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.
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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