Gore Mountain Conditions

[tirolski]

I have no idea why the lift shack is placed in the wrong spot, but it's far from the only lift at Gore that's like that. On the vast majority of lifts at any ski resort, the shack is placed on the same side and directly adjacent to the loading ramp. 5 of Gore's 11 lifts have non-standard configurations.

Sounds like they just flip a coin.
How hard is it to move the shacks controls to the “correct” side?

The company who sold it should have some QBD responsibility.

 

[snoloco]

Even Gore has detachables in harder to reach spots. Burnt Ridge and Ski Bowl are further from the maintenance building than Topridge. Even the gondola and the AE2 bases are harder to reach if they have to bring vehicles through skier traffic.

I don't know what "standard configuration" is, but Topridge is the only lift I've ever seen where the liftie shack actually interferes with the loading zone. Anyone who was expecting a faster ride or even shorter lines there is gonna be disappointed.
Topridge is longer than Hudson and carries orders of magnitude more skiers. What were they thinking putting a fixed grip there?

mm

You can't claim that you dislike one slow fixed grip that stops all the time, while claiming that the replacement of a different slow fixed grip that stopped all the time was unnecessary. I'm glad they replaced Hudson because the triple was simply awful and should've been a high speed quad from day 1.

Topridge had unusually high ridership last year due to Straightbrook being on every other chair. Usually the only times I have had to wait in line there are when Straightbrook is closed or delayed. It has mostly been underutilized due to being the longest fixed grip at Gore, and having a reputation for being so cold and exposed. Same reason North is underutilized, as it has a reputation for being painfully slow and stopping every 100 yards.

 

[tirolski]

...it has a reputation for being painfully slow and stopping every 100 yards.

Yeah. Folks should stay off of that lift. It sucks.

 

[Dmoss]

Took a while for things to get going this morning. Gondola started on wind hold, so AE2 was the ONLY open non-beginner lift for like the first hour, and predictably, the line backed up all the way to the lodge. Instead, I opted to start with laps on the Sunway chair. Then, when the report was updated to show Burnt Ridge on "wind hold" (turns out they were actually late in setting up the ramps), I bailed and drove down to the ski bowl. Did several runs down there, and once the Gondola and Burnt Ridge opened, headed back to the other side. It's obvious that Burnt Ridge had been rushed to open, which there really isn't anything wrong with as long as they go back and finish it. Hedges and Cedars were thin ribbons, though snow was being made on both. Most other trails are covered very well and full width. You love to see it, after years of thin to win openings.

Got my first rides on the new Topridge Quad. Definitely not a fan. It needed to be detachable, not an updated version of the cold slow lift that stopped all the time that everyone hated. Also, they put the lift shack in the wrong spot, so now the ramp is an awkward side load configuration, which will almost certainly cause even more stops or require the lift to run even slower. It's time for ORDA to stop being allergic to building detachables that don't start at a base area. Most other major resorts have been doing it for years.

On the North Side, I noticed that snowmaking has been added to the section of Powder Pass below the split with North Star, and that the pipes on North Star and Pete Gay have been replaced. Those had not been used in years. Hope to see it this year.

I went in with low expectations today, and once everything got open, it was pretty good considering the circumstances. it was so great having the Ski Bowl and Burnt Ridge open so early. The Ski Bowl was really the star of the morning, as there were very few people who came down there, and the grooming job was excellent. However the Topridge area was very windswept. Everything else was pretty good.

spot on with your assessment of the new quad, especially the location of the shack.

 

[Harvey]

Looks like a nice place to get warm

Kriss Kringle is working the lift

Backwoods

 

[Milo Maltbie]

You can't claim that you dislike one slow fixed grip that stops all the time, while claiming that the replacement of a different slow fixed grip that stopped all the time was unnecessary.

Sure I can. The Hudson triple was one of the newest lifts and it didn't stop all the time. I'm fine with a reliable slow lift with no wait times that goes to uncrowded trails. I would have been OK with a fixed grip that loaded well at Topridge, even if the industry the industry is moving to detachables for lifts of that length. But it's not about what I like, it's about how they allocate resources.

They spent $40 million on a low elevation area that a large fraction of Gore skiers will not spend the time or energy to visit, and managed to replace an old lift that most people use most days with one that will turn out to be worse than the one it replaces. That liftie shack not only interferes with loading, the lift line actually obscures the lifties' view of the loading point. I wouldn't be surprised if that violates ANSI standards or some other code.

mm

 

[Alfredeneumann]

Took a while for things to get going this morning. Gondola started on wind hold, so AE2 was the ONLY open non-beginner lift for like the first hour, and predictably, the line backed up all the way to the lodge. Instead, I opted to start with laps on the Sunway chair. Then, when the report was updated to show Burnt Ridge on "wind hold" (turns out they were actually late in setting up the ramps), I bailed and drove down to the ski bowl. Did several runs down there, and once the Gondola and Burnt Ridge opened, headed back to the other side. It's obvious that Burnt Ridge had been rushed to open, which there really isn't anything wrong with as long as they go back and finish it. Hedges and Cedars were thin ribbons, though snow was being made on both. Most other trails are covered very well and full width. You love to see it, after years of thin to win openings.

Got my first rides on the new Topridge Quad. Definitely not a fan. It needed to be detachable, not an updated version of the cold slow lift that stopped all the time that everyone hated. Also, they put the lift shack in the wrong spot, so now the ramp is an awkward side load configuration, which will almost certainly cause even more stops or require the lift to run even slower. It's time for ORDA to stop being allergic to building detachables that don't start at a base area. Most other major resorts have been doing it for years.

On the North Side, I noticed that snowmaking has been added to the section of Powder Pass below the split with North Star, and that the pipes on North Star and Pete Gay have been replaced. Those had not been used in years. Hope to see it this year.

I went in with low expectations today, and once everything got open, it was pretty good considering the circumstances. it was so great having the Ski Bowl and Burnt Ridge open so early. The Ski Bowl was really the star of the morning, as there were very few people who came down there, and the grooming job was excellent. However the Topridge area was very windswept. Everything else was pretty good.

“…snowmaking has been added to the section of Powder Pass below the split with North Star, and that the pipes on North Star and Pete Gay have been replaced.”
Say goodbye to more natural ungroomed trails.

 

[Capdistski]

I toured the Park yesterday having not seen any winds over 20mph in weather app forecasts for Whiteface so drove from Qby to find the whole mountain on wind hold even Notch lift. So I then drove to Gore and arriving at 10am decided to go to Bowl even though website said BR was on wind hold. Figured worst case I would do some laps on Hudson chair and head home.

Turned into a good day as BR opened after my first run on Moxham. Skiied most of the mountain, enjoying sunshine and decent firm conditions. Topridge was fun, not too scrapy. And Backwoods was surprisingly nice in the morning considering how new all the snow is - but it got a little firm when I headed back to my car at 2pm. Cedars of course was the typical slog and a bit of a mess but worth it to be able to connect - interesting that they were running ground guns instead of the overhead low energy guns installed.

My lesson is to read NWS forecasts instead of apps!

 

[snoloco]

Sure I can. The Hudson triple was one of the newest lifts and it didn't stop all the time. I'm fine with a reliable slow lift with no wait times that goes to uncrowded trails. I would have been OK with a fixed grip that loaded well at Topridge, even if the industry the industry is moving to detachables for lifts of that length. But it's not about what I like, it's about how they allocate resources.

They spent $40 million on a low elevation area that a large fraction of Gore skiers will not spend the time or energy to visit, and managed to replace an old lift that most people use most days with one that will turn out to be worse than the one it replaces. That liftie shack not only interferes with loading, the lift line actually obscures the lifties' view of the loading point. I wouldn't be surprised if that violates ANSI standards or some other code.

mm

The reason a fraction of skiers ever went to the ski bowl is because it was difficult to get to, had no suitable lodge, was served by a very slow lift, and was rarely open. They simplified access (Backwoods), built a lodge, replaced the crappy slow lift, and are making efforts to have it open consistently on a full-time basis. It's open today (Monday), despite the fact that it has never been open before Christmas, only ever twice in December prior to this year, and has never been open on weekdays except holiday periods, and it is not a holiday period yet.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

The reason a fraction of skiers ever went to the ski bowl is because it was difficult to get to, had no suitable lodge, was served by a very slow lift, and was rarely open. They simplified access (Backwoods), built a lodge, replaced the crappy slow lift, and are making efforts to have it open consistently on a full-time basis. It's open today (Monday), despite the fact that it has never been open before Christmas, only ever twice in December prior to this year, and has never been open on weekdays except holiday periods, and it is not a holiday period yet.

Ski Bowl is easier to get to now but it's still requires most people to skate to get there and to return. It also requires Paradox, which can be intimidating for many, even if people who ski Rumor don't recognize that. Those things will always be enough to limit the crowd at Ski Bowl, which is the main thing I like about it. No for-profit ski area operator would have ever built anything like that.
I'm glad that you enjoy it, but more Ski Bowl means less Hawk Eye Chatemac Darby Hulabaloo Rumor Lies Steilhang Dark Side. Who wants to make that trade?

mm