SkyeShip Gondala > Number of busted chairs..

[jimmywilson69]

even if making snow or getting natural snow to the base of skyeship becomes unviable in the future a gonodola could be used to shuttle people to and from Needles. This is the exact setup that Breck and Telluride have. It needs to be remain a gondola and it should be refurbed/retrofitted now.

[Bubba]

Closing the Skye Ship Gondola would set the relationship with the town back to where it was in the Fall of 2007 after Nyberg tried limiting its operation. Ain’t gonna happen.

[Eddytheyetti]

Double down on the skyship and extend the bike park. We can bike until thanksgiving and start up in early may. Thanks to the foliage, Killington has the best dirt in the world. With 3000 feet of vertical in the bike park the resort will be world class.


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[jimmywilson69]

well that's something I never thought of... Hard to think they make enough $$$ to run 2 gondolas and 2 lifts. but maybe they do.

You are correct though, they could collapse the bike park to operate off of skyeship only once things start happening in the basin.

[RENO]

They used to use the skyeship for mountain biking back in the 90's when it ran to the top and before the K1 gondola was built 96-97. Then they stopped using it after the K1 gondola was built. Used to be the Killington double and skyeship. It was fun riding all the way down to the base of Skyeship. They didn't have a lot of trails going down there though. It was just 2 or 3.

[newpylong1]

Skyeship never went all the way to the top, assume you mean the old K Gondy?

I am not a mountain biker but one has to think the terrain would be quite amazing down to Route 4. I am thinking all of those natural only trails like lower Home Stretch, etc that weave in and out of GE would be gold for MTB.

The largest issue I see besides running two gondolas in the off-season is there likely is no overlap on Skyeship for the non-MTB crowd. Right now that type of customer can pay short money for a ride up K-1 to buy a $20 burger and ride or hike back down. If enough time and energy was put into it, could a park and scenic ride up from Route 4 be marketable along with MTB? I am not sure... There certainly are throngs of tourists in the area (think Woodstock) on the weekends. They are going to have a brand new kitchen and remodeled lodge there now, maybe they can start selling those $20 burgers there as well to capitalize on that. I must admit the appeal of driving over Route 4 and seeing that sky bridge with scenic rides and MTB access could be appealing.

I do think they need to do something to capitalize on having a gateway to the resort right there on Route 4, I just don't know what that would look like.

[RENO]

Yes, whatever it was called before it was refurbished and renamed Skyeship. Trying not to confuse people... geez...

[RENO]

There really wasn't much at the time going down to Route 4. No singletrack. Maybe parts of juggernaut and great eastern from what I remember? I have to see if I can find a trail map from back then. I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere. Doubtful they'll revive that gondola for biking or scenic rides especially since it doesn't go to the top anymore...

[ME2VTSkier]

There really wasn't much at the time going down to Route 4. No singletrack. Maybe parts of juggernaut and great eastern from what I remember? I have to see if I can find a trail map from back then. I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere. Doubtful they'll revive that gondola for biking or scenic rides especially since it doesn't go to the top anymore...

Butt it should...

[skiadikt]

There really wasn't much at the time going down to Route 4. No singletrack. Maybe parts of juggernaut and great eastern from what I remember? I have to see if I can find a trail map from back then. I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere. Doubtful they'll revive that gondola for biking or scenic rides especially since it doesn't go to the top anymore...

do have a recollection of riding the skyeship for mtn biking. didn't go to the peak. top of skye peak where it currently unloads. and yeah wasn't real mtn biking per se. do remember GE & juggernaut.

as for a new lift going to the summit. very difficult. gondola stations require lots of room and there isn't any that makes sense and provides access to the peak lodge. best you could do would be top of SR. also can't imagine the shitshow on GN unloading that many people up there.

[RENO]

It did go to the peak 93-95 whatever the name of it was then. At least a couple of those years. I still remember doing a faceplant coming down that trail near the bottom! LOL and going back up on the gondola to the peak bleeding and going to the bathroom to clean my bloody face. Do you not remember the big giant hole in the side of the peak lodge before they tore it down to build the new peak lodge?

[skiadikt]

nope never went to the summit. first of all, remember most folks being disappointed that they replaced the original gondy with a lift that didn't go the summit. they would have never built a lift to go to the summit and then shorten it a couple years later. ridiculous. that giant hole in the peak lodge was from the original gondola.

and here's a link to chairlift history at K. read it for yourself:

http://www.chairlift.org/killington.html

[newpylong1]

It did go to the peak 93-95 whatever the name of it was then. At least a couple of those years. I still remember doing a faceplant coming down that trail near the bottom! LOL and going back up on the gondola to the peak bleeding and going to the bathroom to clean my bloody face. Do you not remember the big giant hole in the side of the peak lodge before they tore it down to build the new peak lodge?

Yes the original Killington 4 person gondola went to the summit but was replaced in 1994. It's replacement (Skyeship) did not go to the summit due to stage 3 wind and K-1 coming shortly thereafter. I don't think the red K Gondola had mountain biking but I could be wrong. Since I was born in '81 this is before my time but I've seen pictures of the original K Gondola used for scenic does in the 70s.

[PinnacleJim]

The Skyeship was a complete replacement of the original gondola. New towers, stations, everything. Not a refurb. I would be very surprised if a replacement of the cabins with Diamond 8s like they did on the K1 is not on the list of future projects.

[Southside_Bobby]

I would be very surprised if a replacement of the cabins with Diamond 8s like they did on the K1 is not on the list of future projects.

Such a list would be fairly meaningless, unless it includes actual funding and planned dates for it to happen. So far, there is ZERO indication that they plan to do anything with the Skyeship in the immediate future, aside from running it with fewer and fewer working cars each season.

I'm sure the Interconnect is on a list somewhere. It doesn't mean it will happen in our lifetimes.