This lift replaced a CTEC triple in 2019.Sunnyside is the second Leitner-Poma LPA lift at Winter Park.Side view of the drive terminal.View down at tower 11.Middle part of the lift line.View up at tower 6.The lower half of the line is steeper than the upper.Return terminal and tower 1.LPA station.Loading area and short maintenance rail.Riding up towers Lunch Rock.View back down towards Panoramic Express.Upper lift line.A Leitner six place chair.Terminal underskin and tower 12.The top terminal next to Super Gauge.Tower head.Middle section of the lift line.Tower 5.T2 and the bottom station.Lift overview.
Like Hunter did with the Northern Express, I’d say that Winter Park went with 2,400 capacity for this lift rather than a high speed quad because a six pack provides them with nine second loading intervals, as opposed to the 6 to 8 second intervals that a quad would have. I suppose that’s fair given the lift ride isn’t all that long and there’s only five trails that the Sunnyside Express laps. That short length also might justify the reason Winter Park decided to skip adding footrests to the chairs, even though it does make the lift look strange when the Panoramic Express and Super Gauge Express both use footrests. (I wonder if Winter Park’s way of choosing which detachables have footrests is based on the length of the lift or something, seeing as the detachables without footrests are all shorter than 4,800 feet in length, while the ones with footrests are all longer than 5,000 feet in length).
I saw someone fall off this lift this past season. I couldn’t tell of the bar was down, but just by riding it its easy to tell that those kid stop bars are useless.
Well I think they are ok for the really small kids, but I don’t see too many small kids riding this lift The kid could have also been “helping” lower the bar. I have heard rumor that 50% of falls happen with the bar up and 50% happen with the bar down. I do like to lower the bar because of footrests and it helps me feel a little more safe on some lifts. Most of the time, I feel like falls are caused by horsing around on the lift, not lift error.
You’re correct as to the mechanism, but I think I can speak for all of us mechanics when I say it just makes the terminal dirtier. Zinc dust does get everywhere ;)
A LeitDrive (Leitner Direct Drive) can cost anywhere from $500K to 1 million. They didn’t do one for this lift because it is very short compared to the gondola, and the fact that it doesn’t operate year round. The gondola on the other hand is the Main lift in the summer and you want something that has a lesser chance of breaking down, on a main lift with a high capacity.
This lift has done a really good job of reducing lines at Panoramic. Lines still can (and do) get long at both lifts, but the split of traffic using Panoramic vs Sunnyside has gone from ~80/20 to ~65/35 (which may seem small, but it is noticeable).
Lift Blog 
Finally now it isn’t a pain to lap Sunnyside!
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It’s awesome how they were able to use the classic Winter Park font without making a separate sign!
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Like Hunter did with the Northern Express, I’d say that Winter Park went with 2,400 capacity for this lift rather than a high speed quad because a six pack provides them with nine second loading intervals, as opposed to the 6 to 8 second intervals that a quad would have. I suppose that’s fair given the lift ride isn’t all that long and there’s only five trails that the Sunnyside Express laps. That short length also might justify the reason Winter Park decided to skip adding footrests to the chairs, even though it does make the lift look strange when the Panoramic Express and Super Gauge Express both use footrests. (I wonder if Winter Park’s way of choosing which detachables have footrests is based on the length of the lift or something, seeing as the detachables without footrests are all shorter than 4,800 feet in length, while the ones with footrests are all longer than 5,000 feet in length).
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I saw someone fall off this lift this past season. I couldn’t tell of the bar was down, but just by riding it its easy to tell that those kid stop bars are useless.
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Well I think they are ok for the really small kids, but I don’t see too many small kids riding this lift The kid could have also been “helping” lower the bar. I have heard rumor that 50% of falls happen with the bar up and 50% happen with the bar down. I do like to lower the bar because of footrests and it helps me feel a little more safe on some lifts. Most of the time, I feel like falls are caused by horsing around on the lift, not lift error.
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I think it is pretty cool how there are polished bands around the chair stems, probably from all the brushes in the terminals.
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You’re correct as to the mechanism, but I think I can speak for all of us mechanics when I say it just makes the terminal dirtier. Zinc dust does get everywhere ;)
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I wonder why they didn’t add a Lietner DirectDrive on this lift like The Gondola?
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You would have to ask Winter Park’s lift personnel.
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A LeitDrive (Leitner Direct Drive) can cost anywhere from $500K to 1 million. They didn’t do one for this lift because it is very short compared to the gondola, and the fact that it doesn’t operate year round. The gondola on the other hand is the Main lift in the summer and you want something that has a lesser chance of breaking down, on a main lift with a high capacity.
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Drive Equipment:
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This lift has done a really good job of reducing lines at Panoramic. Lines still can (and do) get long at both lifts, but the split of traffic using Panoramic vs Sunnyside has gone from ~80/20 to ~65/35 (which may seem small, but it is noticeable).
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This color scheme is really underrated especially with the golden brown terminal cover paired with the light brown or gold under skin.
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This and Alta’s Sunnyside are nearly identical except this one doesn’t have a direct drive.
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