[unskilled]

I posted a topic in the Northeast forum about the possibilities of Ski Roundtop making a downhill course. So if you are from the Northeast, or are willing to travel to Harrisburg area in PA to do lift access dh and freeride please drop by and vote/give your opinion. I just got out of a meeting with the staff there about the possibilities and said I would ask around on the forums for local support. Just trying to get the snowball rolling. If you aren't east coast then i'm sorry for wasting your time reading this. Thanks.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I'd be all for it, but I somehow don't think they'd ever go for it....seeing as their owned by the same company that owns Whitetail, which had a network of great trails, lift service, a good series of races, and a dedicated group of weekend warriors that showed up with regularity only to have Whitetail drop the program blaming it on the the lack of money-making opportunity, resort development (golf course & condos), and general un-interest amongst the upper management/resort owners.

IMHO, having skied both mountains extensively and raced at Whitetail a lot back when they had a series/program, Whitetail has far more potential as a dh riding/racing mountain. I'd kill for a chance to get something going there again...it's such an easy drive from Washington DC/NoVA that I'd do it every weekend! I know a few folks that work at Whitetail as program directors from my time at Snowshoe and the sense that I get in past discussions with them is that Whitetail/Liberty/Roundtop's parent company has absolutely zero interest in a mtb program.

 

[tfree120]

I heard something similar. Something about "liability." I agree that whitetail would be a better mountain for downhill but I'd still be willing to sign a petition or whatever if it meant that downhilling could become a possibility at roundtop.

I've always thought that you could make a nice run on or around upper gunbarrel and the lift adjacent to it. Pretty steep with some nice big boulders.

 

[unskilled]

i really appreciate the feedback. when i was talking to the staff at roundtop today they mentioned that part of whitetail's problem was their detach style lift that has the seperate parts at top and bottom that slows it down vs their system which is the attached style. now i'm sure that was not the only reason but they were saying that the detach style was more expensive to maintain and the mtb wasn't cutting it.

fyi. they are starting a zip-line course and the ogo balls on the mountain so the lift will be in use for the zip line for more than just mtb.

i plan on making a collection of the comments made on the different posts and showing the staff so they know what people are saying about it. if there is anything specific you want them to know put it down so that i can show it to them.

 

[04sgsdh]

I'd be in for some DH at Roundtop. I worked at Whitetail last year and kept bothering people about DH there. All I got was the interest wasn't there, but that was years ago. I think the interest would be there for both areas now. Imagine, DH w/uplift, that close.....I'm going to hike the old trails at WT this summer. (I've been saying this for a couple years now, but, this year)

 

[wrestlemania]

It would give me something to do when I am home visiting family.

After a little google earthing I would say that there is some potential. 500' vert if you stay close to where the ski trails are or close to 800' if you go off the back side and run a shuttle off lisburn rd. My favorite place anywhere has about 800 to 900, sol vista well whistler really but sol vista in Colorado. If the dh trails could be separate from the ski trails they could have both available in the winter time seeing that it hardly snows there. Huge need for more winter dh racing/training. Potential for a winter east coast series? Sure it would attract a lot of racers since there is not much offered in the states.

 

[SPINTECK]

That was the first downhill I ever did back in 1993 when mike farrington at green mountain ran it. Then another shop took it over for the next two years or so and it disappeared- even had an event at ski liberty. Good luck.

Blue mountain in pa is actually having a series this summer, so that is great news for us pa residents- it's a pretty big hill for out here too!

 

[Hulkamaniac]

i really appreciate the feedback. when i was talking to the staff at roundtop today they mentioned that part of whitetail's problem was their detach style lift that has the seperate parts at top and bottom that slows it down vs their system which is the attached style. now i'm sure that was not the only reason but they were saying that the detach style was more expensive to maintain and the mtb wasn't cutting it.

fyi. they are starting a zip-line course and the ogo balls on the mountain so the lift will be in use for the zip line for more than just mtb.

i plan on making a collection of the comments made on the different posts and showing the staff so they know what people are saying about it. if there is anything specific you want them to know put it down so that i can show it to them.

Not sure why the detachable high speed quad lift at Whitetail would be the problem, sounds like just another in the long list of excuses that Whitetail has used. I say this cause literally every other resort in this region, except Wisp, uses a high speed detachable triple/quad/or six pack type lift. The mere fact that the chairs detach from the cable and slow down in the lift houses instead of whipping around the bullwheel as on a fixed grip lift is a huge plus for loading/unloading of riders and their bikes.

As for a lift being expensive to run, yes, they are quite expensive. However, there is a big myth that seems to surround a mtn operation/lift running in the summer. The electric used to run the lift is purchased in "blocks" (I'm sure there is a better term for it) of pre-negotiated price buys. Resorts buy that energy allotment based on what they estimate the summer usage is for that particular lift and the pricing breaks they get on that particular amount of "block" is quite large. These energy buys are worked into the operating budget for a given year prior to that fiscal year, so I can totally understand when they say "we don't have the funds to do it this year".

As I said in my other post though, I'm all for this effort at either resort. I'll throw in my take and offer up any kind of help I can, as I would love to have a mtn to ride that is closer than 3-4 hours from my doorstep.

 

[Cant Climb]

i really appreciate the feedback. when i was talking to the staff at roundtop today they mentioned that part of whitetail's problem was their detach style lift that has the seperate parts at top and bottom that slows it down vs their system which is the attached style. now i'm sure that was not the only reason but they were saying that the detach style was more expensive to maintain and the mtb wasn't cutting it.

WT's lift is fine. It's actually good for MTB. They could run it like Snowshoe and put 4 riders on a chair and then 4 bikes on the next 4 chairs. Or have a bike on the chair and hang a bike on the back for super speed. As for roundtop, the only way i could see that place working is building bermy smooth tracks that suit beginner and everyone else.......not my kind of trails but that is what would make them successful...maybe. Building the hardcore technical DH tracks wouldn't attract anyone up there. The whole thing would have to be done the right way not sure RoundTop could pull it off.....

...I'm going to hike the old trails at WT this summer. (I've been saying this for a couple years now, but, this year)

Good luck on finding those trails. When they the race there a couple years ago i went looking for the old trails. Rode over to the 'Dark side' and found nothing but vegetation lock. WT is an awesome mountain. The shape, terrain, and pitch is excellent. They ran it into the ground by having a staff of like 50 people when they only needed 5.

 

[MasterofGroms]

I can see guys coming up from the greater Baltimore/DC area to ride when it's less than 3 hours max from anywhere down there. Of course there's a large contigent of PA riders that would love to see that happen.
As far as Whitetail goes, I personally have ridden WT heavily back in the day. I was also involved to a degree with the race that was held there in 05'. The operating manager at the time, and still may be, told me that there were a few staff members looking to push for summer lift access to include Mt. Biking but that there were still some old timers from back in the day that paint a bleak picture of how it was. Whether that's real or how they remember it, it seemed that at the time of the race everyone was walking on eggshells trying to impress the resort personnel. And anyone who was there remembers how that race really went down. And if there could've been a problem at a race it happened at that race. The only positive is that WT terrain holds up beautifully in the rain. The racecourse and the race was awesome. Everything else was a mess and I'm sure the WT staff saw that. As far as I know, no promoters have approached them since the 05' race to see if they might give it another shot. Of course the promoter would have to go to them agreeing to cover all costs. Whether of not he makes money is up to the gods. As we saw last round. I'd love to see it happen.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I can see guys coming up from the greater Baltimore/DC area to ride when it's less than 3 hours max from anywhere down there. Of course there's a large contigent of PA riders that would love to see that happen.
As far as Whitetail goes, I personally have ridden WT heavily back in the day. I was also involved to a degree with the race that was held there in 05'. The operating manager at the time, and still may be, told me that there were a few staff members looking to push for summer lift access to include Mt. Biking but that there were still some old timers from back in the day that paint a bleak picture of how it was. Whether that's real or how they remember it, it seemed that at the time of the race everyone was walking on eggshells trying to impress the resort personnel. And anyone who was there remembers how that race really went down. And if there could've been a problem at a race it happened at that race. The only positive is that WT terrain holds up beautifully in the rain. The racecourse and the race was awesome. Everything else was a mess and I'm sure the WT staff saw that. As far as I know, no promoters have approached them since the 05' race to see if they might give it another shot. Of course the promoter would have to go to them agreeing to cover all costs. Whether of not he makes money is up to the gods. As we saw last round. I'd love to see it happen.

Would be killer if someone or some group were able to make a Diablo/Whiteface situation out of Whitetail. Of course, that would mean someone was putting up the money to get the program off the ground whilst simultaneously convincing the resort management that taking the chance and even half-heartedly supporting a program could be a good thing....especially given this current economic climate.

 

[ridiculous]

It would give me something to do when I am home visiting family.

Huge need for more winter dh racing/training. Potential for a winter east coast series? Sure it would attract a lot of racers since there is not much offered in the states.

Thats a good call, on the fluke warm days I would be more than happy to bring my bike up during the winter and ride the non snow covered trails. Especially if they do it like you said and build the trails on the back side. Take advantage of both seasons.

I cant believe that roundtop is making an attempt before liberty or whitetail again. I would think whitetail has the most potential for gravity riding. They certainly have the best lift and a 935 ft vert drop.

 

[epic]

If you think there is any interest, you should see about getting someone to attend the IMBA/VMBA Meeting at Stowe this spring. Last year we had two of the guys from Gravity Logic as well as IMBA people. They might be a little bit less scared about the liability after learning how operations like Whistler deal with it.