New VH lift

[Orca]

This Sunday was a perfect illustration of the need for the new VH lift. Holiday surges are inevitable and are only exacerbated by occasional lift closures like NL (wind) and NRX (mechanical). It is worth remembering that in those holiday surges (and on any given busy Saturday) there are newcomers to Sugarbush visiting for the first time, each of whom is a potential repeat customer. Those folks may have a great first experience and want to come back or, if things are not good, say "never will I visit that place again." All that translates into made or lost dollars. My concern is that the surge that got a bit unmanageable on Sunday may have turned off some people, maybe permanently.

I am very hopeful that the new VH lift can be installed and put into service for next season. It will be a major upgrade to the lift service out of the base and provide feasible redundancy if, god help us all, Super Bravo quit out. Thank you, Win and Summit Ventures, for pushing the new VH lift forward.

[Hawk]

Yup all that. Actually Orca, your post is what we all here have been saying for a couple of years now. But I have to say that this weekend was not that bad at all. The lines were manageable. Last year we saw worse so count your blessings. I have a strong fear that a lot of people especially quad pack holders are waiting on the big dump and in a few weeks they will have to start using their investments. Lets hope they all don't come at the same time.

[HowieT2]

Yup all that. Actually Orca, your post is what we all here have been saying for a couple of years now. But I have to say that this weekend was not that bad at all. The lines were manageable. Last year we saw worse so count your blessings. I have a strong fear that a lot of people especially quad pack holders are waiting on the big dump and in a few weeks they will have to start using their investments. Lets hope they all don't come at the same time.

I wouldn't have noticed if I was on my normal routine, but we had guests, so I had the misfortune of having to take the base quads around 11am yesterday. It was bad.

[angler]

Yesterday was the only day that the lines were out of control. Rest of weekend was to be expected considering it was MLK weekend. New VH lift should help on these weekends.

[southvillager]

I skied LP Sunday and Monday, starting around 9AM both days. I never stood in line for long. Except Castlerock, but that is to be expected. Even factoring in that Ellen skiers may have shifted to Lincoln, things were ok by me for a holiday. I saw Win expediting the singles line Sunday morning, maybe some employees were late to work after enjoying the Pats game. The lines on the VH double were very short 90% of the time. As I was approaching Bravo, I was envisioning the new quad loading from a new lower position. If this happens, this will be a really, really good thing. I hope the Mushroom survives the ordeal.

Off topic, but I was most impressed with the snowmaking/grooming conditions on Sunday. The main feeder trails like Snowball and Downspout were skiable well into the day. Lots of loose material to turn on, much less skidding on hardpack. Steins was carve-able. Spring Fling was perfect. Well done Sugarbush.

[Orca]

A straight line that starts from the existing VH upper terminal and passes just northwest of the existing lower terminal extends down the mountain such that the existing VH lodge and the mushroom can remain intact. The line passes through the facilities building, which it would seem would have to be removed. See the attached image.

VHPath.jpg

[Hawk]

We were looking at the routing on Saturday while waiting for people to come out of VH lodge. They actually have already cut some of the brush back at the skiers left at the bottom of the mall. If the lift lands right on the existing concrete pad at the maintenance building, there should be plenty of room to clear the other buildings and also room for the lift line without severely impacting the Bravo line. I am sure the final solution will be well thought out.

[HowieT2]

I got there for first chair yesterday, Monday, and bravo was late to load. The Heavens gate was delayed about a half hour purportedly because the crew was delayed by the bravo delay.
Fwiw- for the record, yesterday was the first day that the early ups pass came into play. Of course the early uppers were stuck waiting with the rest of us plebs.

[Dblshot]

Will the new VH lift placement mean the Mushroom will actually get used? Can a small bar go in there to deal with the overflow of the Wunderbar? It is structurally unsound now? It is the best viewing area for having drinks on the hill. Disco lights and dancing when it is dark, it will look like a flying saucer.

[Hawk]

I am a little foggy on the details since it has been a while but I was told that the Mushroom is structurally sound. The issue is all the plumbing was removed from the bar area so it would require some work. Also I think there is an issue pertaining to the number of alcohol licenses that are issued at the Bush since they added Timbers. I think they would need to somehow obtain another to open the Mushroom which is not easy. There is a process. That is my recollection.

Will the new VH lift placement mean the Mushroom will actually get used? Can a small bar go in there to deal with the overflow of the Wunderbar? It is structurally unsound now? It is the best viewing area for having drinks on the hill. Disco lights and dancing when it is dark, it will look like a flying saucer.

[win]

Mushroom and rest of VH are sound. It is an iconic building so I plan to keep it. to reopen Mushroom we need to drill another well to meet permit conditions. While we have ample water, permit requirement mandates a certain amount per seat. We have identified some possible areas to drill some wells.

[random_ski_guy]

Mushroom and rest of VH are sound. It is an iconic building so I plan to keep it. to reopen Mushroom we need to drill another well to meet permit conditions. While we have ample water, permit requirement mandates a certain amount per seat. We have identified some possible areas to drill some wells.

Ugh, these rules, many of limited value, seem unending....which is no surprise really ...

A restored and expanded wunderbar could allow the cr pub to be used as more of an extension of the lodge. And wunderbar would be the new home of the adult scene.

Exciting.

A realligned VH will required a wider Mall trail. Bummer.

[Benski]

A realligned VH will required a wider Mall trail. Bummer.

The mall was widened over the summer and has lost some of its character.

[HowieT2]

Mushroom and rest of VH are sound. It is an iconic building so I plan to keep it. to reopen Mushroom we need to drill another well to meet permit conditions. While we have ample water, permit requirement mandates a certain amount per seat. We have identified some possible areas to drill some wells.

Any thoughts on doing a little facelift? It's always seemed to me that you could punch out south towards spring fling. New windows facing the slopes, more space, maybe a fireplace. Could be real nice. And it wouldn't seem to be that big a project.

[angler]

Any thoughts on doing a little facelift? It's always seemed to me that you could punch out south towards spring fling. New windows facing the slopes, more space, maybe a fireplace. Could be real nice. And it wouldn't seem to be that big a project.

+ 1, It would be a nice bookend to the new chair.