Rumor: Burke Mountain to announce new High Speed Quad to the top?

I have heard from a reliable source who works at the mountain that Burke is to announce by the begininng or end of this ski season that they will purchase and instal a new High Speed Quad replacing the old one currently going to the top. Can anyone confirm this?

If true this would make me consider getting a pass for Burke rather than my usual Jay Peak.

TB is the authority here. But from my understanding, they would have had to come to a finalized plan for the mid-Burke area in terms of real estate development before putting in the lift, right? I know that was an unknown. Seems odd this rumor would begin so soon after a similar length HSQ came on the market used... any relation?

If true that would be a welcome addition for Burke. That summit lift is painfully slow, especially on a cold and windy day.

It is strange that this rumor is going around right after security put their HSQ on the market. I don't know how I feel about this.

cannonist said:

It is strange that this rumor is going around right after security put their HSQ on the market. I don't know how I feel about this.

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If it replaced the Willoughby Quad with a HSQ, I am all for it. I am not normally a fan of high speed lifts but many have their place. There is nothing to like about the current Willoughby Quad. The only concern is whether Burke has the trail capacity to handle more skiers and riders on the mountain. But given that Burke hardly ever has lift lines, I can't imagine it will really be an issue unless Burke suddenly is "on the map" due to being in the High Speed big leagues. That did not save Ascutney but they didn't have anything going for them unlike Burke which has everything going for it except a good summit lift.

Welcome to the boards, Troy! Be sure to check out Burke and to be honest it is a great place to ski with or without a summit HSQ.

The Willoughby has been in the crosshairs for a long time. It actually is a retrofitted double chair (Hall) completed in 1989 when if a ski area had the word "quad" it was a place to ski. Northern Star was going to put in a HSQ at some point, but we know what happened there.

The rumor comes almost every season. The last real good chance of that happening was in 2005 when Ginn bought the mountain from BMA. Word had it that Ginn did actually put money down on one in 2005 but that Poma ran out of time to install it. Instead they did the Sherburne in part because it helped revive the lower mountain, it was easier, and because as Riv said they didn't know what was happening with MidBurke. The last plan has them running a new HSQ or HS something up from MidBurke, to the looker's left of the Poma, up over Doug's and to the summit. Poma? It will be cut in half. Willoughby? Cut down to Tower 17 or so (right where Fox's branches to either Ledges or Warren's). Well, the 2005-2006 season really left them in the red and add an economic melt down, Ginn being shown the door, and here we are.

Now the one thing that has changed is that now that Ginn is gone, Crave is running the ski area while the original investors are regrouping. The one thing that might be at play that we don't know about is some EB-5 money. Sound familiar? That is the controversial immigration program for foreign investors that has brought capital to Jay Peak for their projects. Well, Burke's VP was seen on one of Gov. Douglas' trade missions last year and was trying to get EB-5 investors for the mountain. Maybe it has come through.

At any rate, either they got the money or are ready to do something to improve the mountain and the quad is the next thing on the list.

That and there are rumors that Burke was eying the Ascutney HSQ. I highly doubt that they would cannibalize that mountain though. But if so, a smart resort operator like Crave would leap at the chance and it would really help Burke.

thetrailboss said:

That and there are rumors that Burke was eying the Ascutney HSQ. I highly doubt that they would cannibalize that mountain though.

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Who ever is currently in possession of Ascutney could easily dump the HSQ and retain the rest of the resort to sell as a single unit. Given that the current management hardly ran the HSQ, the only difference would be customers not having to look at an inactive HSQ and either scratch their heads or be upset they were stuck on a FGT instead of a HSQ. But I don't see a problem with selling Ascutney piece by piece. Who would actually buy the place as a whole? Especially in this economy. I am not sure if that mountain is fixable given its inherent challenges. Also, putting a used HSQ on the market guarantees at least something will sell. Who knows how long they will need to retain the ski area before they can find a buyer...

Thank god -

every time I am on that lift its the same conversation, how cold it is, how slow it is, how much better the skiing would be if I could get 15 more runs in, how much better burke mountain would be

faster, bigger, louder - not always better

To be honest the Willoughby has components from the double that date to 1969. This includes the pylons and some of the footings. Like the Middlebury Snowbowl found out last year, the foundations will fail with time. So it is possible that the lift needs to be replaced. The drive probably needs to be replaced. The quad also had some years of neglect and lack of maintenance, which really impacted the lift.

I've only skied Burke once. This opinion is probably not popular, but I think an East Bowl lift should be higher priority. I found getting back to the main lift to be one of the biggest pitas I've exeperienced in Easter Skiing.

There are lots of improvements that have been made and are in the process at Burke. This has been kept under the radar the past several months. First, they designed, permitted and built some of the best lift accessed downhill mt biking trails in the Country. This compliments Kingdom trails and will be a major amenity next summer. Then after 5 years of the permitting process they have the majority of the Findings from the state on their Act 250 Master Plan approval. They have also permitted and hope to install on the summit a community wind tower this fall. Then they have acquired 5 new Fan guns to add to snowmaking, This is in addition to the 150-170 tower guns they added in 2005 and 2006. So I am not surprised by the summit HSQ rumour at all. This seems to be the most needed improvement and will put Burke on the map. I had heard that Burke was one of a few Mountains that was in talks with Ascutney on their HSQ. I think Ascutney wanted to much $ and at that price it is probably better to go new. The infrastructure plans at mid Burke are pretty much completed, so they are in the position to install one, when they want to.

no doubt TB, the lift is fairly beat and is in need of help, but the yank to get high speed capacity comes with its issues - not everyone needs to be like the Joneses - its a sleepy mountain with a bunch of surprises - more lifts, faster access, the rush to compete on paper with the other McSki resorts just isn't a positive in my mind, once people stop bitching about the slow, cold lift ride and how awful the traverse back from east bowl is they turn their neverending supply of negatives to something else

like anything else - some people like it or don't, but it is nice to have options for different ski experiences at different places

kingdom-tele said:

no doubt TB, the lift is fairly beat and is in need of help, but the yank to get high speed capacity comes with its issues - not everyone needs to be like the Joneses - its a sleepy mountain with a bunch of surprises - more lifts, faster access, the rush to compete on paper with the other McSki resorts just isn't a positive in my mind, once people stop bitching about the slow, cold lift ride and how awful the traverse back from east bowl is they turn their neverending supply of negatives to something else

like anything else - some people like it or don't, but it is nice to have options for different ski experiences at different places

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+1. Limited lift capacity does have it's advantages, most especially by not putting too many people on the mountain at once.

I've only been there once (loved it) but there were no lines that day. I'm under the impression that that's the norm. With no lines I don't see the point in an HSQ. I spent the majority of my time on ungroomed and in glades. Throw in the aforementioned traverse from the East Bowl and being cold isn't much of a problem.

Burke is on the list of places to go. Maybe this year.

just to clarify, even if it was a transfer lift out of the East Bowl basin, I think it would be a good thing.

I can tolerate some traverses, but that's a bit extreme. I'm sure it does help preserve the conditions over there.

wa-loaf said:

Burke is on the list of places to go. Maybe this year.

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It's on my list as well...

Maybe we can put something together?

Mini AZ day @ Burke and we'll make From_The_NEK show us around all day?

-w

deadheadskier said:

I can tolerate some traverses, but that's a bit extreme. I'm sure it does help preserve the conditions over there.

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Must badly suck for snowboarders.

I love Burke and its feel but yes if the did replace the FGQ with a HSQ there would be other things to get on. Also if they replace the quad I hope they can put the bottom down lower. I am lazy and traversing from Mid-Burke over to where the quad is now can be a slight work out. If coming from the east bowl with kids it was more painful.

rumor has it they will also be installing a magic carpet from the bear den to the bathrooms so you don't have to walk to take a piss