Powerline Explosion On North Ridge

[breckkidd]

That was pretty nuts, anyone else enjoy the hike down?

[Mister Moose]

All Lifts Are Closed For The Day
Saturday, Oct 27, due to a power outage.

What exploded, a transformer?

[SnoBrdr]

All Lifts Are Closed For The Day
Saturday, Oct 27, due to a power outage.

What exploded, a transformer?

K closed all lifts for the day.

[breckkidd]

All Lifts Are Closed For The Day
Saturday, Oct 27, due to a power outage.

What exploded, a transformer?

Yup, transformer about 100 feet from the base terminal, it was a sight to see

[skiadikt]

so people had to walk/ski down? no backup diesel power? with the new snow, i'm sure some of the kzone "criminals" had already been lapping ttb ...

[breckkidd]

so people had to walk/ski down? no backup diesel power? with the new snow, i'm sure some of the kzone "criminals" had already been lapping ttb ...

Didn’t wait around long enough to see if they could get the lift going again, most of us just skied/hiked down

[tyrolean_skier]

so people had to walk/ski down? no backup diesel power? with the new snow, i'm sure some of the kzone "criminals" had already been lapping ttb ...

I was at the peak when the power went out along with Mr. & Mrs.G, Spyderman and Shortski. They ran the gondola on auxiliary power to get us down. Definitely was planning to ski down to the bottom if the gondola was no longer running. However, I probably would have ruined my skis doing that.

[Stormchaser]

Fuse blew when the wind blew lines together and they arced. They were unloading the lift for this reason just before the explosion. So the chair was empty. Lines down on the ground in two spots. Telephone pole on fire. Diesel was up and running in 15 min. Took 45 min to get back down to car via stairs and download. K1 on diesel too. Looked ugly. May not be fixed for tomorrow.

[Mister Moose]

Telephone pole on fire... Looked ugly. May not be fixed for tomorrow.

Ya think? That pole isn't getting used again... There's been higher winds than this and it didn't happen... more to this story.

[madhatter]

no one took a picture?

[breckkidd]

Fuse blew when the wind blew lines together and they arced. They were unloading the lift for this reason just before the explosion. So the chair was empty. Lines down on the ground in two spots. Telephone pole on fire. Diesel was up and running in 15 min. Took 45 min to get back down to car via stairs and download. K1 on diesel too. Looked ugly. May not be fixed for tomorrow.

I was out of there before the pole caught, assuming the pole is toast?

[Powderputz]

Gee, did anyone get a video? That'd have proven interesting to watch....

[Stormchaser]

Happened when I was in line, but couldn’t see much through the trees besides the big blue light show that lasted half a second. The hot wires, glowing red, were starting a small fire at the top of the pole, but I noticed as I rode by on the chair and didn’t get my phone out in time to snap a pic.

[skiadikt]

so people had to walk/ski down? no backup diesel power? with the new snow, i'm sure some of the kzone "criminals" had already been lapping ttb ...

I was at the peak when the power went out along with Mr. & Mrs.G, Spyderman and Shortski. They ran the gondola on auxiliary power to get us down. Definitely was planning to ski down to the bottom if the gondola was no longer running. However, I probably would have ruined my skis doing that.

that's never stopped you in the past

[da Pimp]

No transformer issue, just broken cables that fell between two poles. Right where a cable was connected to the pole there was some sparking and a tiny bit of flames, not on the pole but the end of the broken cable. Don't think anything else was involved based on what I saw right over my head and what I heard from someone qualified.

It all depends on when the power company can get the right skillset up the poles to restring the cables. In the crappy weather, no less.

I waited a total of 30 minutes from the start of the event, rode back up the triple on diesel power, back down the K1 on normal speed since it runs normal on diesel. Windy on the hill but the K1 and triple were not rocking very much.

On a street - could be fixed easily and quickly. On a mountain in the snow & wind - safety is a huge factor and you can't bring up a cherry picker to access the poles since they are on a hillside and too far from the flats.

The only good news is that there is a fair amount of time to get it done by 8 or 9am. Stay tuned to Killington, if it is possible they will do it.

Meanwhile - they skiing was great, got better by the hour, no crowds, got in 21 runs by 1:15. Nice lines on the side.