Farr's Hill revival?

skelley19

I too learned on a T bar at Jericho in Marlboro, MA. Unfortunately it is now NELSAP but I spent a lot of time there riding the T bar and tearing up gloves on the rope tow. I understand why carpets are favored for beginners but I will always enjoy a good T bar ride.

newpylong

Yes a T Bar theoretically could immerse someone quicker by having them on snow longer, but there is no comparison from a learning perspective, the carpet is preferred.

FlyingZ

After graduating from the yellow nylon rope at mt. snow - called R2 - i moved down the street to the Ski Baba j-bar at Carinthia. My brother's jacket got hooked like a fish and he went around the offload hitting the safety bar, but dangled there for a bit since the guy in the booth was reading a book.

Next up was the T-bar , and yes we sat down and fell off, then later got dragged. After that day, it was back to mt snow and the overhead chain-type chairlifts.

NewEnglandSkier13

I'm not sure what it is which people find so difficult about T-bars and J-bars. Maybe it's bad instructions during their first ride or it throws them off balance, but I've always found them some of the easiest lifts to ride, even when I was a kid because all you have to do is stand there and keep your skis straight. I can see how they are difficult for snowboarders or extremely short and light children.

newpylong

You hit the nail on the head, snowboarders and young children - which make up a large percentage of snow sports programming typically.

lotsoskiing

NewEnglandSkier13;c-48647 wroteI'm not sure what it is which people find so difficult about T-bars and J-bars. Maybe it's bad instructions during their first ride or it throws them off balance, but I've always found them some of the easiest lifts to ride, even when I was a kid because all you have to do is stand there and keep your skis straight. I can see how they are difficult for snowboarders or extremely short and light children.

1) most beginners can't keep skis parallel when moving
2) the urge to sit down on the t-bar or j-bar makes for many crashes.

Sure, once you figure those 2 things out, they are easy peasy, but in the mean time there are lots of crashes. On a carpet, all you have to do is walk on, stand up, walk off. That being said, I have seen plenty of people challenged by that part of the carpet experience, but not nearly as much as I have seen issues with drag lifts.

conrad

Another thing that can make things difficult is that the older ones often can't be slowed down. But I think they're great as secondary lifts at places like Bradford, Ward, Otis Ridge, and Saddleback, because once people young and old get the hang of them, they often love them.

ski_it

So it looks like there is only on street parking and you have to walk thru somebody’s yards to get to the slope. Not sure how that will work unless they bought the farm too.

lotsoskiing

ski_it;c-48662 wroteSo it looks like there is only on street parking and you have to walk thru somebody’s yards to get to the slope. Not sure how that will work unless they bought the farm too.

The owner of the farmhouse is buying the lift. Has hosted 'winterfest' in past years. Already has groomer in barn.

IBRAKEFORTBARS

conrad;c-48650 wroteAnother thing that can make things difficult is that the older ones often can't be slowed down. But I think they're great as secondary lifts at places like Bradford, Ward, Otis Ridge, and Saddleback, because once people young and old get the hang of them, they often love them.

Exactly right. Once you figure out how to ride one they’re a blast. It’s much more a sensory experience than a chairlift. On a Hall, for example, you feel the rattle of the spring in the mast, the jolt as the t passes through the sheaves, etc.

lotsoskiing

Haul rope is off the T at Oak....

NewEnglandSkier13

Here's a NE Ski Industry article about Farr's. Sounds promising!
https://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=898

rickbolger

thanks for posting, that makes me feel a lot better about giving up the t-bar at Oak! :) :) :)

lotsoskiing

rickbolger;c-48712 wrotethanks for posting, that makes me feel a lot better about giving up the t-bar at Oak! :) :) :)

Oak was cutting the bolts and dropping the towers yesterday. Will be quite an operation to move.

Peter

lotsoskiing;c-48713 wrote
rickbolger;c-48712 wrotethanks for posting, that makes me feel a lot better about giving up the t-bar at Oak! :) :) :)
Oak was cutting the bolts and dropping the towers yesterday. Will be quite an operation to move.

Does anyone know the last time Oak's Village T-Bar ran? It did not look anywhere near functional as of last season. Still on the trail map though.

lotsoskiing

Peter;c-48716 wrote
lotsoskiing;c-48713 wrote
rickbolger;c-48712 wrotethanks for posting, that makes me feel a lot better about giving up the t-bar at Oak! :) :) :)
Oak was cutting the bolts and dropping the towers yesterday. Will be quite an operation to move.
Does anyone know the last time Oak's Village T-Bar ran? It did not look anywhere near functional as of last season. Still on the trail map though.

They spun it this winter but not for public (pretty much just test spins). Finally freed up a rusted-in-place bullwheel or bearing or the like last summer, but not suitable for use. We'll see so stay tuned.

lotsoskiing

Top terminal down at Oak, removing towers now

https://oakmountainski.com/mountain/the-mountain/webcam

lotsoskiing

just the base terminal to go

lotsoskiing

All on the ground, waiting for pickup

marcski

Once accustomed, I used to play around on them. Sit on them then get pushed up, pull on the T and then let it catch up to me. I also used to try and make ski turns on the way up while getting pulled.

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