Dark Side Liftline Photos

[Milo Maltbie]

So there certainly is the potential to increase traffic on the DS.

So where are all those intermediate skiers gonna go? Headwaters back to straight brook? More widening on steilhang and regrading on hullabaloo? It makes no sense to increase traffic on that side without adding blue trails or widening Cloud where it crosses Darby and doing something about all the intersections and trail crossing.

mm

 

[snoloco]

Upper Steilhang was always very underutilized with the old lift because there was no way to access it without skating uphill. I expect it will be prioritized more since the new lift provides access without having to skate. I don't necessarily think it will be widened. Between that and a widened Cloud, I think there will be plenty of acreage to absorb any increase in traffic. Intermediates have always had options to lap both summit lifts. Either take Headwaters to Straightbrook, or take Santanoni or Little Cloud to High Peaks.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Upper Steilhang was always very underutilized with the old lift because there was no way to access it without skating uphill. I expect it will be prioritized more since the new lift provides access without having to skate. I don't necessarily think it will be widened. Between that and a widened Cloud, I think there will be plenty of acreage to absorb any increase in traffic. Intermediates have always had options to lap both summit lifts. Either take Headwaters to Straightbrook, or take Santanoni or Little Cloud to High Peaks.

Easier access to upper steilhang hardly justifies what they did. If intermediates could lap the old HP, what was the point of extending the lift?


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[snoloco]

The original lift ended where the new one does. It was a mistake to shorten it because it made the mountain more disjointed. I asked this in the other thread, what did you want to do with the lift?

 

[Milo Maltbie]

What I wanted was a reliable replacement that left the best part of Gore as it was. A double would have been fine if that’s what it would take to preserve DS. The only reason to add capacity is to create an alternative route to the top, but that only works if you improve Wood In, which is not in the UMP. I was there the day the HP backed up the length of Wood In. The problem was they didn’t open HP or BRQ for over an hour. What they need is a reliable gondola and an operating plan to open lifts promptly when the gondola breaks down.
DS should have been treated as a unique area, as Castlerock was.

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[snoloco]

No matter what lift was built there, the trail would've gotten all torn up. You don't build a brand new lift on the same profile as a 54 year old one, so the tower locations are going to be different. The only thing you could reasonably ask for was that they did a better job cleaning it up. The reason they didn't do that is they were pressed for time due to bicknells thrush restrictions.

Lastly, Dark Side is not Castlerock. CR has only natural snow trails and they never groom them. DS is mostly regular trails with snowmaking and grooming.

 

[xWeatherman]

When I think of the the dark side at Gore it wasn't just the lifeline but the woods between the liftline and Hullabaloo and the woods between Lower Steilhang and the liftline. I haven't been up the lift yet but I assume those parts of the dark side are still intact. They will likely clean up the liftline for next year. Given the Covid restrictions it is great they put in a quad, the lines would be half way up Wood lot otherwise

 

[raisingarizona]

It’s great to have you back on here Sno. I have always appreciated your ability to embrace change and see a vision that a lot of folks immediately reject.

 

[x10003q]

What I wanted was a reliable replacement that left the best part of Gore as it was. A double would have been fine if that’s what it would take to preserve DS. The only reason to add capacity is to create an alternative route to the top, but that only works if you improve Wood In, which is not in the UMP. I was there the day the HP backed up the length of Wood In. The problem was they didn’t open HP or BRQ for over an hour. What they need is a reliable gondola and an operating plan to open lifts promptly when the gondola breaks down.
DS should have been treated as a unique area, as Castlerock was.

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Now you are comparing the High Peaks area to Castlerock's 1670 vertical feet of expert only trails? That's hilarious.

 

[JTG]

Now you are comparing the High Peaks area to Castlerock's 1670 vertical feet of expert only trails? That's hilarious.

Was it you who scoffed when I brought up the Pali lift in the same context? No, the High Peaks area doesn’t compare to Castlerock or Pali in terms of pure vertical or terrain, but that’s not the point. Castlerock and Pali, and in the same way Darkside, are (were) classic pieces of terrain that give (gave) each mountain a character that doesn’t exist elsewhere on the hills. It doesn’t really matter that Darkside is small in comparison to the other two, it should have been afforded the same respect. While Gore has some great glades there were really only a handful of terrain areas that, for me, defined the mountain. Now one of them is defiled.