http://www.snowbird.com/about/constr...n/video_1.html
I like it! No more smelling beer and egg farts for me.
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http://www.snowbird.com/about/constr...n/video_1.html
I like it! No more smelling beer and egg farts for me.
Nope, just weed smoke.Quote:
Originally Posted by schindlerpiste
Just watched em install towers a couple days ago. It looks like the bird is going to be able to get this deal going by opening.
Yipeeeeee, the Basshole is punched through!
st00pid.
What's the matter with a decent ropetow?
that video "reaks" of Trackhead's work :the_finge
Have you ever been there?Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster Highmen
The ridgeline is narrow and is a three way fork that splits between a 180 degree left turn into Chip's, a 180 degree right turn into Mineral Basin and a "point it straight as fast as you can" to the hike at Baldy. A chair or rope tow ending in that area would be a NIGHTMARE.
No, mine would have been much more crass. Perhaps pictures of plumbers crack and bassholes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xover
So, color me a bird' Jong, but could one of you erudite fellows explain to me the location of this tunnel, and what it's purpose is?
Maps would be delightful.
I do the bird a few times a year, I would love to know what the hubbub is about...
Anyway skiied the tunnel run at Alp D'Huez?
You ski/push your way through a small dark tunnel which spits you out onto a nice mogul strewn bowl covered in snowboarders and gapers that can't navigate the mini-sized mounds. Takes an age to get out as the top platform is littered with statues of people that don't dare move for fear of sliding down the "wall". A fair sized yard sale normally occurs with gloves, goggles and poles strewn about the places as hapless victims re-inact the classic game lemmings and launch off the platform only to get throw by the roller-coaster ride of of bumps and jumps.
Still, i managed to score it after a large dump this april, 2nd or 3rd tracks out of the tunnel. I launched myself at speed straight into a huge mogul which twisted me 180*. Pointed the tips down the fall line and let it rip in thigh deep powder, with only the odd mogul sending me into orbit.
Similar thing at La Plagne, minus the gaper-yard-sale inducing mogul field.
edg
When I go to Utah you will find me at solitude go LCC marketing go!!!
The first time I took Brownmonkey there, he didn't realise you had to turn right on exiting the tunnel. He just launched straight out there, flailing like a bastard. Various unnamed Scandinavians used to use the tunnel exit as a launch pad from above until the authorities erected a big catch fence. Spoilsports.Quote:
Originally Posted by p@wder
I like the way that SATA has put a statue of the Virgin Mary in the tunnel just to further terrify the prodders.
It doesn't require a bad-ass tunnel!Quote:
Originally Posted by Buster Highmen
That's why Texans should not be allowed to own property in the mountains.
It's almost at the top of Chips and the tunnel goes thru to Larkspur in Mineral. They are trying to get more gapers on the Peruvian side and into Mineral. It would have been much cheaper to just upgrade Little Cloud.Quote:
Originally Posted by rideit
I wonder whether all you guys who are against the tunnel were/are also against the installation of high speed quad at Alta?
To me, this is a good thing, as I will be able to access more terrain on windy days...and quicker.
I only care about where I ski, not others! IMHO, to do otherwise is to either be a snob, or a legend in your own mind.
Coming to Snowbird this winter, new terminology:
Through the world
Didn't you get the memo?Quote:
Originally Posted by schindlerpiste
Alta is the fucking holy grail! ;)
0:42 - "And that's where babies come from."
I don't think many people are "against" the tunnel, we just like making fun of it, because it's so bizarre.
I like it - it'll make the tram line smaller.
Being the conveyor belt part???Quote:
The first of its kind in North America, Snowbird’s new nearly 600-foot tunnel houses a conveyor lift that will transport skiers and riders from Peruvian Gulch into Mineral Basin. Located at the top of the new Peruvian Express high-speed quad, the 12-foot high, 10-foot wide tunnel provides a four-minute ride to intermediate terrain in Mineral Basin. The new tunnel and lift makes intermediate terrain more accessible to skiers and riders by eliminating many switchbacks and the steepest pitch of Chip’s Run. It also provides an efficient way to reach Hidden Peak without the use of the Tram.
What happens when you get a bullwheel rider on one of those?
I hear what you're saying. Maybe my opinion will change in December. But the Basshole is in the WCNF and will be there forever. Also, they're planning on putting a 50,000 sf lodge up there. Would be one thing if it weren't public land. I guess I disagree with it on principle more than I have problems with the fact that MB will get tracked up faster. I admit that I am conflicted.Quote:
Originally Posted by schindlerpiste
I think the reason they didn't go all the way to the ridge was because of a deal with SOC not to put any more structures up that are visible for miles. The tunnel was a compromise, I think.
I think if you have limited resources (money), it would have been better to fix more serious problems like Little Cloud and Gad 2.Quote:
Originally Posted by schindlerpiste
I laughed at that. I wonder how much quicker it will be than around the world. I guess a bunch since you will be cutting out a whole lift in the long process of getting to the top.Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
Page top!
That wouldn't do any wonders for the gad / Thunder crowds. Seems almost like a set-up for a Jackson-esque tram decommissioning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shredhead
I was just thinking/fearing the same thing. The Snowbird tram is about 35 years old. I hope that this is not the first step in retiring the tram. I like the tunnel as a supplement, and not a substitute!
They'll still need the tram for the Cirque, no? Doesn't the Peruvian Chair drop you too far down to hit the top?
not after you've gone through the tunnel and up mineralQuote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
The bird tram scares the bejeezus outta me.
Not the potential drop, the proximity to stretch-pant clad claw-sporters.
Snowbird was trying to solve several problems. Mainly, Snowbird wants Mineral Basin to be easily, quickly and reliably accessible (from base to summit) by many people of many skill levels and weather tolerances.
During high winds, the tram can't be used. That limits access to Hidden Peak and Mineral Basin.
The Tram's capacity isn't that great - the new lift has significantly higher capacity.
Besides avoiding ridgetop winds and weather, the new lift & tunnel drop skiers off in open, gentle terrain, rather than the switchbacks and steep slopes just off Hidden Peak.
A lift running to the ridge would have been more exposed to high winds, meaning it would be shut down more often and less used by people with lower weather tolerance. Once at the top, skiers would have to navigate switchbacks or drop down steep slopes (onto crowded switchbacks.)
The ridgetop lift option would not have met many of Snowbird's skier traffic goals.
The entire project was on private land (though the lift cables cross some USFS land). Snowbird consulted with the USFS, SOC, and other entities during their planning process. I believe the tunnel was Snowbird's preferred option from the earliest time SOC saw the proposal. Snowbird made use of some ideas, suggestions and requests. These were minor (setbacks from LCC creek at the bottom, exact location of lift terminals, use of local finish materials that would match the landscape, etc.)
Running the lift to the ridge would have required a lot of ridge demolition and road-building to/through the ridge. Hidden Peak is a big dirt parking lot with a fat set of switchbacks cut into a steep slope up to it. Now picture another parking lot hacked into the ridge next to Hidden Peak, with another set of switchbacks up to it.
I don't think "parking lot ridge" is the image Snowbird wants. By rejecting that option and building a tunnel, they can satisfy all their goals and claim credit for not being completely blind to the visual consequences of their developments. Naturally they will do their best to derive positive publicity from any action they take.
I don't think Snowbird is planning to decomission the Tram, or even considering it. The Snowbird Tram was built after the Jackson Tram, and the state of the art had advanced substantially during that time. So (I'm told) the Snowbird Tram is nowhere near the end of its mechanical / engineered lifespan (which was the reason given for decommissioning the Jackson Tram.)
Snowbird does have limited resources, and construction costs have risen. Steel prices are about double what they were in 2003. I believe that's one reason the Hidden Peak Mall has not been built yet. I don't know Snowbird's thoughts on Little Cloud and Gad 2 traffic patterns.
Just my €0.07 (inflation-adjusted, current exchange rate).
DW,
thank you for your well written, well thought out post.
I appreciate the info with out much spin from the love the bird/hate the bird camps, or the resort itself.
May your winter be bountiful.
not woods cross
Here are a few pics to show exactly where everything is.
Here is the 05/06 trail map showing the new chair as the red dotted line through the middle of P-gultch. The old Peruvian chair is now gone.
http://celadonstudios.com/pics/peruviantrailmap.jpg
This is a shot from on the Tram showing the top terminal.
http://celadonstudios.com/pics/peruviantop_1.jpg
This is a shot taken on foot, a little way down from Hidden Peak showing the top terminal and the mouth of the tunnel.
http://celadonstudios.com/pics/peruviantop_2.jpg
Looking into the tunnel. The light at the end is the Mineral Basin side.
http://celadonstudios.com/pics/peruviantunnel_1.jpg
Looking down the lift line from the ridge/Gorilla Pass, directly up the hill from the top terminal. On the left you can see the end of the Cirque and two Tram towers.
http://celadonstudios.com/pics/peruviandown_1.jpg
Hey Tipp,Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
You are right. The chair is too low to allow access to the Cirque.
One of the electricians working on Peruvian told me that they were going to have a hard time getting the conveyor belt to stop without flinging people over the handle bars. Better wear your helmet!
That shit is gonna be fun to hit on a weekday...