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Round Hill's proposed rope tow
Looks epic,
Im hoping my back country touring guide arrives this week, will be an interesting read.
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Shit happens.
oh my giddy aunt. that' going to be a long ride up! I can feel the arm pump already.
argh, I should have it sussed by the time I get down there?
hopefully they'll crank it up to 50+ kph to get people up there fast. nothing worse than a slow rope tow.
A note on one of the Roundhill videos on youtube mentioned it will take 5:30 minutes to ride, so at 1440m long that means it will run at 4.4m/s (16kph). According to Wikipedia most T-bars, platters and fixed grip chairlifts run at around 2.5m/s, and most high speed detachable chairlifts run between 5 and 6m/s.
Man thats gonna be a mean workout for 5 1/2 mins especially for those of us in regular stance, but the terrain will be well worth the pain 
Might have to try an sus rope tows in switch this year 
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It's compulsory to grow old, but it's voluntary to grow up!!!
t bars have variable speeds dont they? for example no2 at cheesman would rate as slowest in the country. been at dobson when they cranked the t's right up, if only it happened more often.
I actually find it less stress on my legs going backside to the tows,but harder on the hips(as you can wack them on the tow wheel!!)Going front side I get is easier but more stress on the feet as you are always on your toes,I find it less stress on the heelside(apart from the super slow ridge tow at BR)If theres not too much of a camber on the slope,should be all good.
Roundhill will Be great now as be all good for the family and great for us...Aslong as theres snow!!
Yeah, with this rope tow being so long, most who ride it heel side will be happy with there lot as they won't get the calf burn.
it depends on the track too. in soft snow it'll end up pretty much flat to the fall line and easy to ride but those days when the sun or warmth gets on the fresh stuff and it kind of turns into that hard glassy sheen that pulls your base flat against it, that sucks.
clip a couple of towers heelside and see how happy you are whitesmoke
ropetows are the devils invention, but its the only way we gonna get new terrain in NZ it seems
still gutted about alpure peaks closing down
From looking at there website BP, it looks like they are using round steel pipe for their towers. Quite smart as no corners to smack against.
I hope you are right. freaking BR access tow smashes my hips to hell and back
superstoked to have another F/S option
Originally posted by: whitesmoke
From looking at there website BP, it looks like they are using round steel pipe for their towers. Quite smart as no corners to smack against.
You don't hit the towers, you hit the pulleys!
The idea behind the wooden 4x4 posts is that they are bolted onto a stubby section of heavy square pipe, so in the event of an avalanche the tower snaps and it is just a case of taking the pulleys off and slotting in a new tower. Hopefully there is some sort of fail safe point in the attachment of the metal towers to the foundations at round hill.
Originally posted by: brighton_pumps
ropetows are the devils invention, but its the only way we gonna get new terrain in NZ it seems
The devil eh? I wonder how many new rope tows I can get for my soul?
enough for the ride up from hell when it freezes over
has anyone here actually been to roundhill previously? whats are the crowds, terrain, road etc. like?
crowds are average. mainly learners and mid canty locals with a few park rats. road is superlong around the lake but easy driving. short climb to carpark. terrain was rubbish until this season, the area where the ropetow will run is quality
I've been there heaps the last 2 years - good fun wee park and barr the ski club days and event days its generally pretty quiet. Its a very family-orientated place, lots of people even bring bbqs up there and park up beside the learners area to watch their kids and suchlike. Road is easy and the terrain in main field is very learner friendly. I posted a pic on page 1 of the rope tow terrain area. Its hard to factor in just how large that area is until you see someone riding it. I've only gone there for the park but can't wait to hit that new terrain - its pretty classic looking.
Their youtube channel has plenty of stuff on it
http://www.youtube.com/user/RoundhillNZ#p/u [youtube.com]
new terrain in background. looking good
that natural half pipe looks good
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better than dobsons
what time in the season where those photos took? what kinda base?
start of the worst august on record last year. base was ?? they wernt measuring the ridges at that point and as long as theres white on the tussock the main areas rideable
that ridge is exposed to the norwesters. I wouldn't expect it to be open all the time. will be sweet after a southerly though
i'd only be goin there on a pow day
looks really nice, especially thats at a low august. cant wait!
If that was last year, that was not a slim August for Roundhill...
It was a slim august for everywhere north of remarks, unless you like rain and 20degree temps in winter
Or not... but whatever man. Have a glance at the snow graphs... last year was one of the bigger years for the MacKenzie in a long time, including August.
FFS thrash i live 2 hours up the road, im familiar with conditions. u forget TCs 3 week saddle closure through aug already. As for your snow graphs, ive said what i think of them more than once. not like im having a go at your beloved concrete peak
last year second warmest aug on record, but it was epic right thrash?
Clockwise:
Interesting points:
1/ The uphill pulley seems a lot wider than normal.
2/ They are using a pilot line before putting up the full weight rope.
3/ Round Hill have a ton of snow!
Originally posted by: skea 457
Interesting points:
1/ The uphill pulley seems a lot wider than normal.
2/ They are using a pilot line before putting up the full weight rope.
3/ Round Hill have a ton of snow!
Did you take that photo? Looks pretty much unbelievably sweet. How was the ride down
No, it's from the Round Hill website.
Any idea of the slope angles coming down from the top of the new rope tow?
looks about 30 degrees
Opening day on Saturday was great, perfect weather, nice snow and great coverage.
The new rope tow is pretty awesome, the drive mechanism is pretty cool, any mech engineers wet dream. The lasting impression is this thing is LONG! I timed 6 minutes 35 seconds ride time, compared to 2:20 for main tow at BR. And it feels like the towers are a lot closer together than on most lifts, there are 49 of them you pass on the Heritage express to be exact. Loading is super easy due to a slight downhill slope, but due to the length of rope there is a lot of tension on it so it does require a bit of strength and/or technique to ride it repeatedly.
Differences to other nutcrackers are:
1/ Pulley wheels wider than normal and tapered so the rope returns to the right position easier and won't rub on the pulley arm.
2/ All metal pylons, they are quite hard to see against the snow from a distance. The lift is barely visible from the car park.
3/ No trip rope, but safety buttons every few towers.
As for snow conditions, well coverage was excellent, the shady faces were dry powder but the more exposed faces were a bit crusty from sun melt. The shady faces next to the t-bar were actually come of the better areas for snow quality.
FFS thrash i live 2 hours up the road, im familiar with conditions. u forget TCs 3 week saddle closure through aug already. As for your snow graphs, ive said what i think of them more than once. not like im having a go at your beloved concrete peak
LUUURV IT!!!!!!!!
:P :P
Awww crap my tummy hurts now....
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My worst fear is when I die my wife sells my ski equipment for the price I told her I paid for it.
*sniff sniff* can smell blunt editing the forum....
Blunt! Ya spoil sport!
MACS
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My worst fear is when I die my wife sells my ski equipment for the price I told her I paid for it.
Ditto what skea said - I went Sat and Sun and had a ball. The rope tow is very fast and long on your backhand boarding it!
The amount of terrain it opens up is just superb - the only shame was that the amount of sun it had on it meant the upper areas were a bit crusty. Not so the big gully in bowl 2 which was classic fun. On a big powder dump, it would be off the hook.
Ditto again re the snow conditions - i didn't go near the park all weekend as we just had fresh lines the whole time.
View from the top. Any of these you skea? :-)
Freshiieeeeeeees
Light and dry in the shadier areas
drool!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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farking hell!
What BP said. Pretty much my thoughts too.
Thanks for posting the photos DS. Round Hill going orf.
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angry and sad all at once .... yayeee
looks awesome
i'm gonna follow the orange pants like glue for the remainder of the season. luck of the irish alright
Originally posted by: brighton_pumps
i'm gonna follow the orange pants like glue for the remainder of the season. luck of the irish alright
I'm for that, they had it sussed
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It's compulsory to grow old, but it's voluntary to grow up!!!
Niiiiice!
hopefully next time he decides before 10pm friday