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Mt Whittier Visit

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orangegondola
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Posted: Jul 27, 2012 - 2:10 AM GMT

Posted a bunch of pics from a recent visit. It took me 14 years to get over there after first reading about it on NELSAP.

Whittier Visit

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millerm277
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Posted: Jul 27, 2012 - 5:15 AM GMT

Nice picture. I wound up there completely by accident a couple years ago. Someone else was driving and we stopped in the McDonalds to get a bite to eat, and then I noticed the lift tower in the parking lot.

bmwskier
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 11:02 AM GMT

Great shots!

Wow-- 705 lb limit per car? Don't think that'd work today for four adults!

bousquet19
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 3:23 PM GMT

Colorful photos! Love the White Mountains 1960s-era "tourist trap" decor.

Orange, you mention only two other Mueller gondolas in North America: Whistler and Mt. Ste. Anne, both in Canada. What was the deal with the summertime conversion of the Mt. Sunapee chairlift to a gondola? Were those Mueller gondola cabins?

Woody
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bmwskier
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 4:45 PM GMT

In general, who owns Whittier now, or for that matter, any abandoned ski area? Are they mostly owned by banks that foreclosed?

obienick
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 5:18 PM GMT

Until a few years ago, Whittier was owned by a famous chef up in North Conway. I do not know if he sold or leased the land for the Mt Madness operation (did that flop or is it still running?).

Topo maps indicate there's great terrain on the northwest face (solid 1100 ft blue cruisers) but it appears on aerial images to be owned by a timber company.

kevinthomas
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 9:18 PM GMT

Always wondered how did the Whittier Goni work? Did the godnola cars go over the road in the winter or was there a third bull wheel at the skier loading area? If there wasn't another bull wheel, did the loading station work as a mid station style detachable loading area? Did skier walk up to the loading station to start their day or did they load across the road?

rocket21
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 10:17 PM GMT

I don't know if they sent the gondola cars over 16 in winter, but skiers did not ride that section. It's possible they deroped them at the skier station. The drive terminal is at the old gift shop, though, so the whole line was moving.

The lift line is owned separately from the rest of the old ski area.

The northwest face is part of at least two tracts, one of them a Forest Legacy easement.

I believe Mt. Madness stopped awhile ago, but the base lodge is still lived in, and snowmobile competitions have been held there in recent years.

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joshua segal
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 10:33 PM GMT

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I don't know if they sent the gondola cars over 16 in winter, but skiers did not ride that section. It's possible they deroped them at the skier station. The drive terminal is at the old gift shop, though, so the whole line was moving.

...

I rode that gondola many years ago and yes, it did cross the highway and back (without passengers). When the cars arrived at the loading point, they detached from the haul rope, but you had to hurry to get in. A reasonable comparison: If any of you has ridden the detachable at LaMassif at the loading mid-station, you've got to hustle to make it!

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Joshua Segal

orangegondola
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 10:34 PM GMT

Only one drive and one return but the cabins could detach at the mid-station for loading.

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orangegondola
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Posted: Jul 28, 2012 - 10:35 PM GMT

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Colorful photos! Love the White Mountains 1960s-era "tourist trap" decor.

Orange, you mention only two other Mueller gondolas in North America: Whistler and Mt. Ste. Anne, both in Canada. What was the deal with the summertime conversion of the Mt. Sunapee chairlift to a gondola? Were those Mueller gondola cabins?

Woody

The aluminum cabins for sunapee were most likely CWA.

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obienick
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 7:43 PM GMT

Interesting ...

It was my impression from old trail maps that the building with the Tramway Artisan Shops was an old base lodge (with another one by the water park) and you would ride over 16 to get to the ski area and back at the end of the day. Old maps show it labeled as "Gondola Base Station" with a cafeteria and gift shop while the other base lodge was labeled "Base Stat. Ski Slope" with all services.

If you couldn't ride over 16 ... why? And how did you get across the road? How did summer ops work? There are pictures of people riding the gondola in the summer.

joshua segal
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 10:12 PM GMT

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If you couldn't ride over 16 ... why? And how did you get across the road? How did summer ops work? There are pictures of people riding the gondola in the summer.

I last skied Whittier in 1977, so there has been lots of time for memories to distort reality, but what follows is what I remember. I am told that in the summer, one got on the Gondola on the East Side of Rt. 16, but in the winter, there was essentially no vertical drop between the "skier loading area" and the East Side of Rt. 16. The only lodge I ever used when skiing was on the West Side of Rt. 16.

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kevinthomas
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 10:18 PM GMT

Are there any other gondolas that have a mid station loading area besides Killington... and that's debatable becasue it is classified as two seperate lifts.

jaytrem
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 11:28 PM GMT

Edited: Jul 29, 2012 - 11:40 PM GMT

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Are there any other gondolas that have a mid station loading area besides Killington... and that's debatable becasue it is classified as two seperate lifts.

Keystone, Breckenridge, Snowmass, Blackcomb, Sunshine Village, and as mentioned by Joshua, Le Massif. Possibly Mammoth, I forget.

Also, Heavenley you can get out and get back in. But can't really go anywhere while you're out.

newman
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 11:30 PM GMT

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Are there any other gondolas that have a mid station loading area besides Killington... and that's debatable becasue it is classified as two seperate lifts.

The Von Roll at Busch Gardens Tampa. It comes into a mid station to make a 90 degree turn. The cabins detach off the rope. They are pushed by hand down a track to the other rope. Just like they did with the K-Mart Calavaro at North Brook and Skye Peak stations.

jaytrem
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 11:32 PM GMT

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The Von Roll at Busch Gardens Tampa.

Hmmmm, if a lift runs in a triangel, how do you know which station is the mid-station.

Same deal with the Busch Gardens Virginia.

joshua segal
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Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 11:46 PM GMT

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Are there any other gondolas that have a mid station loading area besides Killington... and that's debatable becasue it is classified as two seperate lifts.

Are you differentiating between Gondolas and HS-Detachables. From a grip POV, they are the same.

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newman
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Posted: Jul 30, 2012 - 3:42 AM GMT

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[quote]The Von Roll at Busch Gardens Tampa.

Hmmmm, if a lift runs in a triangel, how do you know which station is the mid-station.

Same deal with the Busch Gardens Virginia.[/quote]

Not a triangle. L shape. Loading and unloading at each end. Station in the middle has like 4 bullwheels.

Skileader
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Posted: Jul 30, 2012 - 7:10 AM GMT

Same as Bush Gardens for the old Hall at Gore.

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