RidgeRacer Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 99.9% headed to Elk today. I’ll see if I can get the low down on the sale from the ticket window peeps 4 Quote
EdBacon Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 3 hours ago, RidgeRacer said: 99.9% headed to Elk today. I’ll see if I can get the low down on the sale from the ticket window peeps If its still for sale ask how much. Quote
Jersey Tomato Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 (edited) At Montage last week I got to talking with an older dude who was waiting for his grandkids to show up- says he knows Elk's owner personally, even did some contractor type work for him years ago- says he's such a cheapskate that when those lifts broke down last year he fixed them with used parts not new ones, to save a little money! so he won't ski there anymore- says owner's 91 y.o. & the guy's daughter is heavily involved & may take over some day- he's heard nothing about a sale & doesn't believe the old man would anyway. He also said that the owner was so pissed about a nearby condo development going up that he banned the condo owners from skiing at Elk- which was the reason most bought their condos to begin with- wtf! Edited February 27 by Jersey Tomato 1 2 Quote
RidgeRacer Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 Well he should do something about these lifts cause they're pretty archaic. Hopefully his daughter can talk some sense into him 1 Quote
Jersey Tomato Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 6 minutes ago, RidgeRacer said: Well he should do something about these lifts cause they're pretty archaic. Hopefully his daughter can talk some sense into him Can you imagine how a HS lift would transform that place! 1 Quote
rgrwilco Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 (edited) Sheeeit, even a modern quad with carpet loading would improve the place drastically. If I owned a ski area and was thinking of selling, I would probably use used parts to get the lift up and running just to make it until the sale is completed. Edited February 27 by rgrwilco Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 4 hours ago, RidgeRacer said: 99.9% headed to Elk today. I’ll see if I can get the low down on the sale from the ticket window peeps Why the .1% chance of not going? I almost thought I’d see you at Blue this AM lol Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 I thought a big part of Elks appeal was the old slow lifts. Quote
RidgeRacer Posted February 27 Report Posted February 27 (edited) 13 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: Why the .1% chance of not going? I almost thought I’d see you at Blue this AM lol Because I was debating Elk or Greek peak. Thought about blue too but felt like changing it up a bit Edited February 27 by RidgeRacer 1 Quote
paul45 Posted February 29 Author Report Posted February 29 On 2/27/2024 at 9:49 AM, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: I thought a big part of Elks appeal was the old slow lifts. Pretty sure the appeal is the lackkk of crowds because of the slow lifts. 1 Quote
EdBacon Posted February 29 Report Posted February 29 On 2/27/2024 at 11:49 AM, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: I thought a big part of Elks appeal was the old slow lifts. Only for me and I think three or four other people. I mean for real, I love the character of the old fixed grips, but they need either replacement or a complete overhaul. You can run a place with old lifts for the character (see Smuggs) but it's like owning a classic car. You're going to have to rebuild it eventually and need to take maintenance seriously. 3 Quote
RidgeRacer Posted February 29 Report Posted February 29 1 minute ago, EdBacon said: Only for me and I think three or four other people. I mean for real, I love the character of the old fixed grips, but they need either replacement or a complete overhaul. You can run a place with old lifts for the character (see Smuggs) but it's like owning a classic car. You're going to have to rebuild it eventually and need to take maintenance seriously. Spot on. Quote
Jn959 Posted February 29 Report Posted February 29 6 hours ago, RidgeRacer said: Spot on. Totally agree. I don’t think they really need high speed lifts. They just need more reliable/maintained lifts. If all lifts are running lines are pretty minimal. Quote
abe Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 (edited) High speed lifts at Elk would destroy the snow quality, scenery, and lack of crowding on the slopes, which is why I go there anyway... I don't even know if there is enough room for detachable terminals at the summit. Funny how the old Hall doubles keep chugging along as one does but their quad seems to have most of the issues Edited March 5 by abe 2 Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 7 hours ago, abe said: High speed lifts at Elk would destroy the snow quality, scenery, and lack of crowding on the slopes, which is why I go there anyway... I don't even know if there is enough room for detachable terminals at the summit. Funny how the old Hall doubles keep chugging along as one does but their quad seems to have most of the issues The quad is 30 years old, just like the quad at Blue. Quote
EdBacon Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 10 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: The quad is 30 years old, just like the quad at Blue. It shares towers with what was an older Hall double. It's sort of a franken-lift thing. Parts of it are 60 years old. The rest of their lifts are Halls or Borvigs from the 60s and 70s. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 12 minutes ago, EdBacon said: It shares towers with what was an older Hall double. It's sort of a franken-lift thing. Parts of it are 60 years old. The rest of their lifts are Halls or Borvigs from the 60s and 70s. Haha Frankenlift and now I have my fourth favorite Hall and Oates song stuck in my head…Let’s hope somebody saves Elk..with their northern climate and high elevation. They could compete with other Vermont ski areas if they updated their snowmaking and lifts. Their base is higher than the summit of Mont Bleu which is like skiing in canada without the border checkpoint cause they have poutine at slopeside griddle 2 Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 @theprogram4 elk is Out of Touch..they charge like a thousand for a season pass and you aren’t allowed to ski in the woods. They did have a quad lift back in the 90s 1 Quote
theprogram4 Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 17 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: @theprogram4 elk is Out of Touch..they charge like a thousand for a season pass and you aren’t allowed to ski in the woods. They did have a quad lift back in the 90s Aren’t hall and Oates beefing now? 1 1 Quote
RidgeRacer Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 Just now, theprogram4 said: Aren’t hall and Oates beefing now? I was just gonna post that. Lol. They are big time...I just heard that somewhere. Hall specifically seems hella pissed off at Oats Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 6 Report Posted March 6 21 minutes ago, theprogram4 said: Aren’t hall and Oates beefing now? No idea…they need to squash the beef and make some more music. Quote
paul45 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 On 2/25/2024 at 1:38 PM, Benm said: Elk would be way more attractive if my first thought wasn't sitting on a slow fixed grip for twenty minutes a run. Ride time is 9 minutes no stops, 12 on average... 960ft of vertical excitement ain't that far. How slow do you ski!? ;-). 1 Quote
paul45 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 1 minute ago, paul45 said: Ride time is 9 minutes no stops, 12 on average... 960ft of vertical excitement ain't that far. How slow do you ski!? ;-). Also... https://www.midwestskiers.com/post/fixed-grip-highspeed-why-so-many-midwest-hills-go-fixed I posted that on a different thread earlier in the year. Very interesting read on the trade offs between fixed grip and detachable. BLUF: If no one falls and they never have to slow it, they're identical uphill capacity... That is driven by the time between chairs which was optimized sixty+ years ago at 6 seconds per chair and pretty much every lift on the plant, fixed and detachable, spaces their chairs at that. The two benefits of high speed are, fewer people falling and slowing or stopping it (which reduces uphill capacity) and in the very rare condition (even at elk, pretty much only weekdays and very slow weekends) that they aren't using all that capacity you can actually lap the mountain faster. But if they're filling every seat at elk (most weekends this year at least) you're not in that condition. Otherwise it's just a question of sitting on the lift vs. standing in the lift line. Detachables take half those people off the lift seats (because there's half as many chairs, because, math) and puts them in the lift line instead. Personally, I'm fine sitting on the chair instead of standing in line if it keeps the crowds away. Bottom line got lengthy .. But interesting read. 3 Quote
Benm Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 54 minutes ago, paul45 said: Ride time is 9 minutes no stops, 12 on average... 960ft of vertical excitement ain't that far. How slow do you ski!? ;-). 12 min on average for 960 ft of vert? it sounds even further now. Quote
paul45 Posted March 13 Author Report Posted March 13 On 3/11/2024 at 8:45 PM, Benm said: 12 min on average for 960 ft of vert? it sounds even further now. On a weekend with people falling off. Feel free to go to camelback on a weekend for their high speed and spend that 12 and then some in line for the lift 🙂 1 1 Quote
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