Not sure, but now every passholder has a reason to make a big stink about it. That’s not a bad thing for anyone who wants Lookout replaced to that Fourrunner doesn’t always get slammed.
I love lookout. I hope that it never gets replaced. Stowe is completely responsible for this because the backup engine was broken and couldn’t be started. It’s Stowe’s responsibility to make that every lift has a working backup.
Honestly, they should have removed it back when they put in the new FourRunner in 2011 and just put a 6/8 person chair in instead. With the increase in crowds since then, they should ideally replace FourRunner with SixRunner or EightRunner and move the new quad to replace Mountain or move it to Sunapee and replace North Peak. However, it is more realistic to remove this and Mountain and then just put a D4C where Mountain is.
A lookout replacement makes more sense. I would guess that a 2800pph HSQ would be good there because it would shift the traffic away from fourrunner and to the lower mountain thus making lookout the workhouse lift on middle Mansfield.
One important thing to consider is that with a higher capacity on Mt. Mansfield, the trails would become even more overrun. Crowds at Stowe get pretty bad on good winter weekends, and I feel like adding another high speed quad, or upgrading forerunner to a 6 pack would be a mistake. I’m also a fan of the old riblets, so I do have a bias towards lookout.
I’ve loved this lift for years as the alternative for people in the know when the Quad gets mobbed. But honestly if Stowe would replace the Triple with something detachable, it might draw enough intermediate-level skiers away to make the quad an exclusively expert’s lift, eliminating the need for the Double entirely.
The length and vertical- and the fact that this lift is top-drive, bottom-tension- actually help bring down the size of the counterweight. All the weight of the carriers and rope are factored into the amount of friction needed on the drive bullwheel. I’d imagine this lift is still pretty bouncy in the bottom spans, but it’s a Riblet and they always seemed to have lighter-tensioned designs until late.
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Bad news for Lookout Fans:
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Are they replacing it?
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Not sure, but now every passholder has a reason to make a big stink about it. That’s not a bad thing for anyone who wants Lookout replaced to that Fourrunner doesn’t always get slammed.
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I love lookout. I hope that it never gets replaced. Stowe is completely responsible for this because the backup engine was broken and couldn’t be started. It’s Stowe’s responsibility to make that every lift has a working backup.
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Honestly, they should have removed it back when they put in the new FourRunner in 2011 and just put a 6/8 person chair in instead. With the increase in crowds since then, they should ideally replace FourRunner with SixRunner or EightRunner and move the new quad to replace Mountain or move it to Sunapee and replace North Peak. However, it is more realistic to remove this and Mountain and then just put a D4C where Mountain is.
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Better still, leave FourRunner as is, put a high speed quad on Lookout, and keep Mountain.
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A lookout replacement makes more sense. I would guess that a 2800pph HSQ would be good there because it would shift the traffic away from fourrunner and to the lower mountain thus making lookout the workhouse lift on middle Mansfield.
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One important thing to consider is that with a higher capacity on Mt. Mansfield, the trails would become even more overrun. Crowds at Stowe get pretty bad on good winter weekends, and I feel like adding another high speed quad, or upgrading forerunner to a 6 pack would be a mistake. I’m also a fan of the old riblets, so I do have a bias towards lookout.
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Vetical on this lift is way off, I believe you mean 1,750ft
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Hopefully vail can replace this and toll house in the near future.
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I’ve loved this lift for years as the alternative for people in the know when the Quad gets mobbed. But honestly if Stowe would replace the Triple with something detachable, it might draw enough intermediate-level skiers away to make the quad an exclusively expert’s lift, eliminating the need for the Double entirely.
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Not “if” anymore, but “when”. Will completely change the traffic patterns on the entire mountain, though most obviously on the Mansfield side.
https://liftblog.com/2021/09/23/breaking-vail-resorts-to-build-19-lifts-at-14-resorts-in-2022/
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Good new Lookout fans, fresh coat of paint for the 2021/2022 ski season!
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Why do the first set of pics have a vertical component parallel to the top of the hangar arm, but the lower pics don’t?
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Looks like two different styles of swing dampers. The dampers in the first few shots are bigger, but the rest still have them.
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If you are ever skiing at Stowe, you have to ride this lift. The views from it are awesome and it is a really nice ride.
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The views from Breakover are impressive!
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That looks like a pretty small counterweight for such a long lift
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the picture makes it look much smaller than it is
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The length and vertical- and the fact that this lift is top-drive, bottom-tension- actually help bring down the size of the counterweight. All the weight of the carriers and rope are factored into the amount of friction needed on the drive bullwheel. I’d imagine this lift is still pretty bouncy in the bottom spans, but it’s a Riblet and they always seemed to have lighter-tensioned designs until late.
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How many chairs does this lift have?
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206
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205, #3 is nowhere to be found
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204 if you really pay attention. By chair numbers we hit 206
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