2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[Harry]

^^^ Bunion speaks the truth, 4 inches fell last night.

[axebiker]

Still falling...and I'm on a "rest day"... Fack. Hopefully it carries over to tomorrow!

[Harry]

I'm on a "rest day"...

What a pussy. Ski one day with a gaper like me and you need rest ? Just wait till you ski with somebody hardcore like Austin.... 😱

[Gaffney10]

Almost 6"!!

[GoBig1776]

You and Nest both have good viewpoints.

Before Challenger was built (1988) all the terrain was accessed by going up LRT traverse.

To answer your questions.

The number of Headwaters chairs was because when we bought the chair from Kirkwood (Hole in the wall chair) Those were all the hangers (chairs) left from the removal process that were worth a shit.

It was an old Yan double and past its life span. The MLB lift maint crew along with design work from an engineer rebuilt the entire lift except for the Base 10 drive station.

The Motor and the aux are basically new. We didn't want to overload the terrain so we went with a chair ever 60 seconds.

The Jupiter lift at Park City (a Yan double from, the same era) runs at 1 chair every 6 seconds so yes, very possible. It would mean replacing all the chairs and improving the unload station at the top of Headwaters.

Iron Horse is a bottom drive. To extend the lift would require a new haul rope (the current rope is now 20 years old) 2-3 new towers and tower heads and sheave assemblies and some engineering. The top terminal would be fairly easy to relocate.

Challenger was a 13 minute ride. Iron Horse is currently an 8 minute ride at about 450-500 fpm, add on an additional 500 feet and its a 9 minute ride. Headwaters is about a 4-5 minute ride so for ride times it is a wash. There is the hassle of having to ride 2 lifts as well as the lap around time to Iron Horse which isn't much worse than skiing to the bottom of the present Challenger bottom.

IMUO the Challenger terrain is going to be pretty fucked up by more skiers, its not that big an area to begin with so a Triple chair will impact the skiing in a big way.

If you see TM and suggest it, it would be best to not mention this forum or Bunion. We have a bit of history.

^^^Bunion nails it here except HW is one chair every 25ish seconds. I timed it today.
Still could use a bit more capacity. With Challanger down, the HW lift lines have been getting bigger, but I guess we are kinda spoiled with so many years of zero lines at that chair.

[GoBig1776]

BTW...incredible skiing in that area today and the HW Run Off was pretty awesome yesterday.

[yeahman]

Almost 6"!!

That's what she said.

[axebiker]

What a pussy. Ski one day with a gaper like me and you need rest ? Just wait till you ski with somebody hardcore like Austin.... ��

Sorry for the late reply...I had to step away from my iPad to change my tampon. Now what were you saying??

[Bunion 2020]

BTW...incredible skiing in that area today and the HW Run Off was pretty awesome yesterday.

Headwaters really comes into its own once we get past the cold, dark and dry months. That cold smoke just needs a little density and body.

Edit to add: I just saw that MR Hummers is closing at the end of the season. Lease not renewed by the Corp. and to be replaced by yet another mediocre Pizza Joint.

[Harry]

Sorry for the late reply...I had to step away from my iPad to change my tampon. Now what were you saying??

You better take out that tampon and put on a jockstrap if you are skiing with yeahman today.

Stay rested because Thursday I am taking you back to Dakota Bowl.

[axebiker]

You better take out that tampon and put on a jockstrap if you are skiing with yeahman today.

Stay rested because Thursday I am taking you back to Dakota Bowl.

Literally lol'ing...

Yeahman rocked it today- took me down Marx...fucker!! Glad he went first - couldn't see a damn thing....so death alluded me - just cuz I couldn't see it... Fun day - always great to ski with a ripper Mag. Thanks for the upper level tour...and for the romp in the woods with "dude"... Uhhhh...thanks for the groomer pow -- good thing you had your Ava-lung with for that craziness!!

[claymond]

I'm coming up to Bozeman tomorrow afternoon, gonna ski a day at Big Sky, probly Thursday, and either tour or maybe go to Bridger Bowl Friday. Spent one day at Big Sky last year being shown the goods, it kicked ass, would be excited to meet up for some turns there, and if anyone would like to tour somewhere in the greater Bozeman area Friday let me know. Or get a drink any evening. Peace!

[yeahman]

Literally lol'ing...

Yeahman rocked it today- took me down Marx...fucker!! Glad he went first - couldn't see a damn thing....so death alluded me - just cuz I couldn't see it... Fun day - always great to ski with a ripper Mag. Thanks for the upper level tour...and for the romp in the woods with "dude"... Uhhhh...thanks for the groomer pow -- good thing you had your Ava-lung with for that craziness!!

That was upper Marx to 1st gully to Cronn's we did, not that we could see a thing. But a different route than Marx proper. And yeah that dude who took us on that "secret" tree run was whack. WTF? Low angle tight trees, nice.

[Lexi-Bell]

Edit to add: I just saw that MR Hummers is closing at the end of the season. Lease not renewed by the Corp. and to be replaced by yet another mediocre Pizza Joint.

Uggggh. That sucks, really like the history, owner, and lunch specials.

[2FUNKY]

That was upper Marx to 1st gully to Cronn's we did, not that we could see a thing.

One of my favorite high speed tram laps. That and top of 3 to cronns, love airing the Rock the splits the top of 3. When you can see of coarse.

[Norseman]

That and top of 3 to cronns, love airing the Rock the splits the top of 3.

Yes!

[bushman]

I went into Montana Jacks or whatever its called now in early Dec,. $20.00 hamburgers, really. Hummer's had prime rib dinner for $27.00. Yeah Hummer's will be missed.
Edit to add; The owner buys ya a drink once in a while.

[Gaffney10]

Madison Base (Headwaters Grill) and Yeti Dogs are my 2 faves for price on the mountain.

The new Moonlight Lodge is a freaking joke as is Everetts 8800! Very $$$$$$

[peck257]

Edit to add: I just saw that MR Hummers is closing at the end of the season. Lease not renewed by the Corp. and to be replaced by yet another mediocre Pizza Joint.

This is a tragedy!! I may reconsider my bronze pass next year if there is no hummers.

[Bunion 2020]

I haven't taken a seat at Mahogany Ridge in years. Bernie seemed ready to go but Hummers was sort of an institution.

I guess this means that tearing down the Mall will have to wait.

[regct]

NS girl is a friend and she speaks the truth.

...sounds like maybe the chairs on the new high speed bowl lift will be staggered enough that Tram traffic won't change much.

Damn good skiing the last few days.

[yeahman]

The new Moonlight Lodge is a freaking joke

$15 Bloody Mary's! And from what I hear they aren't even very good.

[yeahman]

Axebiker coming down Tears on our snowfield excursion yesterday. Great conditions. Even the fences on Rips were fun.

[2FUNKY]

^Sweet!

[tom tuttle from tacoma washington]

Posted on another forum:

Got a confirmation today that the two new lifts are under contract. Total cost over $10 mil. so I think those who think current owners are stingy must be VERY rich in comparison. Big Sky has a very efficient lift system and the two new lifts will make it even better.

Engineers have completed their lift alignment work.

Removal of the old Challenger equipment will start tomorrow.

The Challenger replacement will be a triple chair with a loading carpet. It will run 500 fpm faster than the old chair. It will be a little better in the wind because of the weight of the chairs and the cable. The dismount area at the top of lift will be reworked considerably to make it easier to get off the lift. The additional capacity is considered to be an improvement for both the Challenger and Headwaters terrain since both areas can be accessed from either lift.

The Bowl Triple will be replaced with a 90 degree loading, bubble covered, heated seat, detachable six pack. The chair will be relocated at both the top and bottom to enhance loading, unloading and traffic into and away from the lift. Enough dirt will be moved on top to allow for grooming and dismounting the lift from both the right and left sides. Improvements will be made to Upper Morningstar and the Bowl. It was noted that this style chair will be considered the standard for future chairs at Big Sky.

My personal thinking is this is clearly more capacity than is needed for skier traffic in the Bowl, Tram and Upper Morningstar but it's an indication of a future need to get more skiers up the mountain into the area of the lower Tram station.

Make your 20116-17 reservations early. It should be and EPIC season!

Snow conditions are good at Big Sky, with more snow in the forecast. If you're looking for a place to make a quick spring ski trip you should consider Big Sky.