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Crotched Mountain, NH 2011-12

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Author	Post
obienick Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Oct 21, 2005 Posts: 1168 Location:	Posted: Jul 15, 2012 - 5:22 PM GMT Will Crotched be sticking with the Super PoleCats on the snowmaking expansion or are they going with the new Pumas?

joshua segal Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 12, 2004 Posts: 5944 Location:NH	Posted: Jul 15, 2012 - 5:57 PM GMT Quote: Will Crotched be sticking with the Super PoleCats on the snowmaking expansion or are they going with the new Pumas? Don't know. So far, the snowmaking work has been more about infrastrucure: pipes, valves and burying pipe. I haven't actually seen any new guns on the hill. Perhaps one of the other SJ CM regulars knows. __________ Joshua Segal

tedede Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 15, 2004 Posts: 806 Location:Amherst, NH	Posted: Jul 15, 2012 - 9:41 PM GMT No inside knowledge here, but they've got about 100 guns between the pole mounted and carriage mounted guns. The most they typically run on a heavy night is in the 70 range. It would not surprise me if they added a few tower guns on the steeper sections of the new trails, but with all of the capital outlay I'd be surprised if they if they bought more than a handful. I'd be surprised if they didn't buy PoleCats, just to maintain operations and maintenance consistency. That being said they have one or two SMI Kids, so who knows.

tedede Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 15, 2004 Posts: 806 Location:Amherst, NH	Posted: Jul 15, 2012 - 10:27 PM GMT I hiked the mountain on 17 June and took a few photos of the blasting. I drove by on 14 July and grabbed some snaps of the bits in the lot. I only counted 5 towers in the lot. Perhaps some are being resized. Here's a link to the albumn.

PatrickSullivan Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Sep 16, 2001 Posts: 695 Location:	Posted: Jul 20, 2012 - 4:38 AM GMT FYI boys n girls...While driving east on 202 after picking up an engine for my mountaineer (long story on that....don't ask) There was a big fat gray bullwheel heading west toward the crotch. Tried to snap a pic but was too slow, would've chased it but I had to be at work in Andover, MA in an hour.

tedede Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 15, 2004 Posts: 806 Location:Amherst, NH	Posted: Jul 20, 2012 - 10:46 AM GMT I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of updates on this on facebook. For a while we had the full frontal assault of progress photos. Now it's a couple of pictures in a month. I realize there are lulls in the project, but the parking lot is full, you wouldn't recognize where the patrol shack was, the patrol shack is now at the summit, and they're covering the rocks with wood chips and topsoil.

Chris Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Apr 19, 2001 Posts: 2720 Location:New Hampshire	Posted: Jul 20, 2012 - 1:31 PM GMT Edited: Jul 20, 2012 - 8:33 PM GMT Here's the latest ... (for those who don't know, I work at CM) There is a lot of activity happening daily... the old lift is mostly shipped out to its new home. All parts of the new lift are mostly here and the crew from Sky-Trac is busy on re-engineering. They have started on tower modifications, surveying, etc. All of the new chairs are being galvanized and will have new pads, etc. When the new lift is finished it will look brand new. The CM crew have just completed the removal of the old summit lift. The base drive terminal came out this week and shipped out right away. Basically a crane came in, picked up the terminal sections and placed them right onto a truck. Most of that lift is gone now to its new home. Terminal footings are being removed today. The new summit area is really nice and I think everyone is going to like it ... lots of earth work done, nicely pitched, no flats, good view, more expert terrain options. The new snowmaking system is coming along well... new pipeline is being built along with a new valve house built from the old summit lift shack. There's still a long way to go, but the project is on schedule and is mostly in the "build it" phase. I'm pretty excited for this upcoming season ... CM opens for it's 10th season this year and what a way to celebrate! __________ SnowJournal.com

newman Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 21, 2008 Posts: 2124 Location:The mighty SKI WARD Shrewsbury MA	Posted: Jul 20, 2012 - 9:16 PM GMT Quote: Will Crotched be sticking with the Super PoleCats on the snowmaking expansion or are they going with the new Pumas? I believe the Puma is geared for more automation. I can only guess the price of one of these. more if you go with the auto adjust towers. They even have a touch screen on the control box. That would of lasted 20 minutes at Hidden Valley NJ.

joshua segal Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 12, 2004 Posts: 5944 Location:NH	Posted: Jul 26, 2012 - 11:53 AM GMT Edited: Jul 26, 2012 - 11:54 AM GMT I'm glad that Chris is posting on this subject. He is on the inside and really knows what's happening. I am only reporting what I see and appearances can sometimes be deceiving or misjudged! July 25, 2012 - Wednesday Much activity continues at CM. One (possibly more) truck(s) of Sky Trac, the installation contractor was in the parking lot. There appeared to be activity at the area where the base terminal will be installed, but no one was in that area when I was there. Several workers were in the parking lot near the ATC building sanding the base and summit housings with power sanders, I presume for painting and refinishing. There were several workers in the parking lot by the Magic carpet who appeared to be looking at the towers (which are being staged in that parking lot). __________ Joshua Segal

joshua segal Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 12, 2004 Posts: 5944 Location:NH	Posted: Aug 01, 2012 - 8:02 PM GMT Aug. 1, 2012 - Wed. I don't think I've ever seen so much activity at a ski area in the off season. The base and summit stations are in various stages of sanding and priming. The summit area is already showing new poured concrete for tower footings. Trail work at the summit continues. Considering that the HSQ is barely 10 years old, it is amazing how much rust is on it. I can only imagine what the rust status must be on the towers at Whittier and other places that have been rusting on the hill for much, much longer. __________ Joshua Segal

obienick Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Oct 21, 2005 Posts: 1168 Location:	Posted: Aug 02, 2012 - 6:16 PM GMT It seems that Crotched has been very careful with grading (now and 10 years ago). Any idea on how much snow they can get away with opening on for a decent cover?

Chris Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Apr 19, 2001 Posts: 2720 Location:New Hampshire	Posted: Aug 02, 2012 - 6:27 PM GMT Its hard to say "how much" snow is needed because the variations in terrain can mean that 5 feet of snow is needed in one spot while 6 inches might be sufficient in another spot. CM can typically open a few trails top-to-bottom from green to white with 3+ good nights of snowmaking, usually in late Nov. at the first good weather window. __________ SnowJournal.com

dennis Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Dec 26, 2010 Posts: 40 Location:	Posted: Aug 03, 2012 - 5:22 PM GMT One op house was relocated to the return of #8 the other to the return of 3, the rest is correct, also 269 chairs were on it. Quote: [quote]7370. from Chairlifts.org. I wonder how many chairs it had? It says a line speed of 550fpm. It never seemed close to that. At some of those Midwest areas, I bet chairs average 2000 ft in length. If I remember right it was in the 200s for number of Chairs. The drive room and operator huts ended up being scraped. The motor and Apu went to the Challenger Lift. The towers, haul rope, chairs, return terminal, and the drive bull-wheel with the gear box still attached to it are located at Mount Snow's Howe Farm in Wilmington! [/quote]

tedede Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 15, 2004 Posts: 806 Location:Amherst, NH	Posted: Aug 03, 2012 - 6:10 PM GMT Quote: One op house was relocated to the return of #8 the other to the return of 3, the rest is correct, also 269 chairs were on it. Feel free to start a new "Where in the world are the bits of the old Mt. Snow Summit Local" thread. Aside from being owned by the same parent company this has nothing to do with Crotched.

dennis Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Dec 26, 2010 Posts: 40 Location:	Posted: Aug 04, 2012 - 8:59 PM GMT No thanks, I have to much work to do on Chotched's lift. thanks for offering though. Quote: [quote]One op house was relocated to the return of #8 the other to the return of 3, the rest is correct, also 269 chairs were on it. Feel free to start a new "Where in the world are the bits of the old Mt. Snow Summit Local" thread. Aside from being owned by the same parent company this has nothing to do with Crotched.[/quote]

rocket21 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 8404 Location:USA	Posted: Aug 04, 2012 - 11:34 PM GMT Quote: Considering that the HSQ is barely 10 years old, it is amazing how much rust is on it. I can only imagine what the rust status must be on the towers at Whittier and other places that have been rusting on the hill for much, much longer. The lattice towers on Whittier's gondola are stainless. The concrete may well be the first thing to cause that old lift to fail. I'm going to guess the Ascutney quad wasn't painted during the last few years of operation, so it probably had a good head start. __________ NewEnglandSkiHistory.com

tedede Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 15, 2004 Posts: 806 Location:Amherst, NH	Posted: Aug 08, 2012 - 10:47 AM GMT Crotched has relocated the second cam to the base overlooking the restoration of the base and summit terminals. They've also added some new pictures to their facebook page.

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