ORDA's Biggest Mistakes

[Milo Maltbie]

…ORDA being ORDA, left that double up for 25 more years…This is one of the most obvious, bad decisions from the ORDA Board.

The most obvious bad decision was allowing all the damage to the Darkside when the double was replaced. The contractor regraded and widened more than necessary and left logging slash in an important skiable area. At the very least ORDA never should have paid the contract until the slash was cleaned up.
It’s a mystery to me why anyone thinks adding 800 feet of a crowded groomer improves the experience much, but maybe that’s just me.

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[Milo Maltbie]

@Cork what was it you disliked about my post? Are you pleased with what they did to the Darkside? I get it if you like skiing upper Cloud more often, but it is better now than it was before? Easier access but more crowded never seems like the right thing to me. Do you like what they did to the Darkside? Do you think all that damage was necessary to replace the lift?

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[TheGreatAbyss]

In my 10+ years of being an ORDA skier their biggest sin was the butchering of the Dark Side. Between all three mountains it was ORDA's best and most interesting terrain that was easily accessible, and often open. It's what sold me on Gore the first time I ever skied it.

They defaced it. And for what? To crowd the upper mountain with more beginner skiers who don't belong up there? There are miles and miles and miles of green and blue terrain for them, they didn't need to to this. What a shame.

All that being said, what operator of more than one mountain runs things any better?

 

[snoloco]

For what? To replace a 54 year old lift that had mechanical issues and was a known bottleneck.

 

[Harvey]

I don't think anyone argues with replacing the lift. It was ancient.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

No one ever questioned the need to replace the double, but what bottleneck? The only time I ever saw an unacceptable line at the double was when the gondola broke down and they were late opening everything else. There was a line up Wood In briefly on Sunday, but it went faster than the early line at the gondola. Unless there is a dedicated singles line, a quad is not much more real capacity than a double anyway. I don't like the extension but I understand why others do, but the real issue is the unnecessary damage to Darkside.

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[TheGreatAbyss]

It was still running AFAIK. And another double without ruining the entire area would have been way better

 

[Harvey]

It was still running AFAIK.

I think parts were difficult to get.

What make was the old double? I believe it was the same as the old Sunway chair and they'd take parts from it to keep Sunway running.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

According to liftbog it was a Riblet, but they are showing only one retired High Peaks double. The old Straightbrook and Sunway doubles were Riblets as well.
I would have been happy with another double or triple if it would have minimized disruption to the Darkside. I think everyone overestimates how much capacity a fixed grip quad adds.

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[TheGreatAbyss]

If Abay could replace the Pali lift with another double and not blast away half the mountain surely gore could have done it with the Dark Side