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Old 10-08-2017, 09:57 AM   #1
fatlazyless
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Default Waterville replacing summit double with a t-bar

Google: 'Forest Service approval launches construction of new summit t-bar lift at Waterville Valley, September 26, 2017'

There's a couple internet reports from believable sources that say the Waterville Valley High Country double chair is getting removed, and being replaced with a t-bar. This seems like a very good move, having a reliable t-bar to move you from the top of the quad lift to the top of the mountain.

Downhill skiing at Waterville Valley always seemed to be a wee bit of a disappointment as the summit was usually not skiable because the old High Country double was not working. The High Country double chairlift, 1966-2016, 50-years of totally crappy-wappy operation.... a major, major blunder.....the slowest chair lift ever....when it was operational....which was almost always broke down.

This brand new, soon to be constructed t-bar should have been built way, way back in about 1970 .....or earlier ..... it was obvious in 1966, the High Country double had a serious problem..... extremely slow .....and usually not in service due to mechanical breakdown. When in doubt ..... throw it out!

Will the new t-bar lift get closed due to the wind? Probably not as much as the old double chair, but after all, some days it's just too windy on the mountain for downhill skiing?

Building a new t-bar to replace the old High Country double is a great move, but what should really happen is to build an old retro style, olde fashioned rope tow that powers off an old blue 1948 Ford farm tractor with the big tire removed from the big wheel rim..... and the rope powered up by the big rim.......just like skiing back in 1949 ......now, that would be reliable! No rope tow claws allowed .... ha-ha!

For about $504, I can buy a combination down hill Value Pass with the cross country trails included.... and hearing about this new High Country t-bar lift.....leads me to believe that I may actually stick a crowbar into my wallet.....and pry out the $435 for a downhill value pass and $69 for a xc add on.

Is it worth the money considering one can hit the seven miles of Forest Service xc trails, leaving from the north end of WV at Depot Camp parking lot......for the recently raised Forest Service price of $30/year/vehicle, formerly $20, or for $5/car/day, formerly $3, prices went up June 1, 2017, for a Forest Service annual parking sticker .....the same WMNF car windshield, parking sticker used to go hiking? The White Mountain National Forest calls these trails 'Multi-Use Trails', open to hikers, dog walkers, xc skiers, and bicycles. As winter rolls on, and the snowfall piles up, they become good xc ski trails with two sets of xc tracks running along the trails outer sides, leaving room in the center for xc skate skiing. And, at the low price of $5/car/day/cash-in-the-green-steel-deposit-box at the trail entry, a whole lot of locals from surrounding Thornton, Campton, Plymouth and Waterville Valley do show up to hit the Forest Service, Multi-Use trails in what seems like a huge, old growth, forested, mountain area.

From 1988-1995 or so, the main quad went all the way to the tippy tippy top of the summit, and that was the bestest ever ....... big winds ...... so what! When it was too windy to run the quad, you go hit the forested xc trails, down in the valley!

Replacing that summit double chair with a t-bar seems like a 'no-brainer' and too bad, they didn't start there with a t-bar in 1966 ........ t-bars and rope tows were the greatest.......after all.....skiing is supposed to be about having some challenging fun, and not about riding hi-tech lifts that do everything super smooth....... and super boring.

After fifty years, 1966-2016, of operating very, very, very slowly, or being closed for weeks due to a breakdown, the High Country double chair lift will be replaced by a two person t-bar surface lift ...... which should be a huge improvement ....... fun going up, and fun skiing down the wide open, high country slope with the huge views......3-cheers! Riding a t-bar is actually fun to do, and can be challenging, especially when it goes steep.....but not as much fun as riding an olde rope tow ...... those were amaz'n!
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Last edited by fatlazyless; 10-24-2017 at 03:49 PM.
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Old 10-08-2017, 10:30 AM   #2
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Default Time for some real new lifts.

I can't wait for Vail or KSL to make an offer on the place. Time for a nice new six pack and lift out of the village.

Just think, if Vail buys the place, you will be able to ski Stowe, Vail, Whistler, and more. KSL will give you Stratton, Tremblant, Aspen, Squaw Valley, and more.
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Old 10-23-2017, 05:01 AM   #3
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Default

Looks like the removal/replacement........out with the old double chair.....in with the new t-bar, up top the mountain, was happening all last week.

Looks like a huge helicopter, with very large orange and white vertical striping, maybe an old Soviet Union military helicopter (a good question?), has been hauling poured concrete by dangling a line to a concrete pour bucket below, and haul'n it up and down this mountain top project.

"....hey comrade .....you be back here quick with more concrete......we need more mud ..... nyet?.....da!" ....seems like old helicopters never die......they get maintained and maintained and maintained

.........

....oopsie-doopsie.....just read in www.waterville.com ... Phase II - learn more ..... that it was a 1958 Sikorsky S-55 helicopter ...... www.midwesthelicopters.com/images/IMG_1622a.jpg .....which makes it almost 60-years old ....how about that! Doesn't Sikorsky sound like a Russian name?

While the ski area, Waterville Valley, is about 50-years old, 1966 to present-2017, the helicopter used to help install a new t-bar lift up top on High Country is a 1958-Sikorsky, even older than the ski area ..... seems a wee bit unusual?

Ya know.....what I'd really like to see, up there, is a 1958-style rope tow, as opposed to a 2017-built ...... t-bar lift..... than uses a 1948 grey Ford farm tractor to power it up .......oh well!

........

Sunday, Nov 26, 2017

Heard the old 1966 high country double chair got repaired and will be in use this season. While the new hi country t-bar lift had concrete lift foundations constructed with the help of a helicopter, this new t-bar lift construction project was supposedly not completed, so maybe they will continue to use the old 1966 hi country double chair, which is like the slowest chair lift ever, ever, ever, ever ..... when it works? ....... who knows?

www.waterville.com/cams/ .... two cam shots; ski area bottom of mountain area on the left with snow making ...... golf course xc skiing on the right, about two miles from the downhill ski area, with all natural snow, no snow making

.....say-hey ..... is that the Waffle House in a new location.....next to the Valley Run lift get-on......sure looks like it.

WV is so deserted during the Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri week, maybe they should just pay people twenty dollars to show up and go skiing .....ho-ho-ho!
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Last edited by fatlazyless; 11-26-2017 at 03:05 PM.
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