Nevis Range Blog

The new piste basher was finally unloaded at Nevis Range carpark yesterday, in the middle of blizzard like conditions in the car park, fitting for a PistenBully 300 Polar. Coming from a resort in Switzerland, via the the PistenBully factory in Germany where is was reconditioned, it’s ‘new to Nevis’ with just some 3300 hours on the clock.

We’re looking forward to getting it up and out on the slopes as soon as possible! The blade is significantly larger than any of the existing groomers, so will be able to quickly shift 100’s of tonnes of snow around the pistes. Particularly useful building jumps and shifting snow in the summit terrain park.
It’s also got a flex-tiller which will leave a cleaner and much better prepared piste than before.

Now we just have to wait for enough snow to open!

Over the summer the Engineering team have been busy carrying out lift maintenance on the hill.

They’ve replaced the bearings on the Goose t bar return bull-wheel, which involved removing the haul rope and then lowering the bull-wheel to the ground in order to allow access to the bearings. The old bearings were then removed and replaced with new ones.  The picture shows the Goose t bar return bull-wheel with the haul rope removed and the the bull-wheel sitting on the ground.

On the Quad chair, repairs have been carried out to the seat backs, the safety bars and other moving chair parts, and the chairs are now back on the cable.

All of the spring boxes on the tows have been striped, cleaned, greased and any worn parts have been replaced.  So far the Warrens boxes are loaded and the Goose and the Summit boxes are waiting in situ.

We take grease and oil sampling from all the bull-wheels and gearboxes on the lifts and, depending on the results, we take corrective action, for example,  gear box replacement or refurbishment.  In total, we’ve replaced over 200 sheaves / wheel liners, and there’s an average 8 sheaves / wheels on each lift tower …

On Braveheart, the main engine and auxiliary backup have both received maintenance, including oil and filter changes.  Both the service and emergency brakes have been cleaned and all safety aspects tested. All the chairs have been loaded and 1,000 litres of diesel has been flown over … in preparation for the snow.

The Engineers

The Engineers have been busy building new fencing on the hill … A total of 1200 metres of fencing is either completely new, or has been re built. 900 metres of this fencing is brand new rail style fencing. This rail type of fencing is much cleaner as there’s no wire used in the construction and, ultimately, it improves the look of the mountain and is in keeping with our environmental policy.

The lower part of Warrens run is now completely re-built using wooden rails - a total of 400 meters. The Alpha traverse is now completely re-built to the Goose burn - a total of 200 meters. The Alpha “get off” has been re-aligned to give better access to “Yokies” and Warrens drive. There’s been ongoing repairs to Switch and the Goose up-track. There’s completely new rail fencing on Goose to Fairway and the lower Rabbit run. A new line of rail fence has been built into the rocks from near the Goose drive to the Home Run Bridge which will give much improved access across the burn and will eliminate the dip, making the traverse much easier.

The Engineers

Rough Riders Dave & Phil check out the Orange ……..

There’s been a bit of filming going at Nevis recently and as it was a blue skies day yesterday, I took the opportunity to sneak up in the helichopper to take a couple of (hundred) pics.  For the skiers and snowboarders, there’s a shot of the last remaining bit of snow, the hill with no snow (check the gully down the goose) + you can see the new fencing that’s going in right now.  For the bikers, you can see the DH and the Nevis Red XC trails pretty clearly.  And for the climbers, we went over the back and you can see some routes.  Enjoy.  I certainly did

Just finished putting down skips on the Red track to iron out a few problem sections…. Going for a cup of tea then to shovel, rake and whack everything into place…. Will get some before and after photos…

New feature coming soon for the DH track…. Details and photos to follow in the near future….

DH Track is slowly turning into a river today, may be open for kayaking in the near future… On a serious note, track is closed today due to very high winds and torrential rain… Red route has reached completion and will be open on Wednesday 24th, in the mean time a few photos to keep y’all eager!

The track has held up well after a weekend of world cup racing. The whole track including a section of the world cup woods is open and ready for riding. The Red Route is nearing completion and looking sweet.

Almost the end of today, the day before the start of the World Cup 09 … Today was (almost) a tropical day, with the odd sand storm and torrential shower, but just the one! Everyone’s now on site, all the competitors, the techie area, the UCI dudes, the catering (whew), the marshals, the Medics … and you guys! Today was practice day, both for the 4X n the DH. The Ball of Steel (have we already mentioned that???) is up n running too. Every bed in Fort William is taken, and we reckon there’s not much floor space left either Hope you’ve all eaten well, had a light refreshment and have found a place to rest your weary head. C u tom!