Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort
Draft Master Development Plan

Existing Mountain Facilities

Lifts

The Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Ski Area currently operates a total of 3 chairlifts and one magic carpet type of lift for beginners The layout of the existing lift system is graphically illustrated in plan view in Figures 7a (JPG | PDF) and 7b (JPG | PDF) , the Existing Mountain Facilities Map, while Figure 7c (JPG | PDF) illustrates the existing mountain facilities in a three-dimensional view.

The technical specifications for the existing lifts are listed in Table II.1. Data for these lifts, including top and bottom terminal elevations and horizontal length has been supplied by Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard management and derived from the topographic mapping.

The Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard management also provided the rated hourly capacity, rope speed, drive output, hours of operation and number of carriers. Ecosign has calculated the vertical rise (based on the top and bottom terminal elevations), the estimated slope length, average slope, vertical transport feet per hour and an estimate of the lift's loading efficiency. The facility currently has a lift serviced vertical of 762 feet, stretching from the top of the Black Chairlift to the bottom of the Rabbit Peak Chairlift near the existing maintenance facility. The 4 lifts have a total rated capacity of 4,160 passengers per hour and generate a total of 2 million vertical transport feet (VTF) per hour.

Top Terminal of Black Chair

Ski/Snowboard Trail Inventory

In order to provide an accurate account of Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard's trail system, the trails have been classified in concert with the International Trail Standards (Table II.2), as well as the seven slider skill classification levels exhibited in Table II.3.

The trails are classified via an evaluation of the following parameters: slope width, average gradient and the steepest 100-foot vertical pitch. Since the average slope gradient of a trail is generally much lower than the steepest 100-foot vertical pitch, the trails are usually classified to ensure that the steepest 100-foot vertical pitch falls within five percent of the acceptable terrain gradients listed in Table II.3. Furthermore, a gentle novice trail cannot suddenly turn into an advanced trail for obvious reasons.

The Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort's existing trails have been plotted on the topographic base mapping at a scale of 1"=200' with 10-foot contours, as illustrated on the Existing Mountain Facilities Map (Figure 7a (JPG | PDF) ). The presently developed ski/snowboard trail system includes 11 numbered trails and skiways covering 41 acres. The trail specifications are listed in Table II.4. In general, the trails have been assigned to the lift that is used to return slide on that particular trail.

Slider Densities

Ecosign has performed on-site research to determine comfortable and safe slider densities at ski areas in many parts of the world. The research consisted of performing on-site guest surveys while simultaneously taking aerial photos of the ski/snowboard trails by helicopter. One of the questions on the survey asks sliders their subjective opinion of the crowding on the particular trail they skied. Their opinions were then compared with the actual densities recorded in the photos. From these comparisons, we estimated slider densities which provide sliders with a high quality, comfortable experience resulting in good memories and the likelihood of return visits. Densities used in planning winter resort areas in different parts of the world are listed in Table II.5 and shown graphically in Plate II.2.

In areas such as Europe, western Canada and the western United States, slider densities are relatively low compared to the densities in areas in Japan or Australia, where sliders have been historically conditioned to higher densities. For example, densities in Japan are generally three times the densities found in western North American destination resorts.

Table II.6 lists the "SAOT" (Sliders At One Time) densities and the "On-Slope" densities. The SAOT is based on the total number of sliders at the resort area, including sliders in lift lines, riding lifts, in restaurants and on the trails. The "On- Slope" densities take into account only those sliders actually on the trails at any given time.

Acceptable slope densities tend to decrease as the proficiency of the slider increases. The lower density for better sliders occurs due to their increased speed, and, therefore, longer stopping distances and the general increase in space needed to avoid obstacles and other sliders. As listed, the exception to this rule is that slope densities increase slightly on expert terrain since these steep, ungroomed slopes dictate controlled, short radius turns. Under these conditions, expert sliders have slower speeds and require less space for safe skiing/snowboarding. The regional resort densities used for evaluating and analyzing the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort are listed in Table II.6.

To accurately portray the terrain balance of the winter resort area, we computed the terrain available to each of the seven slider skill classifications and then multiplied by the appropriate slider densities to illustrate the distribution of the terrain available to each slider skill level. This exercise is often referred to as "area balancing", and provides management and the planning team with the data necessary to compare the trail development with the apparent proportions of the slider market.

As listed in Table II.7, the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard facility has a total of 41.1 acres of return cycle skiing/snowboarding trails and skiways, with a total capacity of approximately 930 sliders per day, based on the trail densities shown in Table II.6.

The Cumulative Ski/Snowboard Trail Balance Statement listed in Table II.8 shows the balance of the existing return cycle skiing/snowboarding trails according to the seven slider skill classifications and compares them to the balance of the slider market. Plate II.3 indicates that the presently developed trails are somewhat unbalanced, with beginner, low intermediate and high intermediate skill levels having a surplus and novice, intermediate and high expert skill levels appearing to have a significant shortage of terrain. This balance can be improved significantly during the detail design process by replacing lift systems and expanding to new terrain within the Special Use Permit. It is interesting to note that the intermediate skill levels provide 84 percent of the total terrain compared to a market requirement of about 70 percent. Additionally, a portion of the low intermediate terrain is more than likely servicing the novice sliders. The prudent placement of new lifts could solve the apparent lack of novice and intermediate terrain.