Towers 1-2 at the Mary Jane base.View up the line in summer.Extra support for a tower in a marsh.A terminal in a marsh.Loading area.Lift line from the base.Turnaround at the return.Top drive station.Unloading area and lift shack.Tri-leg Omega station.Upper lift line.Middle part of the line.View down the line.Lower lift line and Mary Jane base.Even with 5 lifts at Mary Jane, it gets crowded.Lower lift line view.Winter view from the base.Riding up.Splice tower.Drive station side view.
37 thoughts on “Super Gauge Express – Winter Park, CO”
Collin ParsonsOctober 2, 2019 / 10:32 am
When the predecessor to this lift, the Summit Express was built in 1985, it extended the vertical of the ski area. Previously the furthest up you could go were the tops of Challenger and Iron Horse. The High Lonesome Quad was also built that year to better connect it to the Winter Park side, and was upgraded to detachable in 1991.
this year, the Super Guage Express has screens attached to the safety bar that show the map, weather, travel times, lift status, and some ads. they are really nice, however I wish they we touch screen.
How do these get their power? Is it when they go through the terminal that they get charged? I wonder how they change the content of the display – travel times especially need to be constantly updated.
They do indeed get their power from rails inside the terminal. Next time you load the lift, if you have the chance the main computer for it is right above the loading ramp on the turn around.
Some of the towers could have been reused from the previous lift. I would assume that the the white towers were reused because there are lees of them. Summit Express was relocated to Mission Ridge on a shorter alignment, which would mean that less towers would have been necessary, leaving some existing towers that could be reused. Also, the last few towers are the same as the rest of the lift. Summit Express had a portal tower at the top and this lift has regular tube towers past the breakover.
They definitely reused a few. You might notice some strengthening gussets welded to the flange at the top of the tube on those. As for the white, some towers were more likely to bend slightly in the sun and get misaligned, so they painted them a lighter colour to avoid that. We did that on our old Eagle lift.
Why do they have a support arm for the 2nd tower? It seams like they raised the tower up 1-2 feet because you can see the extra splice, that is the same as the rest of the tower, at the top of the tube before the crossarm.
Yup. Note also that the tower assemblies are combos, which are more prone to harmonic vibrations because of the lack of load. This would exacerbate any soft-foot foundation issues. I’m guessing they found this during load test or initial run-in. I rode it the first season and it was already there.
Lift Blog 
When the predecessor to this lift, the Summit Express was built in 1985, it extended the vertical of the ski area. Previously the furthest up you could go were the tops of Challenger and Iron Horse. The High Lonesome Quad was also built that year to better connect it to the Winter Park side, and was upgraded to detachable in 1991.
LikeLiked by 1 person
this year, the Super Guage Express has screens attached to the safety bar that show the map, weather, travel times, lift status, and some ads. they are really nice, however I wish they we touch screen.
LikeLike
How do these get their power? Is it when they go through the terminal that they get charged? I wonder how they change the content of the display – travel times especially need to be constantly updated.
LikeLike
They do indeed get their power from rails inside the terminal. Next time you load the lift, if you have the chance the main computer for it is right above the loading ramp on the turn around.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If they were touch screen, they’d probably distract riders, resulting in more mis-unloads.
LikeLike
Why are some of the towers white and the rest are black? Whenever I ride this lift, I always ask the people beside me why they did this.
LikeLike
Some of the towers could have been reused from the previous lift. I would assume that the the white towers were reused because there are lees of them. Summit Express was relocated to Mission Ridge on a shorter alignment, which would mean that less towers would have been necessary, leaving some existing towers that could be reused. Also, the last few towers are the same as the rest of the lift. Summit Express had a portal tower at the top and this lift has regular tube towers past the breakover.
LikeLike
They definitely reused a few. You might notice some strengthening gussets welded to the flange at the top of the tube on those. As for the white, some towers were more likely to bend slightly in the sun and get misaligned, so they painted them a lighter colour to avoid that. We did that on our old Eagle lift.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Does anybody else find this posters name handle ironic with the question the asked?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Is this an Omega Terminal because I know that Explorer is Omega but I have no idea what type this is because it is a slightly different style.
LikeLike
This is an Omega terminal.
LikeLike
The Eskimo Express is a first generation Omega. The Super Gauge Express and Panoramic Express are third generation Omegas.
LikeLike
Is that the same for the Cabriolet?
LikeLike
That would be correct, the easiest way to tell is that the sides aren’t curved like the LPA.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This lift now has pretty cool digital displays which cycle through maps, weather, capacity, snow conditions, and (in theory) live traffic cams.
LikeLike
Why do they have a support arm for the 2nd tower? It seams like they raised the tower up 1-2 feet because you can see the extra splice, that is the same as the rest of the tower, at the top of the tube before the crossarm.
LikeLike
Probably because the ground is really soft and wet there and they don’t want the tower to have any chance of moving and getting out of alignment.
LikeLike
Yup. Note also that the tower assemblies are combos, which are more prone to harmonic vibrations because of the lack of load. This would exacerbate any soft-foot foundation issues. I’m guessing they found this during load test or initial run-in. I rode it the first season and it was already there.
LikeLike
In the winter is the ground a soft foundation and maybe unstable?
LikeLike
This lift has a Maximum hourly capacity of 3400PPH. Design HP is 980 HP. Design speed is 1000FPM.
LikeLike
The screens are really cool but a good idea might be to put a gondola in because of the crowds!
LikeLike
There are plans to replace iron horse and pony with one 6-CLD to address the crowds. They do not need a gondola here.
LikeLike
Is that part of WP master plan
LikeLike
Yes, indeed it is.
LikeLike
This lift goes way faster than 1000mph. Maybe a little faster than 1100mph. One of the lifties said that the gondola and this lift are the fastest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
1100 mph!? I think you mean 1100 fpm. A 1100 mph chairlift would be crazy!
LikeLike
does anyone know why there’s a bracer bar on tower 2 here?
LikeLike
tower 2 was leaning because it’s in a wetland, the brace keeps it plum
LikeLiked by 1 person
and why are some of the towers randomly painted white?
LikeLike
I believe it’s due the thermal expansion, when the towers get hot they were getting cps faults
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh, gotcha 🫡
LikeLike
what year did they switch to galvanized towers to counteract temperature differentials?
LikeLike
they ran out of black ones so they used white ones
LikeLiked by 1 person
i figured at first that they ran out of paint for the build
LikeLike
They were re-used from the previous summit express lift.
LikeLike
super gauge broke and closed down today. Anyone know why??
LikeLike
It was only closed for a little bit. It re-opened running on diesel. Back to normal ops today.
LikeLike