Midweek on the South Ridge

[newpylong1]

Yes my point was "way more" is not really true and is it worth running that lift 7 days so a handful of people can shave off 4 minutes off a lap? I would put my staff at South Ridge if there is snow there..But I digress we're .

[Captain Hafski]

My $0.02 on this.

For me, the Canyon Quad is the least important of the three. I've posted several times that having a set midweek schedule for it [e.g., M-W-F] is ridiculous. Decision to run it or not should be based on open trails down to it [don't need to run it if only LEF is open; can get most of that off the bubble] AND the weather. I've seen so many very cold days with that lift running and no one on it. And then the next day is beautiful and the chair sits idle.

I can't see them not running NR quad everyday. It can't be replaced by the Canyon quad as there are lots of "NR" peeps that can't, or don't want to get down LEF etc.

Agree it is such an improvement when SR quad is running. Would like to see that lift running everyday once the mountain gets wide open.

So, If I were King:

North Ridge: 7 days/week as long as terrain in NR open to ski.

Canyon Quad: Fri, Sat and Sun once any terrain is open down to it. Other midweek days once more terrain [in addition to LEF] is open down to it AND decent weather, pow day, etc.

South Ridge: Fri, Sat and Sun once any terrain down to it is open [to access the other side]. Midweek as much as possible once there are other runs down to it.

[asher2789]

i love the south ridge lift and its utility for getting around as well as the terrain it services. its in a tie with the bubble as being my favorite lift on the mountain... but a downside to running it more is that pod will be tracked out on pow days a hell of a lot quicker. one of the benefits of it not running is that most tourists cant find their way there and most locals dont wanna take two lifts to session it nor go down falls brook. more soft turns for people like me who are willing to put in the (minimal) work for it!

i wonder, if the lift were to run more often, would the snow last longer from being packed down or go quicker from being skied off, or stay about the same?

as for the canyon, same issue if they run it more often pow days will get tracked out faster. i think its fine as is, but if they wanted to cut back have it be fri-sun for the bulk of the season and then more often once the spring thaw begins (did it ever end this year?) and corn snow forms so that the bump lines can get skied in better. same with bear quad and OL! it seemed like this year the canyon was closed a lot more often due to poor conditions than previous years too... and if climate change trends are anything to go by the mountain is going to be getting icier by the season if were lucky enough to have winter. during the normal core winter season the canyon is often firm and icy and doesnt get a lot of traffic and its serviced by k1 anyways. skiers who like steep hardpack can get their rocks off on superstar if they want to max their vertical stats

whatever happened to regrading in front of k1 with the new lodge to make the slog go away? if money were no object and i were running the show, why not put in even more tunnels!!! make the slog from snowshed-superstar into an overpass to snowdon with exits to superstar and k1 and a tunnel under it with ovation/flume-canyon runout to snowdon with an exit to k1 and to superstar. think of the cluster f*** mix of highways in queens NY for a visual - it would be ugly but it would go with new lodge in modernizing the look

[Southside_Bobby]

Ugh. So we're back to speculating when this lift should run. Square one.

This is after Killington Management PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED that they would be running this lift five days a week. Up to three midweek days from one.

I asked how often people have noticed it running. I could count on one hand how many times someone has mentioned it running midweek.

Skiadikt, I would appreciate it if you could note if you notice it running or not in your reports.

About a dozen years ago, I stopped lurking here and started posting as Southside, because I wanted to help discussion about replacing this vital lift. The mountain didn't ski like it used to (it still doesn't), because there was no way to get from east to west without the slog. The South Ridge lift was only an issue because they had also removed stage 3. Removing both lifts, and replacing them with nothing but a "What's the big deal? Just go down and take the K1" position, sucked.

For years people here told me they would never replace it, it wasn't in demand, the old one wasn't used much, and of course the terrain is better because it's harder to get to. In response to that, I used to ask "So which lift do you want them to rip out next? I'm sure Supe headwall would be awesome if you had to hike up Nivis to get to it."

Finally, because of demand, they replaced the lift. But they treated it like an overflow lift. It is NOT an overflow lift. Then, the good news finally happened. They announced they would run it five days.

And then they didn't.

And now we're back to the same discussions we were having ten years ago.

[rogman]

It is very hard (impossible?) to tell if the SR4 is open from the top of Bear, SPE, or Superstar. Can we at least get open/closed signs on the side of the top of the lift buildings at those locations?

[daytripper]

It is very hard (impossible?) to tell if the SR4 is open from the top of Bear, SPE, or Superstar. Can we at least get open/closed signs on the side of the top of the lift buildings at those locations?

If they put up signs we would be on here bitching about how the sign said it was open but it wasn't.

[ski]

It is very hard (impossible?) to tell if the SR4 is open from the top of Bear, SPE, or Superstar. Can we at least get open/closed signs on the side of the top of the lift buildings at those locations?

If they put up signs we would be on here bitching about how the sign said it was open but it wasn't.

And therein lies the problem.

[Captain Hafski]

Asher: Re: "whatever happened to regrading in front of k1 with the new lodge to make the slog go away? if money were no object and i were running the show, why not put in even more tunnels!!! make the slog from snowshed-superstar into an overpass to snowdon with exits to superstar and k1 and a tunnel under it with ovation/flume-canyon runout to snowdon with an exit to k1 and to superstar. think of the cluster f*** mix of highways in queens NY for a visual - it would be ugly but it would go with new lodge in modernizing the look"

There is no change to the K1 Schlog, and never could be. The schlog is when a skier/rider is trying to get from Snowdon/canyon outrun to Superstar lift or from Superstar to the high spot near the Snowdon Triple.

All of the associated elevations [i.e. all of the starting points [and velocity] as well as the end elevation for the Supe corral and the Snowdon high spot] haven't changed. 

[Big Bob]

Asher: Re: "whatever happened to regrading in front of k1 with the new lodge to make the slog go away? if money were no object and i were running the show, why not put in even more tunnels!!! make the slog from snowshed-superstar into an overpass to snowdon with exits to superstar and k1 and a tunnel under it with ovation/flume-canyon runout to snowdon with an exit to k1 and to superstar. think of the cluster f*** mix of highways in queens NY for a visual - it would be ugly but it would go with new lodge in modernizing the look"

There is no change to the K1 Schlog, and never could be. The schlog is when a skier/rider is trying to get from Snowdon/canyon outrun to Superstar lift or from Superstar to the high spot near the Snowdon Triple.

All of the associated elevations [i.e. all of the starting points [and velocity] as well as the end elevation for the Supe corral and the Snowdon high spot] haven't changed. 

Best they could do is make it level, you can't have down hill in both directions.

[newpylong1]

Utilties go through there it will never change.

Think the not great workaround would be:
-Ski down Snowshed to the future ski bridge across the access road (which hopefully will be less or a shlep).
-Ski down Snowshed and ride the future transfer lift from the village to K-1 area.
-Or the idea most will hate: an intermediate trail cut from the Nivi's/Launchpad corner down towards the Cascade Runout (has to end high enough to go above the gorge) giving an easier to get from one side of the resort to the other from Superstar. Would chop up Julio pretty good.

[daytripper]

Just put in some magic carpets, one going in each direction

[Big Bob]

Maybe get a little exercise and skate across the flat in front of the lodge when you run out of momentum. Tough for a border though...

[rogman]

Ski lower O over, ski Highline back.

[Downdraft]

Alterra will run all these lifts next year. Don’t worry.

[Guy in Shorts]

Pretty sure the slog is less with the New K1. Slog from top of South Ridge to Great Northern is no picnic for those that skip the wish to skip the canyon.