View up the lift line.Bottom terminal building.Doppelmayr top drive terminal building.Hall breakover towers.Hall towers with CTEC chairs.Bottom tension terminal and lift line.Another view of the drive station.Upper lift line.Middle portion of the line.Lower lift line.
I know Loon has upgrading North Peak on their master plan (to occur between 2026-2030), but I think upgrading East Basin to a detachable lift (and extending its bottom terminal downhill about 250 feet) and leaving North Peak in place is a better idea. North Peak’s primary trails, Flume and Walking Boss, already get skied off pretty quickly, and even with the planned additional trail or two, a six or eight-pack will only make this occur even faster. Big Dipper, Triple Trouble, and Angel Street are relatively underutilized, and an upgraded East Basin will help better distribute skiers.
This would be nice, but I don’t think they would invest in a brand new detachable for this lift. If they did make it a detachable, they would probably wait until they upgraded North Peak and relocate that quad to this lift. However, because this lift never really has high traffic, another possibility is to relocate the current Seven Brothers Triple to here when it gets replaced with the old Kanc quad. I sort of doubt either of these scenarios would actually happen, and I think a more likely possibility would be for the East Basin to be ultimately removed altogether, and here’s why. The North Peak lift is being upgraded, and so is the Gondola, which are on either side of the aging, slow, low-traffic East Basin double. The North Peak quad goes higher than the East Basin double, and all the East Basin trails can be accessed from that summit via Haulback. The Gondola goes to the same summit as the East Basin, and therefore serves the same trails. With East Basin absent from the 2030 plan, but both Gondola and North Peak being upgraded, I think it’ll end up being removed. I’m hopeful though, since I always liked East Basin because it’s quiet and services some of the best terrain on Loon.
I agree that in the current plan it does not make much sense to upgrade East Basin. However, what I am saying is that they should alter the plan to upgrade East Basin to a detachable rather than upgrade North Peak to a six or eight. The vast majority of North Peak skiers go to Walking Boss, Flume, or Sunset to either Tote Road/South Peak or all the way down. Increasing capacity on North Peak will simply make these trails, two of which are already some of the iciest on the mountain, will not help in spreading skiers out. Triple Trouble, Angel Street, and Basin Street are relatively underutilized, as most gondola riders go to Tote Road/South Peak, Picked Rock, Flying Fox, and Bear Claw (and East Basin rarely runs). Making East Basin a detachable would incentivize skiers to spread out to these relatively underutilized trails by taking people away from North Peak.
The majority of skiers prefer detachable lifts and utilizing the trails most accessible from those lifts. Giving two detachable options out of Camp III to two different peaks would help spread people out.
I’d imagine they would want *some* redundant route to the gondola summit in cases of maintenance or wind holds. Taking the North Peak lift to Sunset can get you to the lower half of the East Basin steeps and to Bear Claw/Tote Road, but I don’t think there’s a route from that to the upper intermediates on the main mountain, so I don’t think that can serve that purpose on its own.
They also use it early season when they open the mountain. Since at that point only Gondola peak is open, they run this lift to offload some of the traffic from the gondola.
The East Basin lift also can withstand higher winds than the gondola since it is sheltered. I have seen it running when the gondola can not run on stormy days. I appreciate that the trails in east basin are not skied as much. Much of the terrain is mostly natural snow quite often. I saw they want to add snow making to Triple Trouble. I hope they don’t That trail and Angel street are the two best runs on the mountain.
So curious on how much life is left on this lift? It can’t be too much more. I don’t think that peak can handle another detachable, the trails from the top are too narrow for more people. Assuming it would have to be another fixed lift and like everyone said, need a lift that can handle wind when the gondola goes down.
It is just funny to see when everything around it is getting the upgrades.
Frankenlifts FTW, as the kids were saying a few years ago.
LikeLike
I know Loon has upgrading North Peak on their master plan (to occur between 2026-2030), but I think upgrading East Basin to a detachable lift (and extending its bottom terminal downhill about 250 feet) and leaving North Peak in place is a better idea. North Peak’s primary trails, Flume and Walking Boss, already get skied off pretty quickly, and even with the planned additional trail or two, a six or eight-pack will only make this occur even faster. Big Dipper, Triple Trouble, and Angel Street are relatively underutilized, and an upgraded East Basin will help better distribute skiers.
LikeLike
This would be nice, but I don’t think they would invest in a brand new detachable for this lift. If they did make it a detachable, they would probably wait until they upgraded North Peak and relocate that quad to this lift. However, because this lift never really has high traffic, another possibility is to relocate the current Seven Brothers Triple to here when it gets replaced with the old Kanc quad. I sort of doubt either of these scenarios would actually happen, and I think a more likely possibility would be for the East Basin to be ultimately removed altogether, and here’s why. The North Peak lift is being upgraded, and so is the Gondola, which are on either side of the aging, slow, low-traffic East Basin double. The North Peak quad goes higher than the East Basin double, and all the East Basin trails can be accessed from that summit via Haulback. The Gondola goes to the same summit as the East Basin, and therefore serves the same trails. With East Basin absent from the 2030 plan, but both Gondola and North Peak being upgraded, I think it’ll end up being removed. I’m hopeful though, since I always liked East Basin because it’s quiet and services some of the best terrain on Loon.
LikeLike
I agree that in the current plan it does not make much sense to upgrade East Basin. However, what I am saying is that they should alter the plan to upgrade East Basin to a detachable rather than upgrade North Peak to a six or eight. The vast majority of North Peak skiers go to Walking Boss, Flume, or Sunset to either Tote Road/South Peak or all the way down. Increasing capacity on North Peak will simply make these trails, two of which are already some of the iciest on the mountain, will not help in spreading skiers out. Triple Trouble, Angel Street, and Basin Street are relatively underutilized, as most gondola riders go to Tote Road/South Peak, Picked Rock, Flying Fox, and Bear Claw (and East Basin rarely runs). Making East Basin a detachable would incentivize skiers to spread out to these relatively underutilized trails by taking people away from North Peak.
The majority of skiers prefer detachable lifts and utilizing the trails most accessible from those lifts. Giving two detachable options out of Camp III to two different peaks would help spread people out.
LikeLike
I’d imagine they would want *some* redundant route to the gondola summit in cases of maintenance or wind holds. Taking the North Peak lift to Sunset can get you to the lower half of the East Basin steeps and to Bear Claw/Tote Road, but I don’t think there’s a route from that to the upper intermediates on the main mountain, so I don’t think that can serve that purpose on its own.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t remember the last time I saw this lift actually operating, And I’m usually there right after Christmas
LikeLike
Typically it only runs on weekends and holidays. I was there last month and they had it running during the weekend only.
LikeLike
They also use it early season when they open the mountain. Since at that point only Gondola peak is open, they run this lift to offload some of the traffic from the gondola.
LikeLike
The East Basin lift also can withstand higher winds than the gondola since it is sheltered. I have seen it running when the gondola can not run on stormy days. I appreciate that the trails in east basin are not skied as much. Much of the terrain is mostly natural snow quite often. I saw they want to add snow making to Triple Trouble. I hope they don’t That trail and Angel street are the two best runs on the mountain.
LikeLike
Vintage
LikeLiked by 1 person
So curious on how much life is left on this lift? It can’t be too much more. I don’t think that peak can handle another detachable, the trails from the top are too narrow for more people. Assuming it would have to be another fixed lift and like everyone said, need a lift that can handle wind when the gondola goes down.
It is just funny to see when everything around it is getting the upgrades.
LikeLike