Vail Resorts built this lift to replace a detachable quad in Jackson Gore.There is a large parking rail for all chairs.Lift overview.Loading area.The parking area also has space for the maze.Serpentine parking rail.Angle loading.View leaving the bottom terminal.Looking back at the drive station.Tower 4.View back at T7.Middle part of the lift line.View back down.Breakover towers near the summit.Arriving at the drive terminal.Top terminal.Upper station with natural wood.Lower station with towers 1 and 2.The lift line.
I want to think that once they get all the terrain open, those who hung out here because Quantum Four was a bubble chair are more likely to be congregating over on the central mountain since Evergreen Summit and Sunburst Six are right next to one another.
I doubt it. Evergreen Summit will help alleviate the lines at Sunburst because it allows those trails to be lapped by a detachable lift without having to ski all the way down. The fact that it is a bubble will only help further move people uphill and away from Sunburst. Jackson Gore will continue to attract the same crowds as it did before because it will continue to be the best advanced area at Okemo but it will now just have shorter lines.
Evergreen Summit is a massive bottleneck, because there were lines longer than Sunburst yesterday, because people thought that the line on the 6 would be longer than the 4, but went to Evergreen instead.
Maybe they thought if they did in-line loading, the maze might cut into the path of those coming in from Coleman Brook.
Or they just wanted the canopies over the parking rail to act as a shelter for those waiting in line.
It is a little puzzling since Jackson Gore was originally built with inline loading, then got converted to 90 degree loading when it became a bubble lift.
Agree with earlier comment above that this Q6 is a windier alignment, which doesn’t make sense, since Climate Change winds are becoming more of a problem at the mountains. In addition, the towers look taller then the Q4, which makes it more vulnerable to winds.
The 6 person chairs are heavy and thus less susceptible to wind which is the reason the bubble quad was removed from this alignment. If this lift is on hold there is no way on skis out of Jackson gore.
Climate change is a huge issue in the ski industry, but it’s not going to cause lifts to suddenly have to go on wind hold. The towers being taller may definitely affect things, but this Washington Post article suggests that wind speeds are going up by 2.5 mph per decade. That’s not going to affect much in this lift’s lifetime. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/11/02/climate-change-damaging-thunderstorm-winds/
“It’s just 2.5 mph” is a very similar statement to “it’s just a couple degrees celsius”. This is a global average, across the entire year.
These global averages belie much more extreme changes in localized areas, for short bouts of time. “A couple degrees celsius” means higher frequency of short but intesne heat waves, typically in the places already stressed by extreme weather. The global average likewise may be offset by extreme cold in other places. It’s often the deviation (second moment) that matters more than the average (first moment).
But you don’t need to take my word for it, the sub-headline of the exact article you linked says this: “Researchers believe that damaging winds may have become nearly five times more common in the central United States.” As for the Northern Appalachians, they are already home to some of the most extreme winds on the planet. This is why lifts in New England tend to hug the ground near the summit. And as the planet warms, I’d be wary of assuming those winds evolve 1:1 with the global average.
I admit I was wrong. But there must be some reason they decided to build it with tall towers? Maybe something with requiring less towers to make it cheaper?
@anders, it is very common for new lifts to have taller towers than the ones they replace, this is largely to save costs since fewer taller towers requires less materials, maintenance and installation work. Depending on the type of lift being replaced, and the type of lift replacing it (and things like lift length customer preferences etc.) lifts can end up with 5-10 fewer towers when they are replaced.
The walkways are most likely an additional cost. Vail does not normally spend more on extra features, direct drives, loading carpets, etc. What they have instead is what is called “Poma Passes”. The mechanics can stand and hook on to them but still allows them to work on the assemblies.
Ok. Thanks. Do you think Wild Spur will have those because in the staging lot it doesn’t seem like they have them, but The Gondola and Sunnyside have them?
Lift Blog 
Why is there 2 panels missing from the terminal underskin?
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It’s considered bad luck in certain circles to achieve perfection. Le meglio è l’inimico del bene.
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That could be for tension and moving the terminals forward and backward. Just a guess though.
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I want to think that once they get all the terrain open, those who hung out here because Quantum Four was a bubble chair are more likely to be congregating over on the central mountain since Evergreen Summit and Sunburst Six are right next to one another.
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I doubt it. Evergreen Summit will help alleviate the lines at Sunburst because it allows those trails to be lapped by a detachable lift without having to ski all the way down. The fact that it is a bubble will only help further move people uphill and away from Sunburst. Jackson Gore will continue to attract the same crowds as it did before because it will continue to be the best advanced area at Okemo but it will now just have shorter lines.
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Evergreen Summit is a massive bottleneck, because there were lines longer than Sunburst yesterday, because people thought that the line on the 6 would be longer than the 4, but went to Evergreen instead.
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Is it just me or is this lift on a fairly windy alignment?
Also, why is 90 degree loading used here? I know it is typically done with bubbles, but this is not a bubble…
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Maybe they thought if they did in-line loading, the maze might cut into the path of those coming in from Coleman Brook.
Or they just wanted the canopies over the parking rail to act as a shelter for those waiting in line.
It is a little puzzling since Jackson Gore was originally built with inline loading, then got converted to 90 degree loading when it became a bubble lift.
Before:
After:
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Agree with earlier comment above that this Q6 is a windier alignment, which doesn’t make sense, since Climate Change winds are becoming more of a problem at the mountains. In addition, the towers look taller then the Q4, which makes it more vulnerable to winds.
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The 6 person chairs are heavy and thus less susceptible to wind which is the reason the bubble quad was removed from this alignment. If this lift is on hold there is no way on skis out of Jackson gore.
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Climate change is a huge issue in the ski industry, but it’s not going to cause lifts to suddenly have to go on wind hold. The towers being taller may definitely affect things, but this Washington Post article suggests that wind speeds are going up by 2.5 mph per decade. That’s not going to affect much in this lift’s lifetime.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/11/02/climate-change-damaging-thunderstorm-winds/
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“It’s just 2.5 mph” is a very similar statement to “it’s just a couple degrees celsius”. This is a global average, across the entire year.
These global averages belie much more extreme changes in localized areas, for short bouts of time. “A couple degrees celsius” means higher frequency of short but intesne heat waves, typically in the places already stressed by extreme weather. The global average likewise may be offset by extreme cold in other places. It’s often the deviation (second moment) that matters more than the average (first moment).
But you don’t need to take my word for it, the sub-headline of the exact article you linked says this: “Researchers believe that damaging winds may have become nearly five times more common in the central United States.” As for the Northern Appalachians, they are already home to some of the most extreme winds on the planet. This is why lifts in New England tend to hug the ground near the summit. And as the planet warms, I’d be wary of assuming those winds evolve 1:1 with the global average.
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I admit I was wrong. But there must be some reason they decided to build it with tall towers? Maybe something with requiring less towers to make it cheaper?
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@anders, it is very common for new lifts to have taller towers than the ones they replace, this is largely to save costs since fewer taller towers requires less materials, maintenance and installation work. Depending on the type of lift being replaced, and the type of lift replacing it (and things like lift length customer preferences etc.) lifts can end up with 5-10 fewer towers when they are replaced.
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Why don’t the lifting frames have stairs on each side? I’ve seen this on a couple new LP lifts but I don’t get it.
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The walkways are most likely an additional cost. Vail does not normally spend more on extra features, direct drives, loading carpets, etc. What they have instead is what is called “Poma Passes”. The mechanics can stand and hook on to them but still allows them to work on the assemblies.
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Ok. Thanks. Do you think Wild Spur will have those because in the staging lot it doesn’t seem like they have them, but The Gondola and Sunnyside have them?
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Vail is gonna spend extra money for a direct drive on the Sunrise Gondola at Park City so maybe that will change.
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Any reason why there’s no bubbles on this lift? I like it in terms of uphill capacity and the views.
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Less exposure to wind since it is the only egress out of j gore, fewer windholds.
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Vail doesn’t buy bubbles ever.
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