Snowdon reconfiguration....

[Highway Star]

Replacing the snowdon quad is always a topic on here. But what are the trail changes that should come with it? Should other snowdon lifts be removed, upgraded or changed? Should a new lift line be created?

IMHO, Snowdon is the most poorly layed out section of the mountain. It's the result of 30 years of expansion and changing tastes, and hasn't seen any real changes in 20 years, except for reduced snowmaking and some trail regrading.

It's broken into 3 sections - expert steeps to the south, cruisers in the middle, tree skiing to the north. Good, in theory, but it falls apart due to Great Northern crossing trails and creating choke points. The upper mountain cruisers all funnel through the mixing bowl/middle chute/GN loop/bowling alley area, which is always a mess.

IMHO, they should completely toss out the cruiser layout in the middle of snowdon. Re-grade, replant and redo the whole thing. Everything from MTS and Lower Bunny buster to Chute/GN is fair game. Remove all three lifts and install one 6-lift from the Vale lot region up to the current top of the triple - this would actually go right up the fall line. Merge one side of mouse trap with lower bunnybuster, and grade the other. And so on.

Thoughts?

[tt431]

I would eliminate middle Chute crossing GN, maybe upper Chute too. Otherwise, I'd rather see the Interconnect and village projects going before spending any money in the Snowdon area.

[tt431]

Actually, I would get rid of upper Chute from Great Bear to the second GN crossing.

[rogman]

Great Northern is a scar across the center and soul of Snowdon. It adversely affects every trail it touches. Start there.

If it were mine to choose, I'd wrap it around the back side of Killington onto West Glade/Ridge Run, and then branch off that behind the peak of Snowdon onto Frolic, and continue down to Caper. After that little legerdemain, fixing Snowdon is easy, but replanting trees isn't really feasible, unless you feel like waiting 20 or 30 years at minimum. Might as well plant palm trees, what with the accelerating rate of global climate change.

[jimmywilson69]

I think a new lift line (see below)that starts at the quad base and ends at the top of the tripple would be a good starting point. A re-routing of GN like Rogman Mentioned is a must. It would at least restore the top to bottom runs in similar fashion to what they did in the Needles Eye area.

They could replant larger pines (6-7 footers) that would revegetate faster than you would think. I would start with east side of mouse trap. You could plant the trees in a "glade" pattern to enable skiing in between them now and in the future.

[Highway Star]

, and then branch off that behind the peak of Snowdon onto Frolic, and continue down to Caper. .

I'm not sure that's physically possible...but it would be a neat trick.

[Highway Star]

I think a new lift line (see below)that starts at the quad base and ends at the top of the tripple would be a good starting point. A re-routing of GN like Rogman Mentioned is a must. It would at least restore the top to bottom runs in similar fashion to what they did in the Needles Eye area.

I would turn it even further and have it go all the way down to the vale lot.

[Streamtracker]

I like to take a run or two down upper and lower chute each day, but I don't like slowing down for the intersections with GN. From the chair, I've seen some intense blood on the slope collisions between skiers crossing chute via GN. I agree, it's a scar.

[K Ski Patroler]

I like to take a run or two down upper and lower chute each day, but I don't like slowing down for the intersections with GN. From the chair, I've seen some intense blood on the slope collisions between skiers crossing chute via GN. I agree, it's a scar.

Never noticed.

[skiersleft]

Who cares, just replace the damn snowdown quad!

[junior]

Who cares, just replace the damn snowdown quad!

You gonna be ok with a high speed quad over there?

[ski]

Replace the quad . . . that's a no brainer . . . And as for Chute..... That trail sucks for the most part ..The upper down to Great Bear is fun a lot of the time , But the rest of it is a crowded, off-camber piece of shlt . . Lose it... Or better yet, mark it more clearly "Reserved for Gapers"

[Stormchaser]

The whole "beginners can ski off the top of every peak" at Killington has ruined the top to bottom skiing. I realize its a convenient marketting tool, but it's a detriment to the skiing experience for everyone. Low speed beginners and higher speed advanced skiers don't mix well. Beginners don't want someone hurtling by them at 35 mph; advanced skiers don't want to be jamming on the brakes all the time to avoid slower skiers. It doesn't make any sense to be able to ski off every peak, if you can't have fun doing it. I would think beginners would have a better time on the hill if they didn't have to worry about being overtaken by, or having to cross in front of, faster skiers. I'd certainly have a better time if I could ski uninterupted t>b... NELL without a single cross over...talk about fun!

[Marc Shepherd]

I agree that the "beginners can ski any lift" concept led to some unfortunate design choices. It isn't really true anyway, as the top of Great Eastern, as now configured, is rather scary for a true beginner.

But I don't see a scenario where the K-1 Gondola would be off-limits to beginners, and you've got to give them a way to get back down to base. It would be nice if there were a way to get them over to Frolic while bypassing the rest of Snowdon, but I don't know how that is physically possible.

[Stormchaser]

I agree that the "beginners can ski any lift" concept led to some unfortunate design choices. It isn't really true anyway, as the top of Great Eastern, as now configured, is rather scary for a true beginner.

But I don't see a scenario where the K-1 Gondola would be off-limits to beginners, and you've got to give them a way to get back down to base. It would be nice if there were a way to get them over to Frolic while bypassing the rest of Snowdon, but I don't know how that is physically possible.

K1>GN>South Ridge gets em to bear/skyship

from skyship midstation, NBQ gets them to K1, Snowshed, Ramshead