Leitner-Poma Alpha drive station up top.View down the lift line.Unloading area.Lift line view.Return bullwheel from above.Tower 1.Looking up from the base.Loading area.Lift overview.Upper lift line from below.Compression tower.Leitner-Poma Alpha drive station.
Perhaps they thought there was less demand needed for egress traffic on this line, especially given areas it provides egress from (the Storm Peak lifts and Pioneer Ridge) are primarily expert terrain. Compared to the Elkhead Express, which functions as the egress lift for a mix of intermediate and advanced terrain (across Sunshine Peak).
ASC was broke when they purchased it. Also unlike Elkhead, it is not the only egress out of the Storm Peak Pioneer Ridge area as there is a trail that goes on around to the bottom of the Thunderhead lift. Also not much lap-able terrain is serviced from it. This lift never had I line when I was at steamboat about 3 years ago, and seems to be the right lift for the location.
It’s still the primary route out of that north area since the alternate route is a very long catwalk. I also disagree about it not serving much lapable terrain, as Burgess Creek does have a few mogul runs off of it that are not accessible from Thunderhead.
In the future, I could see Steamboat reusing BC to upgrade Bashor and put a high speed quad on BC if traffic patterns change.
I’d agree that the demand on Burgess Creek, even during holiday weeks, isn’t so strong that a replacement with a HSQ is a super high priority. You can always get to the base via the BC Skiway catwalk, and you can always get over to the Priest Creek side via either 4 Points or Storm Peak. Collectively, they serve as natural relief valves for demand on Burgess Creek lift. It will be interesting to see if that dynamic changes with the investments they are making on Pioneer Ridge. When they re-grade the main avenues off Pony Express, increase its capacity and then add Pioneer Express, that could draw a good deal more traffic to that area of the mtn. Then we’ll see if the triple capacity is sufficient to maintain the guest experience.
Honestly, it would be nice. to put in a HSQ because it takes forever to ride. But I see almost no demand on this lift. The biggest line I have ever seen was maybe like 30 people and that was on New Years.
There’s also a bypass trail from Rainbow that allows direct access to Vagabond from the Storm Peak lifts without having to ride Burgess Creek and pass through Thunderhead.
By 2004 ASC did the same thing at the Canyons, installing long new fixed grips when their competitors would have gone detachable for this long of a line. However despite big lines at Storm Peak and medium lines at Four Points this was empty all three days I was up there.
I meant to get a picture but this now has both Leitner-Poma logos on its Alpha-drive end caps – the new one on the left as a replacement and the old one on the right.
High-speed detachables are uneconomical for lifts under a mile in length due to their initial cost and maintenance. An exception had to be made for the Elkhead Express as it’s the primary egress route from the Priest Creek area. The previous fixed-grip quad was a bottleneck at the end of the day. It seemed to have more capacity than tired, worn-out skiers and riders were able to deal with. This lift (YAN, 1984-2016) was acquired by China Peak Mountain Resort outside Fresno, CA. The first Elkhead lift, a Heron-Poma double chair, 1972-1984, went to Winter Park.
Bill Fetcher
Steamboat Springs
Whether a lift should be detachable or not is based on a wide variety of factors like length, crowds, and its main function. Generally, I’d say that fixed grips over 4,500 feet long should only be the case for lifts that primarily serve expert terrain. Lifts in places like Burgess Creek stray some gray zones, given that it’s not too long for a fixed grip, but it’d be on the short side if it were a detachable.
I was going by what I was told by Doug Allen, former head of lift operations here at Steamboat when I asked him why a fixed-grip lift was chosen over a detachable for this installation.
Bill Fetcher
Lift Blog 
Why did they not make this a detachable?
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Perhaps they thought there was less demand needed for egress traffic on this line, especially given areas it provides egress from (the Storm Peak lifts and Pioneer Ridge) are primarily expert terrain. Compared to the Elkhead Express, which functions as the egress lift for a mix of intermediate and advanced terrain (across Sunshine Peak).
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ASC was broke when they purchased it. Also unlike Elkhead, it is not the only egress out of the Storm Peak Pioneer Ridge area as there is a trail that goes on around to the bottom of the Thunderhead lift. Also not much lap-able terrain is serviced from it. This lift never had I line when I was at steamboat about 3 years ago, and seems to be the right lift for the location.
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It’s still the primary route out of that north area since the alternate route is a very long catwalk. I also disagree about it not serving much lapable terrain, as Burgess Creek does have a few mogul runs off of it that are not accessible from Thunderhead.
In the future, I could see Steamboat reusing BC to upgrade Bashor and put a high speed quad on BC if traffic patterns change.
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I’d agree that the demand on Burgess Creek, even during holiday weeks, isn’t so strong that a replacement with a HSQ is a super high priority. You can always get to the base via the BC Skiway catwalk, and you can always get over to the Priest Creek side via either 4 Points or Storm Peak. Collectively, they serve as natural relief valves for demand on Burgess Creek lift. It will be interesting to see if that dynamic changes with the investments they are making on Pioneer Ridge. When they re-grade the main avenues off Pony Express, increase its capacity and then add Pioneer Express, that could draw a good deal more traffic to that area of the mtn. Then we’ll see if the triple capacity is sufficient to maintain the guest experience.
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Honestly, it would be nice. to put in a HSQ because it takes forever to ride. But I see almost no demand on this lift. The biggest line I have ever seen was maybe like 30 people and that was on New Years.
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There’s also a bypass trail from Rainbow that allows direct access to Vagabond from the Storm Peak lifts without having to ride Burgess Creek and pass through Thunderhead.
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By 2004 ASC did the same thing at the Canyons, installing long new fixed grips when their competitors would have gone detachable for this long of a line. However despite big lines at Storm Peak and medium lines at Four Points this was empty all three days I was up there.
I meant to get a picture but this now has both Leitner-Poma logos on its Alpha-drive end caps – the new one on the left as a replacement and the old one on the right.
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If Vail Resorts, Alterra or Intrawest was running Steamboat in 2004, they probably would’ve gone with a high speed quad instead of a triple.
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High-speed detachables are uneconomical for lifts under a mile in length due to their initial cost and maintenance. An exception had to be made for the Elkhead Express as it’s the primary egress route from the Priest Creek area. The previous fixed-grip quad was a bottleneck at the end of the day. It seemed to have more capacity than tired, worn-out skiers and riders were able to deal with. This lift (YAN, 1984-2016) was acquired by China Peak Mountain Resort outside Fresno, CA. The first Elkhead lift, a Heron-Poma double chair, 1972-1984, went to Winter Park.
Bill Fetcher
Steamboat Springs
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Whether a lift should be detachable or not is based on a wide variety of factors like length, crowds, and its main function. Generally, I’d say that fixed grips over 4,500 feet long should only be the case for lifts that primarily serve expert terrain. Lifts in places like Burgess Creek stray some gray zones, given that it’s not too long for a fixed grip, but it’d be on the short side if it were a detachable.
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I was going by what I was told by Doug Allen, former head of lift operations here at Steamboat when I asked him why a fixed-grip lift was chosen over a detachable for this installation.
Bill Fetcher
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Doug has several good points. BC has no need to be a detach. Not every lift on the hill needs high speed.
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Mountain report today (2/24) says the lift is closed for mechanical reasons.
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