schubwa
New member
Admin":10qdfnm7 said:
Here are the maps:
http://www.mtbachelor.com/site/info/med ... 20Maps.pdf
I attended the meeting and came away pleased that Powdr is showing some willingness to spend money here rather than save. It was positive and I had the opportunity to ask a question and make a comment. The USFS was there as well to take notes on the comments.
My take:
1) They want to build a new high speed lift on the eastern (wind protected) flank of the mountain. It'll be long, add some fun terrain, and add total vertical drop as well, I think. The base will be 800 feet below the current catch line (see map). Then they'll shorten the old fixed triple Rainbow Chair to make it a beginner/ access chair. Great ideas. There is good powder on this side, rolling terrain and is often sunny while the steeper western slopes are in the clouds and wind. This seems to be their top priority.
2) Summer lift-served mountain biking trails at the Pine Martin Lodge. This is a no brainer in my opinion. What took so long? Central Oregon has the best bike culture/location in the country IMHO, and this will only add to that reputation. It was the missing piece. We could have this up and running later next summer as just the trails are missing. The USFS is kicking butt here right now, way to go! We have new nordic trails at Virginia Meissner Snow Park, the possibility of a new paved interconnect between Bend and Sunriver, and now the improvement/expansion of Mt B due to their efforts and vision. Cheers USFS!
3) Along with the new lift, look at the map of the revamped Sunrise Base area. They envision a new base lodge to compliment the puny old one. The old lodge becomes a dedicated Kids lodge. This base complex is perfect for kids and beginners because of the nicer weather, flatter terrain and the planned dedicated facilities. The parking lot is expanded and new access roads are added as well. I'm not sure of the timeline, but it makes sense to do this along with the addition of the new lift and trails.
4) Also mentioned are changes to the Red Chair area back up at the West Village/Pine Martin base area. First off, the poorly located Tube Hill gets moved across the main lot over near the nordic area. Good idea! It was too steep and was right in the way of everything. It partially blocked the only way to ski down to the parking lot and cut off egress from those riding through the lower trees below the Cinder Cone. Plus Red Chair was marooned in the middle of this mess and ski trails were eliminated. In addition, a snow play area and warming kiosk are planned to be adjacent to the relocated Tube Hill. Also on the map is a snowmobile figure eight right next to the new tubing complex.
My feedback: Bad idea is that the neglected Nordic Area takes another hit and skiers lose the only other way to get back up from it's badly laid out lower trails. Maybe they cut a new trail around the Tube Hill to replace the lost one? The Nordic Lodge is a fire trap and dates back to the middle ages. This should be the next new lodge. We need new runs cut or some realignment as the existing ones all run straight up and down the fall line and are generally too steep. The nordic tribe can now go to the much closer (15 minutes from town) Virginia Meissner Nordic Area. They have superior trails, a new Bombardier groomer, larger parking lot and it only costs you a donation for grooming. Wake up guys or you'll lose all your Nordic Pass and ticket business. This town is filled with endurance athletes so I'm talking no small numbers here.
Red Chair needs to run. Skiers get backed up at Pine Martin on days the Outback/NWX Chairs are on weather hold. These guys would never run it, even though it's an obsolete fixed, we needed it on days like that. The better skiers/riders don't like to leave for the flatter eastern lifts for fear the good stuff will open while they're over there. So they stay and cycle and wait and stand in a huge line (usually only on days as mentioned, Xmas and President's). Just run the friggin' lift! Red eventually needs to be a high speed quad, but as Dave Rathbun said at this meeting: "You don't build the church for Easter Sunday". Point taken.
This is the sixth largest area (Tony rates us #6 in his personal Top 10) in North America and yet has no Super Pipe. Young riders will drag their parents wherever there is a good park/pipe complex. Just do it Powdr. Like it or not, snowboarding is bigger here than skiing. Cater to these riders or lose more business.
Finally, and this is why I'm going to the next meeting, is WTF is a snowmobile stunt loop
doing in the middle of a relatively quiet clean air zone between a major alpine ski area, a nordic area and a place where kids are playing in the snow?????? Plus these overweight Nascar goons with their oversize rigs will clog this smallish parking lot. They're getting a new parking area at the nearby Kapka Butte and have all the rest of the forest to ride in. Keep them out of the West Village, please.
