Lower station with tension.View back down the lift line.Arriving at the drive.Unloading area and operator house.Tower 11.Capacity is only 1,200 but more chairs can be added later.T2.Garaventa CTEC Stealth station.Top station from Storm Peak.
I know I once saw some photograph somewhere of the lift with 2,400 pph chair spacing instead of 1,200. I can’t remember if it was the skilifts.org forum or somewhere else.
I get the impression this will entail Doppelmayr fabricating some custom Garaventa CTEC chair bails and grips. Unless Steamboat already has some lying around.
It’s mid February and this lift is still closed. However the runs that it serves are open for hike-to access. I was told by Steamboat that the lift is closed due to lack of snow. The rest of the resort has plenty of coverage. I wish someone would look into this. Seems fishy.
From asking a patroller two weeks ago, staffing shortages combined with lack of snow, so they want to keep people away from the terrain even if it’s able to be accessed. The only lift they can easily get away with not running.
I wonder what kind of snow coverage we will see on Pioneer next year. It will probably the last stuff to open on mountain but the terrain is very steep and hard to navigate. The terrain is very similar to the steep part of No Names just over 4x as long.
Same reason as solar deflectors on some Doppelmayr towers, the dark colors cause the tower sunflower (move depending on the position sun) on some towers it can move too much causing RPD fults so painting the tower a light color helps with the issue.
This terrain is super fun to ski when hike access is open before the lift opens for the season otherwise it is usually a giant, icy, mogul field when the lift is open.
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If the Pioneer Ridge expansion ever gets built, that’s when they’ll probably upgrade capacity.
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They will double the capacity when Pioneer gets built.
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Anyone know if they are going to build Pioneer? The master plan has been approved. But would they build Bashor Bowl Gondola and new Thunderhead first?
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Pioneer lift is the last thing that will be built on the master plan. I’m guessing it will be a 1,200 pph high speed quad.
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I know I once saw some photograph somewhere of the lift with 2,400 pph chair spacing instead of 1,200. I can’t remember if it was the skilifts.org forum or somewhere else.
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This lift has been closed all season thus far, not sure why. I sent an inquiry to Steamboat but didn’t get a response.
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I don’t know why. I know they are increasing capacity to 1,800 this summer. All the trails this serves are open though.
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I get the impression this will entail Doppelmayr fabricating some custom Garaventa CTEC chair bails and grips. Unless Steamboat already has some lying around.
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I wonder if they will put padded backs on all existing and new chairs. Do you think they will or not. Currently, they don’t have padded seat backs.
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It’s mid February and this lift is still closed. However the runs that it serves are open for hike-to access. I was told by Steamboat that the lift is closed due to lack of snow. The rest of the resort has plenty of coverage. I wish someone would look into this. Seems fishy.
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It’s opening this weekend.
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I’m confused the terrain it serves has been open for almost a month now and the lift hasn’t run once. Does anyone know what is wrong with this lift?
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From asking a patroller two weeks ago, staffing shortages combined with lack of snow, so they want to keep people away from the terrain even if it’s able to be accessed. The only lift they can easily get away with not running.
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They need every lift open right now with the crowds they’re seeing and the COVID restrictions. Very strange.
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They had the terrain open because there was enough snow to ski it but the traffic from the lift would wear away a lot of snow so that’s why.
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I wonder what kind of snow coverage we will see on Pioneer next year. It will probably the last stuff to open on mountain but the terrain is very steep and hard to navigate. The terrain is very similar to the steep part of No Names just over 4x as long.
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Possibly opening tomorrow (Friday) With the recent snow we got.
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Why are some towers black, and some white.
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Could have something to do with UV radiation to the towers.
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Same reason as solar deflectors on some Doppelmayr towers, the dark colors cause the tower sunflower (move depending on the position sun) on some towers it can move too much causing RPD fults so painting the tower a light color helps with the issue.
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This terrain is super fun to ski when hike access is open before the lift opens for the season otherwise it is usually a giant, icy, mogul field when the lift is open.
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When I rode this lift this season, the chair spacing does not appear to be 2,400 pph it still felt like 1,200 pph.
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It’s pretty noticeable now that Mahogany Ridge (only reachable via Pioneer Ridge) is open.
And the Mahogany Ridge Express visibly has 2,400 pph, double the capacity of the Pony Express.
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Opened today. Not too bad given how dry the season has been. Thankfully the past week there has been some decent snow.
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