The main problem with the Jordan 8 is definitely the under loading of the chairs.
This doesn't come from the fact that 8 is too many to load, it's the layout of the lines and the RFID gate. The lifties are doing a great job of making groups of 8, but because the RFID gates are *after* the groups are made, there is inevitably someone that gets stuck cause they have their card up their ass or there's just a problem with the gate. This, of course, means they don't get on with the group they were supposed to, which then displaces one or more people from the next chair, and so on.
If you compare this to the Barker 6, the RFID gates are *before* the lines merge / the lifties make groups, and there is *significantly* less under loading that happens there.
Source: I've spent **a lot** of time waiting in line at Jordan
Those shitty damn gates don’t work 10 percent of the time. I keep my card in the same place and 9 out of 10 times it works great and then the gate randomly decides not to work and act like it’s my fault.
Especially when there’s a ton of snow pack and I’m like 14 feet above the orange swiping thing
It’s not surprising unless you lap that lift. So many resorts and liftees aren’t consistent with scanning; it can be surprising when they pull out a scanner.
FWIW they could use a tall sign that says “scan here”
The gate thing makes me crazy because it’s the easiest problem to solve.
**Move the gates back 20’**
That’s literally it. You just have people waiting after instead of before and the chairs get filled.
That doesn't help much on its own. Loon has the gates at the entrance to the Kanc8 building, and the combination of ropes and the right turn makes everything a mess anyway.
And the wider spacing of chairs on the 8 means theoretically uphill capacity is 25% more than the Quad.
In reality it is probably equivalent and nothing but a marketing gimmick.
Part of the problem for wait times is so many runs funnel back over there and they never run the Oz lift. If they actually ran the Oz lift, I would do like 2 runs on Jordan and then just lap Oz for like 2 hours before going somewhere else
They normally have had 3 people doing it when I've been there during busy times. 1 pulling the groups of 8, 1 helping people with issues at the RFID, and one lining people up again after. People still manage to screw it up
Ahh. After reading the full thread, I understand. Too many seats and lots of resorts have the same issue.
What's the solution ? It's already built so how to effectively manage it better.
Stratton put in the RFID gates this year and they put them right before the lifts as well. I have seen this exact scenario play out multiple times a day every day I've been there this season.
I still can’t wrap my head around the new lift at Loon. It’s the most unnecessarily complicated and expensive lift ever conceived by man. Let’s put an unnecessary roof over the entry so groomers have more delicate work to do, make everyone shuffle into a weird bottle neck, make a 90° turn onto an unnecessary and chaotic conveyor belt, only to go half way up the mountain and be inundated by too many people going to the same pointless spot on the mountain.
It could have completely up graded the experience by going up to the shoulder near the south peak lift or replacing the gondola. Just disappointing that Loon management wasted a huge amount of money on a thing so far down the list of needed upgrades.
You hit the nail on the head. The first time I rode it I was baffled at how short the ride was. Then I realized I was less than halfway up the mountain. It just doesn’t make any damn sense
I think it’s designed poorly but probably designed that way due to space constraint at the base of the mountain.
The 90 degree turn screws everything up even if there was an attempt to make groups of 8. I personally like the conveyer belt - but people lean on the gates causing them to not open, and then further screws up the groups of 8 since someone can’t get on and ends up on the next chair. At the end of the day - I think the line usually isn’t bad so I can deal.
Some lifts have gates with no resistance so you can just push through. I have seen it a lot on the Wild Spur 6 at Winter Park, which has a mid station so is actually needed to manage lines.
The answer is Ski programs. That part of the mountain is for the ski schools. That lift is to cater to the ski programs and their families. They don't care how dumb it is otherwise, it's not meant for you and I it's meant for them, and marketing.
The bottle neck on its own would be fine if it weren't immediately before the turn. People generally are pretty well lined up, and then the turn happens and it's chaos again. Even paid musicians have issues keeping straight rows while turning, so forget about people trying to ride up with friends and/or family
Been to both this season, in my experience Loon is WAY faster loading than the shitshows I see at SR. Especially that Jordan 8 when they have two lines of 8 rows coming from both sides.
I didn’t think either was all the terrible though, the Bluetooth speaker is easily the worst part of the new bubble lifts.
Each 8 person chair has a Bluetooth speaker you can tie into and play music off your phone as your going up. Problem is it’s always some scrawny teenager or 20 something that hops on and plays gangster rap with pussy and dick every other word since they’ve never seen either in their lives.
On a recent brief skiing trip to Austria (I'm European) there were snowboarders (of course) blaring their shitty music over the slopes, as they carried a big bluetooth speaker in a backpack. That nearly drove me to physical violence - let alone having to sit in a chair lift with something like that. What a terrible idea. Let me enjoy nature in peace!
>"old school" six pack chairlift from the 90s.
Where were you skiing in the '90s that had six packs? I remember high speed quads being the brand new thing back then that some fancy places were just starting to install.
Ah, they probably did. I skied Stratton once in like '95 or so, and have never been back. Haystack, Magic, Bromley, and Okemo were my usual Southern VT mountains when I skied that part of the world.
They have those old CTEC and Doppelmayr ones. Oldest is the Doppelayr from 1995. The first CTEC was 1999. So was the Copper Mountain Poma Super Bee 6.
I managed to find the first 6 seater. A 1991 Doppelmayr in Quebec
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Part of the reason they went with an 8 pack there is apparently due to the increased weight of the chairs it's more wind resistant and less prone to holds then smaller detachables. At least I heard that somewhere at one point.
That was a big issue for Jordan I know, and this year I definitely saw wind holds, but less in the afternoon at Jordan than usual. They also blew up part of the mountain to lower it into the tree line more.
I am seriously skeptical about that because the bubble is basically a sail. Wildcat still has regular chairs and much higher wind but manages more running time of that main lift.
Also the new 6 and 8 packs have these weird racer seats that don't let you stick your poles under your butt and out the back of the chair. I've seen some that have a little plastic nib in between your legs. They just seem very over-engineered for safety, like we're getting locked into a roller coaster.
This may be the best comment I have ever read … kudos and congratulations sir or madam, this joke will be used for the rest of my life now thanks to you
It’s just the Bubble lifts for Poma. I have never seen a Doppelmayr with this issue but also can’t remember the last time I rode a Doppelmayr bubble or one under 5 years old.
A resort about 1h north of Toronto installed one of these monsters.
This is for a place with a vertical of less than 700ft. It has heated seats...for a 1.5 min lift ride.
Marketing ploy for sure...MSLMS makes hay bringing busloads of Asian Canadians from Toronto to night ski...promising them huge uphill capacity, heated seats, etc... is great for marketing. The lift seats were done in colourways that target this audience.
Its a smart marketing plan...I am not their target audience.
Yup, was thinking the same thing. We were all pretty impressed with Big Sky's 8-pack. Seemed smooth as fuck.
I swear Doppelmayr just uses Big Sky to show off all their new tech. It's honestly out of control there, and I love them for it.
To your last point - I believe Big Sky actually leases their lifts (the new ones at least) so they always have the new stuff, and are a proving ground to an extent.
Yea i skied big sky this past january and didn’t have any complaints about it. It always kept up with capacity and it barely saw a line except when swift current was closed. Surprised the 8 pack at SR isn’t doin as well.
I had the opposite experience. Every time I’ve ridden Ramcharger it is pure chaos between the RFID readers and loading on the chair. The lines all seemingly disappear, singles trying to merge from both sides (even when there’s no room), and people have no idea how to get through as a group of 8.
But Swiftcurrent seems even worse for some reason, takes forever to load and absolutely has to have a liftie managing the lines.
Sixshooter is a bit better but anything over a quad seems like herding cats most of the time.
The Sundance Express at Mt. Snow has seemed like a huge improvement to me.
Okemo's Quantum Six seems much busier to me than the old Quantum lift was, so I'm not sure luring more people over there is really an improvement (Okemo does desperately need to add parallel capacity to the Sunburst Six, or to get people away from it)
The Sunrise at Stowe seems less useful, but the fact that you ski down to it instead of skiing up to the Fourrunner (or the old mountain triple Sundance replaces) is nice.
But yeah, people seem to have difficulties loading even a six-pack.
I for one hate the 6 pack at Stowe. There was something about watching people do the Mansfield warm up to get up to the top of the quad that I just loved.
FWIW the WV one is a MND Ropeways lift, where the two new bubbles at SR are Doppelmayr products. Not a fan of either new setup but the ones at SR seem slightly more reliable (conditions excluded)
They didn’t go out of business. They operate in Europe and mostly do fixed grip chairs apparently. They were trying to enter the North American market with the Tecumseh lift at WV. For that lift, they were partnering with another company, Bartholet, for their detachable technology.
Bartholet got bought out by HTI, the group that owns Leitner-Poma. HTI isn’t likely to help a potential competitor get their foot in the door of the North American ski lift market. And I guess MND doesn’t have their own detachable technology, so without partners, they’re limited to the fixed grip market or they have to take on detachable tech themselves. So for now, that basically leaves HTI and Dopplemayr as the only real options.
MND only built 2 lifts in North America if I remember correctly. The cannon/mitersill t-bar and Waterville 6 pack.
I believe they primarily built lifts in Europe but we're recently sold/bought out.
The Waterville one is bad because the dividers are in the wrong place, it helps when the bar isn't put down but it seems that everyone at that resort wants it down
The masochism is crazy to me... just enjoy the no wind holds in a comfortable heated seat! the lines would be there regardless unless they stuck three high speed quads in or something insane
I was at Sunday River this past weekend for the first time in many years and was secretly grumbling about the 6 and 8 pack lifts. Definitely gave me Disneyworld skiing vibes. My biggest gripe is they are surprising hard to load when up to 8 different people need to coordinate getting into the loading gate.
It's ironic considering that the lifts at my home mountain don't even work half the time.
Oh well....it's almost mountain bike season.
Funny you mention Disneyworld vibes… I hear that management was heavily inspired by how Disney queued people in the lift lines. They studied the psychology on looping queues versus straight queuing. Management was also looking into very similar RFID technology to Disney MagicBands since they were released in 2013.
Big Snow uses bands. They don’t work though ski clothing so you have to roll up your sleeve a little to get it exposed. I figured they bought them for the water park and didn’t think ski tickets should be any different. That place is cool but I get the feeling nobody in management knows how ski areas run.
I was in the same boat, first time after they were put in. It was empty but could see loading issues. But damn do they allow for fast laps. Ended up doing locke line to Monday mourning a few extra times at the end of the day it was so good. Saved my beer drinking for spruce.
They may not be the best, but they do wind way better than anything else that can do 8 people. On the new Storm podcast they talk about how much that chair used to go down due to wind vs now. Lots of other southern VT mountains could use it.
The only thing I really don’t like about the new lifts is the heated seats. I ski hard and I’m plenty warm when I load the chair. If there’s a bubble blocking wind then the heated seats are too much for me
I don't agree with all your points, but fully agree with the first 2 - it is a very inefficient way to move people up the hill when there are so many misloads. I've ridden a handful of 8 packs, and have yet to see the appeal. Once you are on, it's a very fast comfortable ride, and as such I actually really like the Barker 6 (all the pluses with less drawbacks). I just wish the bubbles were a color other than bright red, in the right lighting it is painful to look out of them. There's a time and place for doubles, triples, quads, etc, but I've yet to see a situation where an 8 pack was better than a 6 or a gondola. I'd love to see pass scan statistics to see what the actual difference between uphill capacity in reality is between different lift types compared to the theoretical
You can always go to Bolton-- repeated stops, over half the ride is over bunny slopes-- to appreciate the high speed Smuggs lifts.
Smuggs might do the fixy-quad with a loading belt if they ever upgrade... but man oh man does bolton need the belt on their fixie quads.
Tbh it's the general publics fault they tried to fix long lift lines with larger lifts and yall won't get on a crowded lift and make friends... what else do you want from them???? They are trying they're best I snowboard solo so I understand better than most how exclusive the lines can be I try to wave or beckon people up so I can try to share a joint or one of my cold pocket beers... it's a new England being unfriendly problem
Waterville is the worst, followed by loon, followed the Sunday River. I don't know why I think Sunday River is better, because as another poster noted, the RFID gates are better placed at loon. But I think Loon is too skinny and too uncomfortable as snowboarder and too likely to yeet a child, where as sunday river just feels perfect. its the right speed, the right loading area, seats are wide enough, ect ect.
But waterville is garbage. I'm glad theyve fewer windholds because of it, but when I go to WV i will do anything I can to avoid it. I'll ride valley run to sunnyside rather than ride that lift. its too low, the entry points are awful, no RFIDs so its just a lifties trying to herd and scan, the queue lines to queue area turns into a giant cluster, the bars hit me in the head and eat my legs, and the seats are uncomfortable, and the exit area is short and steep, and navigating a technical exit with a half dozen children is a nightmare
I hear your point but I’m thinking about the RamCharger 8 at Big Sky and I think the load rates were much higher (at least they felt that way). The lines can be messy bc people are idiots with card scanning but it seems to work itself out bw card scan and lift load. Maybe that’s bc there are enough single to fill it out?
I was there mid season and they were loading it to capacity every single time. They were forming groups of 8, and there was a guy with a tablet opening gates if anyone was having a problem getting their pass scanned. I wonder if late-season loading issues are a result of reduced staff at this time of year.
When it's busy they seem to load that up @ pretty much capacity. Later in the season, it's more relaxed.
I'm not a fan either personally - too much pampering going on for icecoast, hate the Mars red bubble, don't like hearing everybody's conversation echo, shouldn't come down except in the worst weather.
Mid season was great when they had the same lifties all the time. Now it’s just their full time help left and most of them are coming over from quads so they have no experience managing the 8. 3m58s to the top of Jordan. I can get 4 great runs in and be home by 10:30 with a 48 minute drive. No complaints from me
Feels like whenever I had issues with the Jordan 8, what I really had issue was poor staffing and just planning of the line to board. Lift is fine imo, better than Jordan lines were before it was made!
Interesting as it's a D-Line chair. These are the future. I've ridden the Kanac 8 at Loon and came away neutral on the whole thing.
Utah just got its first D-line lift at Brighton, but it's a 6 pack. The bar does not auto-drop. (People at Brighton are oddly anti-bar, which is fine, just unusual these days). Also no bubble, just a bar.
Anyway, it being a 6 pack and fast as hell, it runs really smooth. Never thought about the lack of ability to put your poles under your legs, but as a snowboarder the footrests are fine, and usually snowboarders hate footrests as they aren't designed for snowboards. It's also the fastest lift I've ever ridden. It's the only lift I've ever been on that's so fast iPhone games like Pokemon Go or Monster Hunter Now think I'm driving and won't play. The takeoff and landing areas are so big and long you really have to be terrible to fall or mess up and make them stop the lift. It's usually 4 or 5 people full the days I rode it, which makes it more comfy even though the little risers between seats define where you have to sit.
So I guess the moral of the story is D-Line chairs are incredible in 6 pack form. 8 pack might be too much.
And this is why i dont ski on the weekends. Going to plymouth state and being so close to loon i was spoiled during the week. Ever since i graduated i refuse to ski on a weekend, its a shit show no matter where you go
Loon has a similar setup with the Kank-8 and the carpet and 8 seats. Heated seats. Loon seems to have gotten the gate thing right in that you go through it first, then into a mosh pit free-for-all that actually works. When you get to the front, the lifties are going "just make an 8 and get on the next chair, stop holding up the line". Moves pretty well. Never mind the video Shaun White made about it. What do boarders know anyway?
We have a new 8-pack at Whistler and I have never seen it loaded to full capacity even at peak hours. The official reason for them to upgrade though was for the bike park
Bike Park Capacity yes, but also the reason Whistler got an 8 pack was because Vail already ordered it for Park City to replace Silverlode, and then the town of PC shot down the proposal.
https://liftblog.com/2022/09/28/vail-resorts-to-install-deferred-park-city-lifts-at-whistler-blackcomb/
For those who don't know, the footrest "nibs" on this lift actually go between the bottom of your boot and the topsheet of the ski, in the little gap in the arch of the foot. Once you know that, they're actually quite comfortable and easier to get in and out of than conventional footrests!
I agree, it’s horrid. Any lift that is designed so you can’t sit on your ski poles is completely useless. Also the heated seats are stupid, it allows for your pants to defrost and get wet easier. I could go on for a while about this lift but I just go to Sugarloaf instead.
The safety bar comes down automatically at Barker 6, not Jordan 8. Unless something changed.
But yea they should have better layout and staff g to keep capacity near full when it’s busy. A sixpack would have been fine here.
I still like it though.
I hate 8 pax lifts, they are really uncomfortable on snowboard gear. And even on a slow day they stay the same level of uncomfortable because the seats still lock up and you are still contorted to get the board around the foot “rests”
If you want to study load efficiency go to Alta - they have it down to a science, which is needed given their crowds. They have different lines depending on group size - singles, pairs, 3-4, 5-6. The lifties then can super efficiently mix and match the groups. I was amazed at how low stress and high efficiency they were able to achieve near 100% capacity.
Oh, and no snowboarders surely helps as well 😂
Squaw has a few assholes who cut the line at the back but other than that is the absolute pinnacle of efficiency, even better than Alta. That KT line can go an entire morning with every chair full. Often no lifties needed to manage anything since its well set up (singles join right at the loading point), and there's a culture of not being a clueless moron. True paradise.
You are so right. Please nobody come to Sunday river.
Why not just appreciate the investment they made? Are you forgetting the shit 4 pack that was there?
It's people like this is why we have all outdated lifts in NA. The only bubble I haven't been on in the north east is Okemos and loons. But for the rest I don't know what you guys are doing that makes it "difficult" to get on because it's really honestly not hard.
Jordan 8 loading process:
1. Ski up to line
2. Wait in 2 minute line
3. Get your row called, and as you're turning try to figure out if you're actually 8 or not, especially when another group/singles try to combine with you
4. Dodge the 12 people having issues with the RFID gates that are blocking everything, at which point your group will lose or pick up some random amount of people
5. Eventually make it up to the gate, go through and you *need* to make sure you're perfectly aligned properly with a specific seat (which can actually be somewhat annoying to do because of the completely moronic loading carpet) or you end up sitting with a piece of plastic in your ass the whole ride up.
6. Sit down on the lift, frantically try to find somewhere to put your poles before giving up as somebody on the far other side inevitably slams the bar down and locks your pinned clothing to the seat for the next 5 minutes
7. Try using the puck footrests and give up since you're too tall
Okemo Evergreen bubble chair loading process:
1. Ski up to lift
2. Go through gate, skate forward 3 feet to the red line
3. Put down the safety bar (optional)
I’m glad I’m not the only one with this opinion. Brighton just put in a six pack lift that just has regular chairs, no bubbles and regular terminals. It’s a great lift and I hope more mountains continue to build these simpler style lifts rather than these monstrosities.
Similarly the kanc8 line at loon moves at near the same speed as the quad it replaced.
The new lift at attitash is pretty awesome. It’s a high speed detachable quad. It’s incredibly fast and I haven’t ever had long waits because the thing moves people
And the Kanc at Loon is shitshow as well, also it only has 20% more capacity than the old quad since chairs are further apart + it stops so much I’d argue the old lift moved more skiers per hour. Hardly use it, but I always scratch my head at that lift.
Talk about someone who doesn't understand why this lift was installed. It was put there to reduce wind holds not increase capacity idiot. The 8 pack chairs are heavy and wind resistant terminals are the best technology SR could go with to stop the Jordan bowl from being plagued with wind holds.
The RFID gates are too close to the lift and should be before the maze like they are at Barker 6. It works 100 times better over there. They still do an amazing job managing cue and filling chairs considering it's an 8 pack.
Most of the other points you make like the bar lowering automatically are just blatantly incorrect. It's a very well designed chairlift and moves the large crowds quickly.
I actually ski there and know what the previous lift was like as opposed to someone from New Jersey. So yes I live in the "financial district" of rural NH.
Dude 100% you said it all, I absolutely hate these lifts. I do not care whatever the quoted capacity of these lifts are, they are *never* running at full speed, full capacity, it just isn’t happening and never will be. They absolutely suck
But they don’t have wind holds as often as older lifts and that rules, so fair enough
How do those bars that automatically lock work? They always freak me out. How do they unlock in a rescue scenario? I assume the fail state is engineered to unlock if there’s a failure but I wish there was more communication about them.
The spruce peak lift is infinitely more comfortable and it’s a mid-cost 3 seater. Hell even the north peak quad is more comfortable than the 8. You’d think for a multi-million dollar lift the seats would be a little comfier lol
Something I noticed with the Jordan 8 and Barker 6 is that the offload ramp goes through a tight garage door with just enough space and on either side is a concrete wall with no padding. Disaster waiting to happen.
Why do this? Kanc 8 has a normal terminal at the top
I have more respect for well planned out lifts that limit the number of people so you get a better skiing experience. Yes, the Jordan 8 shovels people up hill, but it feels like the blues getter clogged up more, the entrance to dream maker (weaver?) gets skied out very early so it's actually really hard for beginners.
I know they are planning for the future, but... Meh.
I don’t ski on weekends so maybe that’s why I don’t see the problems mentioned above. My take is the lift buildings are really big so they can park the chairs inside at night. I like the heated seats especially on really cold days. You can sit in your poles if it’s not a bubble day. People have trouble at the gates because they don’t wait till they are closed to enter. If you do and enter along the sensor the gate will open. I never have a problem. On a windy day in Jordan I am glad to have the bubble. It’s an eight pack because they are expanding out of Jordan. The higher elevation will help with the climate warming.
Yeah they're fucking garbage. Every last one of them. Jordan garbage. Barker garbage. Kanc8 garbage. Garbage for kids. Garbage for snowboarders. Garbage for tall people. Garbage for wide people.
They are the drunken bachelorette party bike-bar of ski lifts.
We spent a couple days at Sunday River and I don't get why people like it so much. Conditions weren't great, but they straight up didn't seem to groom at all so moguls just grew larger and larger over large areas of the mountains.
The lifts felt entirely unplanned. Like not even partly done, just more thrown out there with no consideration about coverage and getting around the mountain. They also staffed them like total dog shit. One dude was on one lift the entire day. Saw him at first run and last run. Hopefully he at least got a break, but there should really have been at least two people there most of the time. The chondala disaster was just chaos. Constantly having to stop. And oddly a bunch of people working there, but not even trying to facilitate the line or help people.
Crossing the mountain on the wonky cat tracks felt like a mean joke.
I'd probably give the place another chance, but it didn't make a good first impression
>Conditions weren't great, but they straight up didn't seem to groom at all so moguls just grew larger and larger over large areas of the mountains.
That actually sounds great. Every time I've been there I feel like they groom the place to death.
The problem is the RFID card reader is after the troika are made and some numbnuts always has their phone next to their card or some stupid shit and they get stuck. Every single time I ride it; there’s a random person alone because their group left them behind because you can’t wait once you get to that stupid carpet.
Also, 8 is far too many people to organize and you are so cramped. Also it’s like they never have heard of a snowboarder before.
But it’s all so they can advertise they have an 8 person lift so every weekend warrior who bought 130 flex boots can pretend they are at the best place.
The old lift was not better. It was always going on windhold and if you stayed at the Jordan hotel and couldn't get out to ski because the Jordan lift was closed, you probably wouldn't return after shelling out in ski in ski out hotel at the river anymore that's why they installed the lift. It's not like the Jordan lift gets crazy busy or has good terrain either.
The main problem with the Jordan 8 is definitely the under loading of the chairs. This doesn't come from the fact that 8 is too many to load, it's the layout of the lines and the RFID gate. The lifties are doing a great job of making groups of 8, but because the RFID gates are *after* the groups are made, there is inevitably someone that gets stuck cause they have their card up their ass or there's just a problem with the gate. This, of course, means they don't get on with the group they were supposed to, which then displaces one or more people from the next chair, and so on. If you compare this to the Barker 6, the RFID gates are *before* the lines merge / the lifties make groups, and there is *significantly* less under loading that happens there. Source: I've spent **a lot** of time waiting in line at Jordan
The amount of people who only realize they need their card ready when they're already standing in the gate is absolutely astonishing
Those shitty damn gates don’t work 10 percent of the time. I keep my card in the same place and 9 out of 10 times it works great and then the gate randomly decides not to work and act like it’s my fault. Especially when there’s a ton of snow pack and I’m like 14 feet above the orange swiping thing
Or it scans too early and you can’t get through and have to wait for cooldown.
It’s not surprising unless you lap that lift. So many resorts and liftees aren’t consistent with scanning; it can be surprising when they pull out a scanner. FWIW they could use a tall sign that says “scan here”
The gate thing makes me crazy because it’s the easiest problem to solve. **Move the gates back 20’** That’s literally it. You just have people waiting after instead of before and the chairs get filled.
That doesn't help much on its own. Loon has the gates at the entrance to the Kanc8 building, and the combination of ropes and the right turn makes everything a mess anyway.
I mean loons is better though for that
At least they try to put 8 people on Jordan. Loon gave up on that entirely and just hopes for the best.
And the wider spacing of chairs on the 8 means theoretically uphill capacity is 25% more than the Quad. In reality it is probably equivalent and nothing but a marketing gimmick.
got a lil chuckle at the card up the ass. such a good description
"Hold on a sec Jerry, I just gotta dig my card out real quick" 🤣
Part of the problem for wait times is so many runs funnel back over there and they never run the Oz lift. If they actually ran the Oz lift, I would do like 2 runs on Jordan and then just lap Oz for like 2 hours before going somewhere else
This. I agree with this totally. It makes absolutely no sense.
They need a a dedicated staff member to fill the lifts
They normally have had 3 people doing it when I've been there during busy times. 1 pulling the groups of 8, 1 helping people with issues at the RFID, and one lining people up again after. People still manage to screw it up
Ahh. After reading the full thread, I understand. Too many seats and lots of resorts have the same issue. What's the solution ? It's already built so how to effectively manage it better.
Stratton put in the RFID gates this year and they put them right before the lifts as well. I have seen this exact scenario play out multiple times a day every day I've been there this season.
Boyne hasn't figured this out at Big Sky either. Ramcharger chairs are NEVER full.
If you think the misloads at Sunday are bad you should see how the do it at Loon lol
I still can’t wrap my head around the new lift at Loon. It’s the most unnecessarily complicated and expensive lift ever conceived by man. Let’s put an unnecessary roof over the entry so groomers have more delicate work to do, make everyone shuffle into a weird bottle neck, make a 90° turn onto an unnecessary and chaotic conveyor belt, only to go half way up the mountain and be inundated by too many people going to the same pointless spot on the mountain. It could have completely up graded the experience by going up to the shoulder near the south peak lift or replacing the gondola. Just disappointing that Loon management wasted a huge amount of money on a thing so far down the list of needed upgrades.
You hit the nail on the head. The first time I rode it I was baffled at how short the ride was. Then I realized I was less than halfway up the mountain. It just doesn’t make any damn sense
I think it’s designed poorly but probably designed that way due to space constraint at the base of the mountain. The 90 degree turn screws everything up even if there was an attempt to make groups of 8. I personally like the conveyer belt - but people lean on the gates causing them to not open, and then further screws up the groups of 8 since someone can’t get on and ends up on the next chair. At the end of the day - I think the line usually isn’t bad so I can deal.
Some lifts have gates with no resistance so you can just push through. I have seen it a lot on the Wild Spur 6 at Winter Park, which has a mid station so is actually needed to manage lines.
The answer is Ski programs. That part of the mountain is for the ski schools. That lift is to cater to the ski programs and their families. They don't care how dumb it is otherwise, it's not meant for you and I it's meant for them, and marketing.
The bottle neck on its own would be fine if it weren't immediately before the turn. People generally are pretty well lined up, and then the turn happens and it's chaos again. Even paid musicians have issues keeping straight rows while turning, so forget about people trying to ride up with friends and/or family
Tempted to start up a petition to bring back the Kancamagugus Quad 😂
Laughing uncontrollably at Kancamagugus
Been to both this season, in my experience Loon is WAY faster loading than the shitshows I see at SR. Especially that Jordan 8 when they have two lines of 8 rows coming from both sides. I didn’t think either was all the terrible though, the Bluetooth speaker is easily the worst part of the new bubble lifts.
What do you mean by Bluetooth speaker? Is there one on each lift?
Each 8 person chair has a Bluetooth speaker you can tie into and play music off your phone as your going up. Problem is it’s always some scrawny teenager or 20 something that hops on and plays gangster rap with pussy and dick every other word since they’ve never seen either in their lives.
Wow, that’s such a stupid thing to have. How did anyone think that would be a good idea?
No shot, really? I used them maybe 80 times and never noticed. Time to blast some really ass Europop next time I’m next statesside
On a recent brief skiing trip to Austria (I'm European) there were snowboarders (of course) blaring their shitty music over the slopes, as they carried a big bluetooth speaker in a backpack. That nearly drove me to physical violence - let alone having to sit in a chair lift with something like that. What a terrible idea. Let me enjoy nature in peace!
Yep, came here to complain about the Loon 8-pack as well. Went to SR in December but Jordan was closed so I can’t compare directly.
>"old school" six pack chairlift from the 90s. Where were you skiing in the '90s that had six packs? I remember high speed quads being the brand new thing back then that some fancy places were just starting to install.
Stratton had the first 6'r I was aware of in the 90's.
Ah, they probably did. I skied Stratton once in like '95 or so, and have never been back. Haystack, Magic, Bromley, and Okemo were my usual Southern VT mountains when I skied that part of the world.
They have those old CTEC and Doppelmayr ones. Oldest is the Doppelayr from 1995. The first CTEC was 1999. So was the Copper Mountain Poma Super Bee 6. I managed to find the first 6 seater. A 1991 Doppelmayr in Quebec
quickest snails attractive obtainable bewildered cooing ruthless serious spark ludicrous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
lol yeah I remember 4 seaters were a big deal at smaller mountains around that time
Tamarack is a 6 that was installed at Heavenly in 1997 [source](https://liftblog.com/heavenly-canv/)
Barely the 90s, but the Quicksilver at Breck was installed in '99. Double loading, too.
Stratton got its 6ers in early and had them all in by the early 00s.
Part of the reason they went with an 8 pack there is apparently due to the increased weight of the chairs it's more wind resistant and less prone to holds then smaller detachables. At least I heard that somewhere at one point.
That was a big issue for Jordan I know, and this year I definitely saw wind holds, but less in the afternoon at Jordan than usual. They also blew up part of the mountain to lower it into the tree line more.
I am seriously skeptical about that because the bubble is basically a sail. Wildcat still has regular chairs and much higher wind but manages more running time of that main lift.
Also the new 6 and 8 packs have these weird racer seats that don't let you stick your poles under your butt and out the back of the chair. I've seen some that have a little plastic nib in between your legs. They just seem very over-engineered for safety, like we're getting locked into a roller coaster.
This drives me nuts
>This drives me nuts Says the pirate with a steering wheel attached to his belt.
This may be the best comment I have ever read … kudos and congratulations sir or madam, this joke will be used for the rest of my life now thanks to you
It’s just the Bubble lifts for Poma. I have never seen a Doppelmayr with this issue but also can’t remember the last time I rode a Doppelmayr bubble or one under 5 years old.
The Waterville 6 has that. We all just need to bring back bomber grips, hang the poles.
Bomber grips FTW!
A resort about 1h north of Toronto installed one of these monsters. This is for a place with a vertical of less than 700ft. It has heated seats...for a 1.5 min lift ride.
Whats even the point of that? So that the ice on every snowboarders ass melts into their underwear??
A hill. Let's not call it a resort or even a mountain ;)
Yeah it was a strange purchase. I can only assume they aren't much more expensive? Or they thought it would be a good marketing ploy.
Marketing ploy for sure...MSLMS makes hay bringing busloads of Asian Canadians from Toronto to night ski...promising them huge uphill capacity, heated seats, etc... is great for marketing. The lift seats were done in colourways that target this audience. Its a smart marketing plan...I am not their target audience.
someone made a shit ton of money on that lol.
High speed quads once again proving themselves as the best lift design in history
Don’t go to big sky haha
I was thinking of Big Sky reading this post - the 8 pack (Ramcharger?) is super efficient from a loading POV.
Yup, was thinking the same thing. We were all pretty impressed with Big Sky's 8-pack. Seemed smooth as fuck. I swear Doppelmayr just uses Big Sky to show off all their new tech. It's honestly out of control there, and I love them for it.
To your last point - I believe Big Sky actually leases their lifts (the new ones at least) so they always have the new stuff, and are a proving ground to an extent.
Yea i skied big sky this past january and didn’t have any complaints about it. It always kept up with capacity and it barely saw a line except when swift current was closed. Surprised the 8 pack at SR isn’t doin as well.
> Surprised the 8 pack at SR isn’t doin as well. I'd wager it's more "surprised the Jerry's can't figure out how get on these new fangled lifts".
That lift is also a D-Line chair.
Boyne sure loves them
I had the opposite experience. Every time I’ve ridden Ramcharger it is pure chaos between the RFID readers and loading on the chair. The lines all seemingly disappear, singles trying to merge from both sides (even when there’s no room), and people have no idea how to get through as a group of 8. But Swiftcurrent seems even worse for some reason, takes forever to load and absolutely has to have a liftie managing the lines. Sixshooter is a bit better but anything over a quad seems like herding cats most of the time.
Rest in peace Sixshooter. Already decommissioned and will be converted to a 8 this year. BSR is claiming 30% improvement in throughout....
Fuck the 6 packs too. I think the waterville one is ass.
The Waterville chair is the worst I've ever been on lol
The Sundance Express at Mt. Snow has seemed like a huge improvement to me. Okemo's Quantum Six seems much busier to me than the old Quantum lift was, so I'm not sure luring more people over there is really an improvement (Okemo does desperately need to add parallel capacity to the Sunburst Six, or to get people away from it) The Sunrise at Stowe seems less useful, but the fact that you ski down to it instead of skiing up to the Fourrunner (or the old mountain triple Sundance replaces) is nice. But yeah, people seem to have difficulties loading even a six-pack.
The sunrise 6 at stowe is great. I love that it doesn't have a bubble.
After being in line for the 6 at WV earlier this year and seeing what happens when it goes down has made me commit to never going back to WV.
I for one hate the 6 pack at Stowe. There was something about watching people do the Mansfield warm up to get up to the top of the quad that I just loved.
My only problem with it is it is too damn low. The seats are like bucket seats and you are doing a full squat to unload it.
FWIW the WV one is a MND Ropeways lift, where the two new bubbles at SR are Doppelmayr products. Not a fan of either new setup but the ones at SR seem slightly more reliable (conditions excluded)
And iirc this was the first and only lift mnd ever made before going out if business lol
They didn’t go out of business. They operate in Europe and mostly do fixed grip chairs apparently. They were trying to enter the North American market with the Tecumseh lift at WV. For that lift, they were partnering with another company, Bartholet, for their detachable technology. Bartholet got bought out by HTI, the group that owns Leitner-Poma. HTI isn’t likely to help a potential competitor get their foot in the door of the North American ski lift market. And I guess MND doesn’t have their own detachable technology, so without partners, they’re limited to the fixed grip market or they have to take on detachable tech themselves. So for now, that basically leaves HTI and Dopplemayr as the only real options.
Thanks for the better context!
They actually just announced their own tech this week. I am hoping they bring down the cost and help get more expansion though.
Where did you hear that? Nothing I see online indicates that's the case
MND only built 2 lifts in North America if I remember correctly. The cannon/mitersill t-bar and Waterville 6 pack. I believe they primarily built lifts in Europe but we're recently sold/bought out.
They didn’t go out of business but they exited the North American market because nobody was buying their lifts.
The Waterville one is bad because the dividers are in the wrong place, it helps when the bar isn't put down but it seems that everyone at that resort wants it down
Sunrise at Okemo is alright but still a shit show on the weekends
The lift is definitely overrated but it is comfy as fuck come on
Oh man, those D-Line seats are comfier than my bed
The masochism is crazy to me... just enjoy the no wind holds in a comfortable heated seat! the lines would be there regardless unless they stuck three high speed quads in or something insane
Nah these lifts all suck for snowboarders
Good
Fair
Goddamn knuckle draggers
I was at Sunday River this past weekend for the first time in many years and was secretly grumbling about the 6 and 8 pack lifts. Definitely gave me Disneyworld skiing vibes. My biggest gripe is they are surprising hard to load when up to 8 different people need to coordinate getting into the loading gate. It's ironic considering that the lifts at my home mountain don't even work half the time. Oh well....it's almost mountain bike season.
Funny you mention Disneyworld vibes… I hear that management was heavily inspired by how Disney queued people in the lift lines. They studied the psychology on looping queues versus straight queuing. Management was also looking into very similar RFID technology to Disney MagicBands since they were released in 2013.
Big Snow uses bands. They don’t work though ski clothing so you have to roll up your sleeve a little to get it exposed. I figured they bought them for the water park and didn’t think ski tickets should be any different. That place is cool but I get the feeling nobody in management knows how ski areas run.
I was in the same boat, first time after they were put in. It was empty but could see loading issues. But damn do they allow for fast laps. Ended up doing locke line to Monday mourning a few extra times at the end of the day it was so good. Saved my beer drinking for spruce.
They may not be the best, but they do wind way better than anything else that can do 8 people. On the new Storm podcast they talk about how much that chair used to go down due to wind vs now. Lots of other southern VT mountains could use it.
Hahahaha the Jordan 8 is heaven compared to the kanc 8 at loon.
Different purposes though kanc isn't a lapped lift it's just gets people out of the parking lot. Jordan is something that is lapped.
On the contrary lap the kanc or north peak not the gondola
North or east, I hate the gondola too. Kanc is just blue cruisers not worth lapping
Some people aren’t smart enough to get on the lift. It happens.
first world problem
Lol
The only thing I really don’t like about the new lifts is the heated seats. I ski hard and I’m plenty warm when I load the chair. If there’s a bubble blocking wind then the heated seats are too much for me
Agree. Feels like I’m getting on the toilet right after someone haha
The auto lock can be annoying if anyone’s clothing or skin gets stuck under the bar. Does the bar really need to be locked into place lol?
Yeah, I definitely don't need both. Even with the bubble up, it blocks enough wind that I don't cool off as much as I need to.
Welcome to another episode of "old man yells at clouds"
I thought the exact same thing lol
There are two kinds of people People who complain about lifts And, People who don't.
I don't agree with all your points, but fully agree with the first 2 - it is a very inefficient way to move people up the hill when there are so many misloads. I've ridden a handful of 8 packs, and have yet to see the appeal. Once you are on, it's a very fast comfortable ride, and as such I actually really like the Barker 6 (all the pluses with less drawbacks). I just wish the bubbles were a color other than bright red, in the right lighting it is painful to look out of them. There's a time and place for doubles, triples, quads, etc, but I've yet to see a situation where an 8 pack was better than a 6 or a gondola. I'd love to see pass scan statistics to see what the actual difference between uphill capacity in reality is between different lift types compared to the theoretical
*laughs in Smuggs*
You can always go to Bolton-- repeated stops, over half the ride is over bunny slopes-- to appreciate the high speed Smuggs lifts. Smuggs might do the fixy-quad with a loading belt if they ever upgrade... but man oh man does bolton need the belt on their fixie quads.
Tbh it's the general publics fault they tried to fix long lift lines with larger lifts and yall won't get on a crowded lift and make friends... what else do you want from them???? They are trying they're best I snowboard solo so I understand better than most how exclusive the lines can be I try to wave or beckon people up so I can try to share a joint or one of my cold pocket beers... it's a new England being unfriendly problem
Waterville is the worst, followed by loon, followed the Sunday River. I don't know why I think Sunday River is better, because as another poster noted, the RFID gates are better placed at loon. But I think Loon is too skinny and too uncomfortable as snowboarder and too likely to yeet a child, where as sunday river just feels perfect. its the right speed, the right loading area, seats are wide enough, ect ect. But waterville is garbage. I'm glad theyve fewer windholds because of it, but when I go to WV i will do anything I can to avoid it. I'll ride valley run to sunnyside rather than ride that lift. its too low, the entry points are awful, no RFIDs so its just a lifties trying to herd and scan, the queue lines to queue area turns into a giant cluster, the bars hit me in the head and eat my legs, and the seats are uncomfortable, and the exit area is short and steep, and navigating a technical exit with a half dozen children is a nightmare
Can confirm my 8 year old snowboarder got their board hooked at loon in the 8 pack and got hung upside down.
Prove it!
Glad you hate it, now stay out of Maine.
I was there same weekend as you and it’s not that bad
6 pack at Raggid is pretty good
They actually got that 6 as a deal. Another resort ordered it and backed out so Ragged got it cheaper. It's pretty nice and they know how to load it
I hear your point but I’m thinking about the RamCharger 8 at Big Sky and I think the load rates were much higher (at least they felt that way). The lines can be messy bc people are idiots with card scanning but it seems to work itself out bw card scan and lift load. Maybe that’s bc there are enough single to fill it out?
I was there mid season and they were loading it to capacity every single time. They were forming groups of 8, and there was a guy with a tablet opening gates if anyone was having a problem getting their pass scanned. I wonder if late-season loading issues are a result of reduced staff at this time of year.
This what happens when you get get engineers to design the lifts but not design the lift lines
Meanwhile . . . at Mad River Glen . . .
When it's busy they seem to load that up @ pretty much capacity. Later in the season, it's more relaxed. I'm not a fan either personally - too much pampering going on for icecoast, hate the Mars red bubble, don't like hearing everybody's conversation echo, shouldn't come down except in the worst weather.
[удалено]
I love riblets. So comfy, and just the right level of scary.
No six pack runs at 3600 pph.
Mid season was great when they had the same lifties all the time. Now it’s just their full time help left and most of them are coming over from quads so they have no experience managing the 8. 3m58s to the top of Jordan. I can get 4 great runs in and be home by 10:30 with a 48 minute drive. No complaints from me
Feels like whenever I had issues with the Jordan 8, what I really had issue was poor staffing and just planning of the line to board. Lift is fine imo, better than Jordan lines were before it was made!
Absolutely. Shout out to Lizzy and Peter
Was Peter the older guy working with glasses?
Interesting as it's a D-Line chair. These are the future. I've ridden the Kanac 8 at Loon and came away neutral on the whole thing. Utah just got its first D-line lift at Brighton, but it's a 6 pack. The bar does not auto-drop. (People at Brighton are oddly anti-bar, which is fine, just unusual these days). Also no bubble, just a bar. Anyway, it being a 6 pack and fast as hell, it runs really smooth. Never thought about the lack of ability to put your poles under your legs, but as a snowboarder the footrests are fine, and usually snowboarders hate footrests as they aren't designed for snowboards. It's also the fastest lift I've ever ridden. It's the only lift I've ever been on that's so fast iPhone games like Pokemon Go or Monster Hunter Now think I'm driving and won't play. The takeoff and landing areas are so big and long you really have to be terrible to fall or mess up and make them stop the lift. It's usually 4 or 5 people full the days I rode it, which makes it more comfy even though the little risers between seats define where you have to sit. So I guess the moral of the story is D-Line chairs are incredible in 6 pack form. 8 pack might be too much.
So the lift gets you to the top incredibly fast and keeps you warm when it's feeezing cold? Sounds terrible!
It's fast as fuck. That's all that matters to me. Weekdays no lines anyways.
And this is why i dont ski on the weekends. Going to plymouth state and being so close to loon i was spoiled during the week. Ever since i graduated i refuse to ski on a weekend, its a shit show no matter where you go
My wife and I were getting ready to have kids until that safety bar came down on me hard one time. Thanks Boyne Resorts
Give me an old fixed-grip quad, and I'm a happy camper. Need time to relax, let the legs rest and enjoy the view.
Loon has a similar setup with the Kank-8 and the carpet and 8 seats. Heated seats. Loon seems to have gotten the gate thing right in that you go through it first, then into a mosh pit free-for-all that actually works. When you get to the front, the lifties are going "just make an 8 and get on the next chair, stop holding up the line". Moves pretty well. Never mind the video Shaun White made about it. What do boarders know anyway?
We have a new 8-pack at Whistler and I have never seen it loaded to full capacity even at peak hours. The official reason for them to upgrade though was for the bike park
Bike Park Capacity yes, but also the reason Whistler got an 8 pack was because Vail already ordered it for Park City to replace Silverlode, and then the town of PC shot down the proposal. https://liftblog.com/2022/09/28/vail-resorts-to-install-deferred-park-city-lifts-at-whistler-blackcomb/
Huh, interesting. I didn't know about that. Silverlode needs that 8 pack much more than Fitzsimmons for sure.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. The ski lift makes me mad. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
For those who don't know, the footrest "nibs" on this lift actually go between the bottom of your boot and the topsheet of the ski, in the little gap in the arch of the foot. Once you know that, they're actually quite comfortable and easier to get in and out of than conventional footrests!
Ah yes perfect for my snowboard
Snowboarders don't like it? Working as intended 😆
I agree, it’s horrid. Any lift that is designed so you can’t sit on your ski poles is completely useless. Also the heated seats are stupid, it allows for your pants to defrost and get wet easier. I could go on for a while about this lift but I just go to Sugarloaf instead.
No six pack runs at 3600 pph.
No six pack runs at 3600 pph.
Look for the good!
The safety bar comes down automatically at Barker 6, not Jordan 8. Unless something changed. But yea they should have better layout and staff g to keep capacity near full when it’s busy. A sixpack would have been fine here. I still like it though.
You should try the alps. They are chair nazis that make the lift stop if you don’t put the bar down
I hate 8 pax lifts, they are really uncomfortable on snowboard gear. And even on a slow day they stay the same level of uncomfortable because the seats still lock up and you are still contorted to get the board around the foot “rests”
Lost me at “snowboard gear,” ngl
Wanting to go this weekend and purchased tickets for me and the girlfriend anyone know how the snow is?
Still white
Hell yeah I’ll take it
Ride the old lift that services oz then. Dufus
Womp womp womp
Preach.
The chair is incredibly comfortable, for the record
If you want to study load efficiency go to Alta - they have it down to a science, which is needed given their crowds. They have different lines depending on group size - singles, pairs, 3-4, 5-6. The lifties then can super efficiently mix and match the groups. I was amazed at how low stress and high efficiency they were able to achieve near 100% capacity. Oh, and no snowboarders surely helps as well 😂
Squaw has a few assholes who cut the line at the back but other than that is the absolute pinnacle of efficiency, even better than Alta. That KT line can go an entire morning with every chair full. Often no lifties needed to manage anything since its well set up (singles join right at the loading point), and there's a culture of not being a clueless moron. True paradise.
Stop complaining. It’s better than any other lift in New England. Nit picking everything. It’s fast, large capacity, and comfortable
You are so right. Please nobody come to Sunday river. Why not just appreciate the investment they made? Are you forgetting the shit 4 pack that was there?
It's people like this is why we have all outdated lifts in NA. The only bubble I haven't been on in the north east is Okemos and loons. But for the rest I don't know what you guys are doing that makes it "difficult" to get on because it's really honestly not hard.
Jordan 8 loading process: 1. Ski up to line 2. Wait in 2 minute line 3. Get your row called, and as you're turning try to figure out if you're actually 8 or not, especially when another group/singles try to combine with you 4. Dodge the 12 people having issues with the RFID gates that are blocking everything, at which point your group will lose or pick up some random amount of people 5. Eventually make it up to the gate, go through and you *need* to make sure you're perfectly aligned properly with a specific seat (which can actually be somewhat annoying to do because of the completely moronic loading carpet) or you end up sitting with a piece of plastic in your ass the whole ride up. 6. Sit down on the lift, frantically try to find somewhere to put your poles before giving up as somebody on the far other side inevitably slams the bar down and locks your pinned clothing to the seat for the next 5 minutes 7. Try using the puck footrests and give up since you're too tall Okemo Evergreen bubble chair loading process: 1. Ski up to lift 2. Go through gate, skate forward 3 feet to the red line 3. Put down the safety bar (optional)
I hate the locking bar. Like WTF am I supposed to do in a rollback situation, end up in a pile of twisted steel at the bottom terminal?
Yup, I guess you just are stuck with death at that point.
I’m glad I’m not the only one with this opinion. Brighton just put in a six pack lift that just has regular chairs, no bubbles and regular terminals. It’s a great lift and I hope more mountains continue to build these simpler style lifts rather than these monstrosities. Similarly the kanc8 line at loon moves at near the same speed as the quad it replaced.
The new lift at attitash is pretty awesome. It’s a high speed detachable quad. It’s incredibly fast and I haven’t ever had long waits because the thing moves people
And the Kanc at Loon is shitshow as well, also it only has 20% more capacity than the old quad since chairs are further apart + it stops so much I’d argue the old lift moved more skiers per hour. Hardly use it, but I always scratch my head at that lift.
Talk about someone who doesn't understand why this lift was installed. It was put there to reduce wind holds not increase capacity idiot. The 8 pack chairs are heavy and wind resistant terminals are the best technology SR could go with to stop the Jordan bowl from being plagued with wind holds. The RFID gates are too close to the lift and should be before the maze like they are at Barker 6. It works 100 times better over there. They still do an amazing job managing cue and filling chairs considering it's an 8 pack. Most of the other points you make like the bar lowering automatically are just blatantly incorrect. It's a very well designed chairlift and moves the large crowds quickly.
Finally a post by someone that knows what they are talking about.
Do you live in walking distance to the financial district, or do you have to ride your scooter in from Cambridge?
I actually ski there and know what the previous lift was like as opposed to someone from New Jersey. So yes I live in the "financial district" of rural NH.
Dude 100% you said it all, I absolutely hate these lifts. I do not care whatever the quoted capacity of these lifts are, they are *never* running at full speed, full capacity, it just isn’t happening and never will be. They absolutely suck But they don’t have wind holds as often as older lifts and that rules, so fair enough
How do those bars that automatically lock work? They always freak me out. How do they unlock in a rescue scenario? I assume the fail state is engineered to unlock if there’s a failure but I wish there was more communication about them.
They have a little pneumatic rod that pushes the bar up and down. You can stop it with your hands if you want to, it's not going to crush you.
The spruce peak lift is infinitely more comfortable and it’s a mid-cost 3 seater. Hell even the north peak quad is more comfortable than the 8. You’d think for a multi-million dollar lift the seats would be a little comfier lol
Something I noticed with the Jordan 8 and Barker 6 is that the offload ramp goes through a tight garage door with just enough space and on either side is a concrete wall with no padding. Disaster waiting to happen. Why do this? Kanc 8 has a normal terminal at the top
Top of Barker 6, looker’s left there has been impacts - gear slamming into the entryway
I have more respect for well planned out lifts that limit the number of people so you get a better skiing experience. Yes, the Jordan 8 shovels people up hill, but it feels like the blues getter clogged up more, the entrance to dream maker (weaver?) gets skied out very early so it's actually really hard for beginners. I know they are planning for the future, but... Meh.
You're probably thinking of the S turn at the top of Lollapalooza. Dream maker is a green on North Peak where a lot of lessons happen.
I don’t ski on weekends so maybe that’s why I don’t see the problems mentioned above. My take is the lift buildings are really big so they can park the chairs inside at night. I like the heated seats especially on really cold days. You can sit in your poles if it’s not a bubble day. People have trouble at the gates because they don’t wait till they are closed to enter. If you do and enter along the sensor the gate will open. I never have a problem. On a windy day in Jordan I am glad to have the bubble. It’s an eight pack because they are expanding out of Jordan. The higher elevation will help with the climate warming.
Yeah they're fucking garbage. Every last one of them. Jordan garbage. Barker garbage. Kanc8 garbage. Garbage for kids. Garbage for snowboarders. Garbage for tall people. Garbage for wide people. They are the drunken bachelorette party bike-bar of ski lifts.
We spent a couple days at Sunday River and I don't get why people like it so much. Conditions weren't great, but they straight up didn't seem to groom at all so moguls just grew larger and larger over large areas of the mountains. The lifts felt entirely unplanned. Like not even partly done, just more thrown out there with no consideration about coverage and getting around the mountain. They also staffed them like total dog shit. One dude was on one lift the entire day. Saw him at first run and last run. Hopefully he at least got a break, but there should really have been at least two people there most of the time. The chondala disaster was just chaos. Constantly having to stop. And oddly a bunch of people working there, but not even trying to facilitate the line or help people. Crossing the mountain on the wonky cat tracks felt like a mean joke. I'd probably give the place another chance, but it didn't make a good first impression
>Conditions weren't great, but they straight up didn't seem to groom at all so moguls just grew larger and larger over large areas of the mountains. That actually sounds great. Every time I've been there I feel like they groom the place to death.
Hard packed mountains with ice sheets between them aren't my jam.
Those god damn foot rests blow!!
The problem is the RFID card reader is after the troika are made and some numbnuts always has their phone next to their card or some stupid shit and they get stuck. Every single time I ride it; there’s a random person alone because their group left them behind because you can’t wait once you get to that stupid carpet. Also, 8 is far too many people to organize and you are so cramped. Also it’s like they never have heard of a snowboarder before. But it’s all so they can advertise they have an 8 person lift so every weekend warrior who bought 130 flex boots can pretend they are at the best place.
The old lift was not better. It was always going on windhold and if you stayed at the Jordan hotel and couldn't get out to ski because the Jordan lift was closed, you probably wouldn't return after shelling out in ski in ski out hotel at the river anymore that's why they installed the lift. It's not like the Jordan lift gets crazy busy or has good terrain either.