The beloved Snow Ghost double will be retired from Schweitzer Mountain Resort next spring after 47 winter seasons, the mountain confirmed today. In its place, two new chairlifts will service Outback Bowl in improved alignments. A Leitner-Poma high speed quad will climb through the Kaniksu Woods area with a Skytrac fixed-grip triple servicing the Lakeside Chutes vicinity above. “Overall, we expect the two chair arrangement to complement our existing lift system and provide better access to some of the most popular terrain at Schweitzer,” says Tom Chasse, CEO of the north Idaho mountain. Schweitzer completed a similar project on the front side in 2007, replacing 5,500 foot Chair 1 with the Basin Express and Lakeview lifts.
The detachable quad chair will offer a capacity of 2,400 skiers per hour and rise 1,447 feet in just over five minutes. The triple chair capacity will be 1,800 per hour with a vertical of 1,360 feet and an 8 minute ride time. “We’ve seen over the years how a similar two lift system in the South Bowl has been beneficial when we have weather challenges,” said Chasse. “By having the two lifts serving different aspects of the North Bowl, our hope is to combat similar challenges on the backside of the mountain.” As part of the project, Schweitzer will add gladed terrain and four new runs surrounding the new lifts, which have yet to be named.
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Nice post, Peter!
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I’m suprised that the bottom terminal of the lower lift isn’t further downhill, to capture all return traffic from Idyle Our and Stella and to provide uphill acess from the Outback Inn.
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They’d probably have to remove the cedar trees to do that and still have the same terminus. Those are a really unique character element on the backside.
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They could almost use a third lift.
Which is funny because they had a lift in that alignment in 1978.
The map really doesn’t do justice to how expansive this area is. Schweitzer is the largest resort in Idaho or Washington but serviced by a relatively small number of key lifts.
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I think the original plan, years ago, when the two-lift idea was first imagined, had been to do the second lift in the north part of the bowl (running kind of in the Downhill Run / Big Timber area). But they probably ran into some type of challenge with that alignment.
The plus side of this alignment will be one-lift, ten-minute laps on the south end of Outback Bowl. The down side will be that the better steeps are really on the north side. It also creates a three-lift ride to the runs accessed from Little Blue.
Expect to see clamoring for a direct-to-Little Blue lift or a north-side version of “New Lift #1” down the road. With Schweitzer’s size and odd bowl-in-bowl topography, you could really go wild with lifts if you wanted to.
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They are planning on adding a third lift like you showed, but to the top of little blue in future years. They had their current master plan on display all season. Shown here (https://imgur.com/Swy1qIn). Lifts 2 and 3 are the projects occurring this summer as it shows. Lift 1 I would imagine to be next as having that lift would help spread skiers out much more, but the new base area would definitely be a big project. Lift 4 looks to be the really interesting one to me, if it is a detachable with a mid-station. We don’t see many lifts like that around here.
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That old alignment was occupied by the current Snow Ghost.
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Wonder why they did not pick Doppelmayr?
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Price is more important than brand loyalty.
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Another Ribblet center pole bites the dust. It’s really a testament to the engineering and relative ease of repair that these antiques still are reliably running today. There probably would be more still in service today had the need for more uphill capacity not demanded their removal. I always liked the long ride time as they allowed for a period of rest before hitting it again.
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Beautifully said. I couldn’t agree more.
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Still 285 Riblets operating in the US and Canada and more abroad.
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Wow, that’s still a lot! Thanks! I know many of the areas in the PNW and California I frequented were majority Ribblet/YAN. Now there are but only a few left. Some areas are completely empty of Ribblets (Timberline/Crystal). I ride them when and if they’re open. Many typically fill a backup or overflow (weekend) lift nowadays.
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I’ve never been to Schweitzer, but shouldn’t Stella to the upper lift be as efficient as if they extended the lower lift?
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That’s my thinking. They probably also don’t want an entire bowl that funnels down to a single runout. Most of the terrain to looker’s right of the new lift 1 does funnel down to it instead of sending you down to Stella.
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