In 2018, The Gondola replaced a high speed quad called Zephyr.As of its opening, The Gondola is tied for the highest capacity gondola in the United States at 3,600 passengers per hour.View down at tower 17.Breakover towers and the top station.A Sigma Diamond 10 skis inside cabin.Cabins passing above tower 15.Looking down at T14.Splice tower near the summit.Tower 12.The middle part of the line.View down at T8.Lower terminal overview.Maze and loading area.Side view of the top terminal.Unloading zone at Sunspot.Top terminal plaza.Rear end of the long LPA terminal.When it opened, this lift was the third with a direct drive in North America.All of the brakes act directly on the bullwheel, as do two small electric evacuation drives when in use.View from the porch.If the power goes out, two generators start up automatically and can power the DirectDrive at normal speed.Cabins turning around up top.The top turnaround.Tower 18 and the cabin maintenance facility.There are 75 cabins plus two spares on this lift.View up from the acceleration area at the bottom.A cabin departs the return terminal.Towers 1 and 2.Another look at the tension return station in The Village.Small maintenance rail at the bottom.As many as 6 cabins can load at once.Tower 3.Lift overview.A busy bottom station seen from above.
I saw the CEO of winter park while standing in line at Eskimo. The CEO (Sky Foulkes) said that they will expand it to lunch rock and once they do they will give the lift a real name. Before the make the expansion they have to replace sunny side.
As a matter of fact, Winter Park just announced that Sunnyside will be replaced with a Leitner-POMA high speed six pack lift. Maybe they’ll expand the Gondola next year!
If there are plans to extend the gondola further up, I ask where on Lunch Rock would they put the unload terminal, as there are spacing constraints to take into consideration.
I saw the CEO again (Sky foulkes) and he took me into the maintenance building and then he took me up into the terminal so I could see the direct drive!
I think in the summer they won’t add additional bike carriers I think they will just raise one of of the seats and leave the other seat down so you can bring your bike into the cabin.
On needles your bike goes in a cabin they hold 2 each and you load the cabin behind it and the operators take it out at top and give it to you when you get there. Might be different at other resorts. The deasonbuilt bike trays have more bike capacity depending how long the lift is.
That’s sad. I like that old lift, and when they replace it, they will add a mid station where the flat part is, bring much more people to the usually powder covered area.
I hope they dont put a midstation because they would have to load every other chair and if both loading stations were crowded it would take forever to get on. I hope they just replace it with a 6 pack with no midstation.
I asked a lift Mechanic when I went this past week, they said that the top station building is a cabin maintenance facility and the bottom was a pump house for the new snowmaking equipment that they redesigned during the summer while adding the gondola. I even saw that when the door was open, there were huge pipes inside that were most likely water pipes.
This is a perfectly capable lift, but it’s such a bummer the windows don’t go floor-to-ceiling. It just looks super cheap. This is a shame because it’s a brand new, direct-drive, signature out-of-base lift. I’m super curious what the motivation for that was (probably cost?). Also, it’s short-sighted not to have equipment racks … all those skis (and bikes) scuffing up the interior.
I’m not sure Sigma offers a floor-to-ceiling window option. Looking at how the cabins are put together (we have the same model) it could be a safety thing- the aluminum panels at the bottom are firmly secured to the frame while the windows are designed to be removed and replaced. The exterior ski racks are nice, but some skis and snowboards don’t fit in them. WP may have opted not to have them installed if they weren’t going to be utilised much.
The Evac’s are not hydro static, they are electric.
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I updated the caption. Thanks Brady!
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Why is does the glass not go all the way to the floor?
why no ski racks outside?
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I have been wondering the same thing
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Does anyone know if this lift was designed to be extended to Lunch Rock?
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I don’t know. There was a rumor about it back before it was built, but I doubt it’s happening.
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yes it actually is I believe, at least according to the main winter park comments section.
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Judging by the top terminal setup I would think not.
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I saw the CEO of winter park while standing in line at Eskimo. The CEO (Sky Foulkes) said that they will expand it to lunch rock and once they do they will give the lift a real name. Before the make the expansion they have to replace sunny side.
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As a matter of fact, Winter Park just announced that Sunnyside will be replaced with a Leitner-POMA high speed six pack lift. Maybe they’ll expand the Gondola next year!
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god no don’t ruin the jane by putting a gondola to LR. There are already too many texans on Jane, we dont need more
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Well nope, they did not expand the gondola, probs due to Covid-19
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If there are plans to extend the gondola further up, I ask where on Lunch Rock would they put the unload terminal, as there are spacing constraints to take into consideration.
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I saw the CEO again (Sky foulkes) and he took me into the maintenance building and then he took me up into the terminal so I could see the direct drive!
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Did you take any pictures?
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I think in the summer they won’t add additional bike carriers I think they will just raise one of of the seats and leave the other seat down so you can bring your bike into the cabin.
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On needles your bike goes in a cabin they hold 2 each and you load the cabin behind it and the operators take it out at top and give it to you when you get there. Might be different at other resorts. The deasonbuilt bike trays have more bike capacity depending how long the lift is.
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The plan is after they replace sunnyside they will replace pioneer.
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That’s sad. I like that old lift, and when they replace it, they will add a mid station where the flat part is, bring much more people to the usually powder covered area.
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It’s unlikely they’ll ever put a midstation on that.
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Actually that is precisely the plan
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I hope they dont put a midstation because they would have to load every other chair and if both loading stations were crowded it would take forever to get on. I hope they just replace it with a 6 pack with no midstation.
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A mid-load station would be fantastic… going over to Pioneer is always painful because of how flat the lower section is.
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They might move the top terminal if they extend to LR. And put in a mid-station where the top terminal currently stands.
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Hey Peter, did you get any photos of the Cabin Maintenance Facility on both Terminals???
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Peter?
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There is only one cabin maintenance facility and its at the top. The building at the bottom is storage and other stuff for the gondola.
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I asked a lift Mechanic when I went this past week, they said that the top station building is a cabin maintenance facility and the bottom was a pump house for the new snowmaking equipment that they redesigned during the summer while adding the gondola. I even saw that when the door was open, there were huge pipes inside that were most likely water pipes.
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This is a perfectly capable lift, but it’s such a bummer the windows don’t go floor-to-ceiling. It just looks super cheap. This is a shame because it’s a brand new, direct-drive, signature out-of-base lift. I’m super curious what the motivation for that was (probably cost?). Also, it’s short-sighted not to have equipment racks … all those skis (and bikes) scuffing up the interior.
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I’m not sure Sigma offers a floor-to-ceiling window option. Looking at how the cabins are put together (we have the same model) it could be a safety thing- the aluminum panels at the bottom are firmly secured to the frame while the windows are designed to be removed and replaced. The exterior ski racks are nice, but some skis and snowboards don’t fit in them. WP may have opted not to have them installed if they weren’t going to be utilised much.
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I think sigma offers them. Gondola 1 at Vail has floor to ceiling windows.
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I stand corrected.
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