The high speed quad servicing Sugarloaf’s planned West Mountain expansion got a name today: Bucksaw Express. The moniker is a nod to the Bucksaw double, a Stadeli which served the northwest edge of the mountain from 1969 to 2015. Sugarloaf began construction on the 450 acre expansion today and it is expected to open to skiers in February 2024.
The Bucksaw Express quad will span 6,574 feet with a vertical rise of 1,433 feet. Some of the equipment for the 755 horsepower lift comes from Big Sky Resort, where it operated as the Swift Current quad. The Doppelmayr detachable will be completely overhauled with brand new UNI G enclosures and many other upgrades. With a 1,000 feet per minute line speed, the lift will move 2,400 skiers per hour up West Mountain with a ride time of just seven minutes. As part of the project, the West Mountain double will be shortened to its current mid-station. The West Mountain project will include a dozen new alpine trails covering roughly 120 acres, which will increase Sugarloaf’s total skiable acreage by nearly 10 percent.
“This is the most significant development project at Sugarloaf since the SuperQuad was built in the mid-1990s,” said Sugarloaf General Manager Karl Strand. “We’re very excited to get to work on what will be a transformative project for the resort and our guests.”
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Love the nod to old Bucksaw but I always liked Sugarloaf’s dedication to “SuperQuad” over the cliche “Express” for HSQs until now. Also feel like that white stripe under the terminal’s glass panels should be orange instead of white to keep with the Sugarloaf style, as well.
Those are my very, very small complaints. 😂 Exciting to see new development at the Loaf, and optimistic that this will pull some intermediate skiers out of the big lines at the other HSQs.
Seems like Sugarloaf will need no shortage of lift investment over the next 10 years, hopeful that this is just the start.
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“SuperQuad” might sound cool, but I think that people are more used to associating “express” with fast, so it might be a good idea for marketing.
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It really doesn’t matter anymore. In the early ’90s detachable chairlifts were a novelty in the U.S. and could be a marketing opportunity, express is perfectly fine, although I think Wiffletree should be the Wiffletree Express now instead of SuperQuad. Not a big deal either way.
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Were they late receiving permits? I was under the impression work had been started, or was at least supposed to start, over the summer so it would be ready for the beginning of the season next year. If winter is half-decent next year (unlike this year), doing work on a lift at Sugarloaf in January will be tough.
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They only received approval from the Maine DEP at the end of December for the project.
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Any info if it’s going to have a conveyor load?
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Why does Boyne keep getting rid of the Spacejet enclosures? They look better than the current enclosures.
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Access for maintenance. Spacejets are quite cramped.
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VERY cramped, as I am sure you remember. The UNI-G skin will be well worth it.
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I prefer the modern UNI-G, especially with the nice detailing and color schemes that Boyne has been using lately. The Spacejets look more distinct relative to other detachable terminals, but also more dated. Considering how much consternation there’s been for years over Sugarloaf’s aging lift fleet, makes sense to make the lift look and run as “new” as possible.
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I’ve also been wondering if a later-in-the-decade Timberline replacement might be able to be accessible from this new lift and the Bullwinkle’s area. Even if Timberline’s lift line was extended further down the mountain, I don’t think this new trail number 8 would be far enough west to hit the bottom terminal. Maybe it’s an impossible ask.
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Bucksaw Express has had two delays after they announced the opening would be 2/9. Then 2/11 and now hopefully sometime this week. Rumors from the locals is there is either a sheave or tower issue.
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I wouldn’t trust the locals. Same thing happened with Panoramic at Winter Park, all the “locals” started saying that the top tower fell into the terminal balcony up top. Turned out to be completely false.
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