Revealed in a surprise March announcement, Snowbasin Resort will debut its fifth detachable lift this winter on a slope rich with history. As chronicled in an awesome blog post, the upcoming Wildcat Express replaces a 1973 Thiokol, which itself replaced parallel Constam single and American Cableways double chairs. When the Holding family invested massively to build a new base area, two gondolas, a high-speed quad and aerial tramway in the 1998 run up to the Olympics, all of Snowbasin’s old lifts were left in place. Ten years later, Littlecat was swapped for a Doppelmayr detachable quad and now it’s Wildcat’s turn.
Like the Littlecat Express next door, Wildcat Express will be a green and white Doppelmayr Uni-G with torsion grips. The six-place chairs will feature slats rather than backrests for wind resistance along the relatively exposed profile. The new haul rope is manufactured by Redaelli and the lift will whisk 2,400 skiers an hour to Middle Bowl in just six minutes. Most components have arrived at Snowbasin and the Doppelmayr crew is working six days a week towards completion.
The alignment is somewhat different from the old and features two depression towers out of 17 total towers with a rise of 1,290 feet and a nearly mile-long run. The tension return terminal is being assembled now while concrete footings are in place for the drive station up top. The old Thiokol towers were flown out along with new concrete in August and a Black Hawk will return in a few weeks to fly the shiny new ones. Old Wildcat was recycled.
A big snowmaking investment on nearby trails such as Blue Grouse, Herbert’s, Eas-a-long and Wildcat Bowl is also underway with 38 new Super Polecat fan guns from SMI joining the fleet. Rounding out this summer’s capital improvements at Snowbasin, the Allen Peak Tram will gain an intermediate tower to improve snow clearance. The resort has been posting updates and you can also view live streaming webcams at both Wildcat terminals. I will be back come winter to check out all the latest upgrades to this Olympic-worthy mountain.
Lift Blog 
Well written article, Peter. Just one thing- That 1983 trail map shows a Becker and Porcupine lift. The current Becker and Porky lifts were installed in 1985. Was there something there previously? T-Bars? The current lifts are much longer than what is shown on that map.
LikeLike
Becker used to be a double then later replaced it with the current Stadeli triple that went up higher uphill. I have no clue about Porky.
LikeLike
Yes, Porky used to also be a double. It was replaced and lengthened at the same time as the Becker lift. I enjoyed seeing the old trail map. I grew up skiing this resort. Excited for the new six pack!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very interesting. I had no idea there was a previous Becker and Porky. Any clue as to what brand lifts they were? I learned to ski at SB and started going there around 1987.
LikeLike
Stadeli.
LikeLike
Stadeli doubles replaced with Stadeli triples?
LikeLike
Kinda strange but from what I heard Yes.
LikeLike
I’m not too sure. The Snowbasin anniversary blog says that the original Becker and Porcupine doubles were Built by Poma-Telecar.
Here are some links:
https://www.snowbasin.com/blog/75th-anniversary-history-blog-series-the-1960s
https://www.snowbasin.com/blog/75th-anniversary-history-blog-series-the-1950s
LikeLike
Here’s the new tram tower spot. Wow.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BY9ka-mjWhn/
LikeLike
Ya got 72 likes from fans of Snowbasin on their facebook page when they wrote about your visit and article. Congrats!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pretty crazy fact: This is the first time Wildcat has been lift tower-free since 1944.
LikeLike