Quote Originally Posted by angler View Post
With modern technology is that still true?
I'm going to have to stop and disagree with you right there. Have you ever rode up Inverness? That thing is a rocket. I cling to the rail for fear of getting flung off as it majestically crests the head wall. Terrifying.



On a serious note though I don't know much about lifts. I kind of think of them a bit like rebuilding a car though (which I also don't know a ton about. ). You can choose to buy a new one or pick up a frame of an older one and throw whatever parts you want in it. In my mind we have the frame. We have a 1956 F100. A workhorse in it's time. But replacing with the same parts from 1956 is getting hard to do and hard to find. So why not throw a Chevy 700 R4 into it? Maybe replace a few other things. More expensive then maintaining the existing pieces that came with it, but less expensive then replacing the entire lift and structure. Comparing to a car rebuild is a good analogy too because older cars, and I imagine older lifts are easier to do since they don't have nearly the same electronics modern ones have.

I agree with much of what Howie has said that we don't need more uphill capacity. Or at least not much more. Rebuilt lifts with some modern updates/parts would mean better reliability and possibly you could squeeze a little more speed out of them so the uphill capacity would increase a slight amount and make for shorter lift times when the hoards of quad packers descend upon us. But totally new lifts with much more capacity? Can you imagine more people on Deathspout on an icy day?

Fixed grips in my mind seem to be the most resilient when it comes to ice and wind so please don't get rid of those. If I could think of a good place for it I'd love a few surface lifts. J Bar up Spillsville to cycle it anyone? That would be a fun ride up? Mind the down coming traffic.

Where I part ways with Howie and think he is overworked and somehow delusional is his statement about Northridge being anywhere near reliable. I honestly cannot believe anyone could have this opinion. In my mind that is the worst lift on the mountain and should be replaced. Maybe I'm jaded from years of it breaking. Maybe that thing was Old Faithful this year, but I don't care. I don't trust it. It's trying to build up our confidence somehow so it can betray us later on an epic scale. Maybe it will start running backwards next time I get on it. No idea. It's just evil. Plus it's critical to skiing North much more than VHD is to skiing South. When it goes down North goes down in my mind. No point in being there.