NECT Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I think any specultion is just that. Hopefully, management at any ski resort would not send a novice mechanic up a lift with (or without) people on it to inspect it. Most of all, I feel for the people injured, and for the folks who were hanging and wondering if they were next to fall. I also feel for the mechanic who was stuck making the call to run the lift slowly to offload it or order an evacuation. It's easy to make the call after the fact. In the near future, I would not be surprised to see a few lift evacuations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skierinvermont Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I'd still take Sugarloaf over Sunday River any day of the week, lol. So much better terrain... not even a question. Sugarloaf is sort of like Stowe/Mansfield in that its a very windy, gnarly mountain weather-wise. The mountain operations team and lift maintenance team knows what they are doing so I wouldn't blame them for what happened at all... though knowing the internal decisions that sometimes go on during these vacation (high volume, high money) times, they might have been pushing the envelop a bit. People get irate when lifts go on wind hold because they just don't understand... and there's a chance that had this been any ordinary Tuesday that lift might have been on wind hold. That's pure speculation but I know there can be a bit more pressure during these vacation times to keep things running for the tourists who for whatever reason just can't understand why a lift can't run in hurricane force winds. I was talking to a lift attendant at the summit lift at Sugarbush around noon today when it was on wind hold and he said something like 'If the crowds disperse then it ain't happening" meaning that if the crowds at the base lifts shorten up then they were not going to open the summit lift but if it stays crowded they might open it. So it sounded to me like they were more willing to push the envelop and open it if things were still crowded and the winds slacked off to borderline levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzucker Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I was talking to a lift attendant at the summit lift at Sugarbush around noon today when it was on wind hold and he said something like 'If the crowds disperse then it ain't happening" meaning that if the crowds at the base lifts shorten up then they were not going to open the summit lift but if it stays crowded they might open it. So it sounded to me like they were more willing to push the envelop and open it if things were still crowded and the winds slacked off to borderline levels. Of course, it's all about money. Just like everything else in our corrupt world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skierinvermont Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Of course, it's all about money. Just like everything else in our corrupt world. Yes - but I'd still be first person on that lift if they had opened it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbutts Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I was talking to a lift attendant at the summit lift at Sugarbush around noon today when it was on wind hold and he said something like 'If the crowds disperse then it ain't happening" meaning that if the crowds at the base lifts shorten up then they were not going to open the summit lift but if it stays crowded they might open it. So it sounded to me like they were more willing to push the envelop and open it if things were still crowded and the winds slacked off to borderline levels. Sugarbush's president kind of paints a different picture about their wind hold decisions in his latest blog entry http://www.sugarbush.com/about-vermont-resort/president-blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skierinvermont Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Sugarbush's president kind of paints a different picture about their wind hold decisions in his latest blog entry http://www.sugarbush.../president-blog They did seem pretty strict and aggressive about the wind holds. The attendant might have simply been saying that once it got late in the day they would not bother opening it even if it became safe, but if it were still crowded they would go through the time and difficulty of opening it at 2 or 3pm even though it would only be open for an hour or two in order to disperse the crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutmegfriar Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 Of course, it's all about money. Just like everything else in our corrupt world. The shrill wail of the downtrodden echoes through the darkening wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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