Looks like there used to be a road to the summit from the west going to the Killington Mountain house.
Old postcard of the road . . . view is from somewhere near Wheelerville Rd

Image

I have seen both of these photos in the past.
I always thought this was taken along where the Access Road is, but I stand corrected!
There's always many on Ebay along with other cool cards...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... d&_sacat=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sgt Eddy Brewers
Slalom Racer
Posts: 1145
Joined: Aug 24th, '11, 14:57

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Sgt Eddy Brewers »

rogman wrote:
vlt.JPG
The yellow represents where Vermont Land Trust owns. I'm not sure this rendering is surveyer quality, however. Pretty safe bet that hell will freeze over before they allow Killington to cut a trail on their land. I believe Juggernaut, et al, are grandfathered in.

Their interactive map is here: http://www.vlt.org/land-weve-conserved/ ... d-land-map
Yeah good call on that....knew the situation but didn't have the data...thanks.

Too bad about the situation...good woods out there if more trimming were allowed.
Ski the edges!
User avatar
Mister Moose
Level 10K poster
Posts: 11596
Joined: Jan 4th, '05, 18:23
Location: Waiting for the next one

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Mister Moose »

Lake Compounce in Connecticut just announced they are closing their Skyride, a Dopplemeyer FG quad that services about 700 feet of vertical, according to someone who claims to have checked a topo. That's just under the old SRT vertical, and with increased chair spacing you could use the old motor.

If Killington wants a cheap lift (assuming its in decent shape) that won't run more than 20-30 days a year, this might be an opportunity.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/loca ... FB_CTBrand" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.snowjournal.com/discussion/ ... e-sky-ride" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Image
da Pimp
Double Diamond Skidder
Posts: 914
Joined: Jan 4th, '05, 12:06
Location: Southern Ct

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by da Pimp »

Sounds like a good approach. I bet there is a lot of equipment out there on the used market. However, the POWDR pockets are deep enough to do this right or close to right. Put in something new that will offer a good lifetime of service, cut another trail and maybe one or two glades sections on SR, and that effort plus the Bear project will be perceived as adequate to keep the public interested in Killington and perhaps be more competitive until the village debacle gets going. Then the Snowdon quad problem gets taken care of as part of that overall strategy. Not saying that I like that, but it seems to be where this is all heading.

Of course I feel that the Snowdon Quad should go to SR now, and put in a new HSQ at Snowdon at the existing footprint now. Should have been done years ago and POWDR would have been reaping the benefits. The problem with that is that POWDR will want a lift coming up and out of the village, and the Snowdon quad seems to be the target for extending lower into a village on/off. Maybe something like the Collins chair at Alta, which is a HSQ with a midstation. The bottom of the chair would load HSQ style in the new village, and that would be low volume even during holidays. Then the midstation would be at the current bottom now. Such a midstation would be the functional bottom for parts of the season when there will be insufficient snow or insufficient demand to run the village bottom stop.
User avatar
ski
Wanted Poster
Posts: 3306
Joined: Nov 13th, '08, 17:30
Location: In front of you on a POWDER DAY ! . . .

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by ski »

There's a reason that the trail is called Pipe Dream . . . :roll:
"Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell"
hillbangin
Wanted Poster
Posts: 3016
Joined: Feb 7th, '12, 20:37

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by hillbangin »

I'm planning on making sure I take advantage of the last year without a lift over there.

Once they put the lift back in - new snow is only going to last a day - and the rocks will be exposed by noon. ( see the fiddle )

It's been nice not to worry about coverage over there.
User avatar
Mister Moose
Level 10K poster
Posts: 11596
Joined: Jan 4th, '05, 18:23
Location: Waiting for the next one

Re: A New South Ridge Lift and the Rebirth of a great ski re

Post by Mister Moose »

The Village is causing decision paralysis on many things: Paving the access road, SRT replacement, lodge renovations, etc. By default, the sure thing gets built in the meantime. More Bear condos. As the years go by the effect of this paralysis grows. The best Village plan needs to be more incremental. Even though "Phase 1" is a fraction of the projected total, it is too big to build at once in this market. There seems to be a lack of developers waiting at the doorstep. Note that even the Bear project is getting phased, with 6 lower buildings of condo units first (and even those will get built in sequence) and then 18 duplex condos along Space walk. Killington has announced Ottauquechee Realty Advisors LLC as the partner for the Bear project. There are no permits yet for Bear, but for some reason, with act 250 permit now in hand, the timing and builder for The Village has yet to be announced.

A used lift makes more sense for a lift that runs 20-30 days a year. Amortizing a new lift for that few days is a financial nightmare. On the other hand a flagship resort buying a used lift looks cheesy. Killington will likely build a new lift, but it might get timed after enough of the condos at Bear sell. Pre construction offers should hit the market by Christmas. Maybe by the World Cup.
Image
Post Reply