17 thoughts on “Fitzsimmons Express – Whistler Blackcomb, BC”
trgildanFebruary 13, 2024 / 9:10 pm
Pour one out for Park City. Silverlode will celebrate its 30th birthday as a first-generation six pack soon and the need to replace it hasn’t gone away. Maybe someday.
note the shiny paint job on the “blackcomb gondola” , now only “excalibur gondola” on the base station. It got nicely dressed up at the same time as the fitz install
I think the only reason Fitz’s came red is because that’s what was gonna be the color scheme for the Silverlode 8 but then after backlash from locals and when they decided to install it here they wanted to keep this relocation as cheap as possible so they did’t bother repainting the terminals or ordering completely new ones that were white.
All the towers on Fitz were craned into place due to the non availability of helicopters. At the crossing itself the towers were picked from their respective side of the WVG and of course this was done with the WVG shut down. We had to build a few roads for access and these were decommissioned after the construction.
Pour one out for Park City. Silverlode will celebrate its 30th birthday as a first-generation six pack soon and the need to replace it hasn’t gone away. Maybe someday.
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So did Vail not go with Direct Drive for the new Fitz?
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No direct drive on fitz.
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Why did they do that? Are there any other non-DDD D-Lines in North America?
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I’m pretty sure the whole Disney Skyliner system uses the standard gear reducer/AC motor setup.
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note the shiny paint job on the “blackcomb gondola” , now only “excalibur gondola” on the base station. It got nicely dressed up at the same time as the fitz install
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The all-red paint scheme of these terminals is what Big Red 6 should’ve gotten when it was built last year.
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I was just thinking about my comment last year on Big Red and said to myself “Now this is a color scheme worthy of the name Big Red”.
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I think the only reason Fitz’s came red is because that’s what was gonna be the color scheme for the Silverlode 8 but then after backlash from locals and when they decided to install it here they wanted to keep this relocation as cheap as possible so they did’t bother repainting the terminals or ordering completely new ones that were white.
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What is the deal with the second dopp operator house at the top?
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Drives. Too big for the standard top shack.
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Ahh interesting. Thanks!
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What are the red springs on each side of the hangar for?
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Suspension
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@aussierob, How do you install the towers below the WVG crossing?
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All the towers on Fitz were craned into place due to the non availability of helicopters. At the crossing itself the towers were picked from their respective side of the WVG and of course this was done with the WVG shut down. We had to build a few roads for access and these were decommissioned after the construction.
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Thanks, it sounds quite hard and time consuming to put all the towers up that way.
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