Stage two of Skyeship reaches close to Killington Peak but not quite there.Unloading area at the return terminal.An early CWA Omega cabin with upgraded ski racks.Breakover towers.Top station side view.Turnaround area.Poma of America control pedestal.View down from the summit. You can see the flat section of Stage I below.Top few towers.View down the upper lift line.Middle station, where cabins can be set to interline between stage.Lift line.Integrated sheaves at the bottom terminal.There are two sets of two rails each that transfer cabins between the parking facility and stages.Connections between stages I and II.Upper stage overview.The turn.Mid terminal overview.Cabins turning around at the bottom.Lower part of the upper stage.Mid-station seen from above with parking building.Another look down the line.Lift line.
Agree on mechanical problems, probably has to do more with length and the angle station than age though. This lift is 9 years newer than Lake Liouse’s gondola, 6 years newer than Stratton’s and 3 years newer than Stowe’s. All those lifts run pretty reliably.
On the control pedestal it has a “fast” button. It says the line speed is 1200 fpm, but do they ever run it that fast, or do they run it at like 1000 or 1100 and speed it up for long lines or if ski patrol needs to get up fast.
They sometimes run it at 1200, usually on busy days. I think it normally runs at 1100 unless it’s windy. One of the most consistently fast lifts out there despite its age.
It would be awesome to see that again, but there are two major barriers. A) the original gondola’s top terminal building is now the Peak Lodge restaurant at the top of the mountain and B) this lift doesn’t yet need replacement. Killington’s current owners are also less ambitious than their previous ones and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this lift and Needles both take out at the same time and replaced with a detachable six or eight pack in Stage II’s current alignment. They could then keep Stage I as a refurbished gondola. But again, that replacement wouldn’t be for another 10 years or so.
There’s a lot of factors that make that gondola to the summit. Collin mentioned some of them. Another one is heavy wind. K-1 gets a lot of wind once it gets to the break over towers on a normal day, and the 3 stage of skye ship would be likely worse.
I don’t see this lift being replaced anytime soon, but they would never do what you’re saying and create a forced transfer at the bottom of Needle’s. It already takes over 15 minutes even at full speed to get from Skyeship Base to Skye Peak. They don’t usually run it at full speed, but always at least 1000 fpm. Not many lifts are that consistently fast. They wouldn’t do anything to make it take even longer. There’s also the fact that the trails down to Skyeship base require starting at Skye Peak to ski. They will also never extend the lift to the top again. They have plenty of routes up there, including South Ridge, K1, and the bubble chair to North Ridge. When the original gondola was built, the Peak Double and Glades Platter were the only other lifts going there, so it made more sense for the gondola to go to the top.
Unfortunately, this lift is really showing its age. When it was built it was a state of the art lift with cabins that had music and heating as well as modern art designs on them. While it still runs quite fast, the cabins have a horrible vibration and the music and heaters don’t work. The lift is showing age in other areas too. I really hope they can replace the cabins and a general refurbishment of the lift as it is a workhorse lift for the mountain.
IMO it makes sense for them to replace the cabins in the next 10 years or so. The lift is unreliable from my experience, but it isn’t that essential of a lift so they might be able to keep it going with new cabins for a while. The bottom half of this lift is a flat run-out to some parking lots (mostly just exists so killington can advertise a 3,000′ drop). The top half is mediocre low-elevation intermediate terrain and is made redundant by needles eye.
The cabins have always been vibrating like that. Its because those CWA cabins do not have dampeners so every vibration on the line is sent straight down into the cabins. K1 had that problem too as far back as I can remember. Also this lift isn’t a workhorse as Somebody said, just a transfer lift for parking and to add that 1000 “extra” vertical.
Lift Blog 
Stuck on the gondola
2nd time today
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I went to Killy in December and the upper half was on and off all day. What’s wrong with this lift?
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My guess is mechanical problems. It’s certainly one of POMA’s older gondolas in North America, so I wouldn’t discount age as being a factor.
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Agree on mechanical problems, probably has to do more with length and the angle station than age though. This lift is 9 years newer than Lake Liouse’s gondola, 6 years newer than Stratton’s and 3 years newer than Stowe’s. All those lifts run pretty reliably.
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Did you happen to notice all the ice on the trees this morning??
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On the control pedestal it has a “fast” button. It says the line speed is 1200 fpm, but do they ever run it that fast, or do they run it at like 1000 or 1100 and speed it up for long lines or if ski patrol needs to get up fast.
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They sometimes run it at 1200, usually on busy days. I think it normally runs at 1100 unless it’s windy. One of the most consistently fast lifts out there despite its age.
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Crazy thought but if Killington replaces this and follows the original line of the Killington East gondola? (100 to summit)
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It would be awesome to see that again, but there are two major barriers. A) the original gondola’s top terminal building is now the Peak Lodge restaurant at the top of the mountain and B) this lift doesn’t yet need replacement. Killington’s current owners are also less ambitious than their previous ones and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this lift and Needles both take out at the same time and replaced with a detachable six or eight pack in Stage II’s current alignment. They could then keep Stage I as a refurbished gondola. But again, that replacement wouldn’t be for another 10 years or so.
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There’s a lot of factors that make that gondola to the summit. Collin mentioned some of them. Another one is heavy wind. K-1 gets a lot of wind once it gets to the break over towers on a normal day, and the 3 stage of skye ship would be likely worse.
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I don’t see this lift being replaced anytime soon, but they would never do what you’re saying and create a forced transfer at the bottom of Needle’s. It already takes over 15 minutes even at full speed to get from Skyeship Base to Skye Peak. They don’t usually run it at full speed, but always at least 1000 fpm. Not many lifts are that consistently fast. They wouldn’t do anything to make it take even longer. There’s also the fact that the trails down to Skyeship base require starting at Skye Peak to ski. They will also never extend the lift to the top again. They have plenty of routes up there, including South Ridge, K1, and the bubble chair to North Ridge. When the original gondola was built, the Peak Double and Glades Platter were the only other lifts going there, so it made more sense for the gondola to go to the top.
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those are some cool and sweet cabin paint jobs!
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Unfortunately, this lift is really showing its age. When it was built it was a state of the art lift with cabins that had music and heating as well as modern art designs on them. While it still runs quite fast, the cabins have a horrible vibration and the music and heaters don’t work. The lift is showing age in other areas too. I really hope they can replace the cabins and a general refurbishment of the lift as it is a workhorse lift for the mountain.
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IMO it makes sense for them to replace the cabins in the next 10 years or so. The lift is unreliable from my experience, but it isn’t that essential of a lift so they might be able to keep it going with new cabins for a while. The bottom half of this lift is a flat run-out to some parking lots (mostly just exists so killington can advertise a 3,000′ drop). The top half is mediocre low-elevation intermediate terrain and is made redundant by needles eye.
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The cabins have always been vibrating like that. Its because those CWA cabins do not have dampeners so every vibration on the line is sent straight down into the cabins. K1 had that problem too as far back as I can remember. Also this lift isn’t a workhorse as Somebody said, just a transfer lift for parking and to add that 1000 “extra” vertical.
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“Stage two of Skyeship reaches close to Killington Peak but not quite there.” — Should this say “Skye Peak”?
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Will they do a cabin upgrade here like on K-1?
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