Big Sky will become the first US ski area to replace a six place chairlift with a larger machine next summer on the north flank of Lone Peak. Replacing Six Shooter, the new North Side 8 will be the longest eight place in the world and crown Big Sky as the only North American resort with two eight places and three bubble D-Lines. The latest-generation Doppelmayr lift will run at six meters per second, reducing ride time out of Madison base by 30 percent.
Big Sky Resort parent company Boyne Resorts is partnering with local real estate developer Lone Mountain Land Company to realize this ambitious project, which will feature 80 chairs and 29 towers along an approximately 8,700 foot alignment. The outgoing Six Shooter is only 20 years old but was designed for a different era when Moonlight Basin operated separately from neighboring Big Sky. The two ski areas merged in 2013 and Six Shooter quickly became a bottleneck. The Garaventa CTEC lift can only move 1,800 skiers per hour and suffers periodic down time in part due to a line curve necessitated by previous property boundaries. Now that Big Sky owns Moonlight Basin ski terrain, the new lift can run in a straight alignment and carry nearly twice as many riders. “Replacing Six Shooter has long been an ask of our guests,” said Troy Nedved, Big Sky Resort’s General Manager. “The lift replacement doubles the uphill capacity at one of our last remaining pinch points, and will enhance what is one of the resort’s coldest lift rides with bubbles and heated seats.”
Up to 2,745 skiers per hour will load the new lift about 40 feet uphill of the current Six Shooter drive station to create more queuing space. In addition to now-standard Big Sky features of blue bubbles, a loading conveyor and a four ring direct drive, North Side 8 will also feature automatic lowering/locking lap bars and the United States’ first Fatzer Performa-DT haul rope for a smoother ride. Chairs will be parked inside both terminals at night rather than a separate parking building, another first for Big Sky. Construction is set to begin this spring with opening planned for late 2024.
News of North Side 8 comes at an exciting time in Big Sky just days after the new Lone Peak Tram debuted as the latest component of the Big Sky 2025 capital push. “Big Sky Resort is at the forefront of transforming the North American ski experience by adding the most advanced and comfortable lift system to our mountain,” noted Nedved. “This lift replacement, our seventh in as many years, supports our long-standing reputation for having some of the shortest lift lines in the Rockies.” Big Sky also recently commenced construction of a two stage D-Line gondola running from the Mountain Village to the new tram. A second two stage D-Line gondola is planned to link the new One&Only Moonlight Basin to the Madison base area and North Side 8.
Lift Blog 
It would be interesting to know if this lift will be relocated to another region of Big Sky/Moonlight Basin, possibly where the other HSS was planned at Moonlight?
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This is actually kinda insane now that you think about it. Knowing that big Sky will operate 5 bubble lifts and 5 d-lines (Yes we’re counting One&Only) and a state of the art tram will solidify big Sky as Americas Matterhorn
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I think Six Shooter is likelier to be scrapped.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if it is used to replace Lone Moose. I don’t know any inside info but that is just a hunch bc that lift really needs a detachable upgrade for the new Lone Moose village in the Flatiron Development
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I agree as it’s kind of old and was a longer lift
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Not so sure it will be.. It’s 20 years old and may still offer quite a bit of life. More common to see a 30 year old detachable get scrapped. At the least, it will be parted out.
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I doubt Six Shooter will be relocated elsewhere in Big Sky. While Six Shooter is a great lift, it is hard to justify relocating a 20 year old lift with only 1800 pph. This essentially rules out the possibility of this lift being a replacement for any of Big Sky’s aging detachable quads or any other mountain with aging detachable quads. I will guess that similar logic was used when Swift Current was relocated elsewhere within Boyne’s ski area network.
As for the rest of Boyne’s resort network, I do see many potential candidates for this lift, the most logical being Sugarloaf on the old gondola alignment. This lift has enough length for this alignment and the six person chairs would be better for wind protection. 1800 pph would most likely be fine for such an alignment considering that Sugarloaf already has two out of base detachables. The only concern here would be the vertical of the old gondola alignment being 600 feet more than existing Six Shooter. That being said, Six Shooter is an incredibly capable lift even being able to operate with a turn in the lift line. Even if Sugarloaf’s gondola alignment wouldn’t work there are plenty of aging Borvigs there that could use a six person replacement.
As for other resorts that could use Six Shooter, Loon and Sunday River wouldn’t make sense due to Six Shooter’s lack of capacity, neither would either of the Boyne Mountains. Brighton is probably fine on upgrades with the recent replacement of Crest and I believe it’s already been decided that Shawnee Peak would be receiving the old Jordan. Snoqualmie might make sense for a replacement of Pacific Crest but once again, I’m not sure if it would be feasible to have a decrease in capacity at such a highly visited area.
In short, Six Shooter is a great lift but might not be feasible for Boyne’s ski resort network.
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If they were to put it on a shorter alignment, the chairs would be much closer together causing a drastic increase in capacity to this lift
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While theoretically that could be an option, I find it unlikely that the existing drive system can handle much more. While it is certainly possible, it would be an additional complication for the relocation of a 20 year old lift. Garaventa-CTEC six packs are notorious for gearbox failures and while I am not sure about the condition or age of the drive equipment, I doubt it would this easy to relocate. There’s a reason they’re moving forward with this project over the gondola, I doubt its solely because of lack of lift capacity.
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Agreed, If this were possible. I always questioned the original engineering logic of running 6-seat carriers at a 12-second interval, equating roughly to the capacity of a speedy fixed grip triple. Thus the bottleneck.
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I’m not suggesting they add any extra chairs to up the capacity, I’m saying they could use the same number on a much shorter allignment so all the existing chairs would be closer and there wouldn’t be extra weight for the drive.
Regardless I agree with your reasoning that the lift is likely getting replaced for mechanical reasons. Otherwise this decision makes no sense
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Red Lodge would be a fantastic home for Six Shooter. They already operate three similar vintage CTEC detachables and could really use one more for the main face. This one also happens to be in the neighborhood.
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Sandia Peak would be another good choice. They need a long quicker top to bottom lift to get the crowds they need to survive.
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So would L-jack at Copper. We have (and have had) such a random assortment of detachables already, it wouldn’t hurt to add something completely different into the mix. Plus I’ve wanted to work on a Garaventa for a while anyway. Now that I’ve put my pipe dream on paper (so to speak)….
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I have heard rumor that Six Shooter is going to south west Montana ski area no confirmation yet but I think Peter is on the right track.
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Discovery wanted Tamarack’s Wildwood last time around.
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Triple Chair or Anaconda/Rumsey would both be great homes for Sixer. There is redundancy in case it causes trouble as it’s 20+ years old, and it would really streamline out of base ops at either mountain. If it went to Disco I would hope they might consider cutting a few new trails to make the frontside more appealing. If it went to Red Lodge, I would hope they would use Triple to replace Grizzly or Willow Creek.
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I suspect that if this lift were earmarked for Sugarloaf, its most likely location would be to replace the existing super quad. An aging mid-90s Garaventa CTEC, it had had significant reliability issues through its life and really needs a replacement. I had heard they were looking at a 6 to replace it, so that would align.
The idea to utilize the old Gondi line makes sense on paper, but not in reality up there. There are essentially 2-3 trails that would take the vast majority of the people coming off the lift (snowfields people like to stay high on the mountain, top to bottom just means a long runout). This means that the trails would be overloaded all the time, with a FGQ and HSS feeding them.
If this replaced the super quad, then it could be used as parts for Whiffletree and the other Garaventa installations across the portfolio. Alternatively, if a rebuild is possible then the super quad could be the timberline replacement they’ve been talking about- Bullwinkle’s to the peak.
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I know Sugarlofers are desperate for a new lift, but this scenario is definitely not happening for multiple reasons. The Superquad upgrade is listed much later in the 2030 plan after the Timberline upgrade and Double Runner. They wouldn’t just change the order randomly. Six Shooter is already old, mechanically unreliable, and has a low PPH capacity. It would not be an upgrade compared to Superquad which has a high PPH.
Doppelmayr and Boyne have not shown any interest in refurbishing CTEC lifts like they have with the 90s Spacejets like the old Ramcharger and old Kanc quad. Doppelmayr is streamlining their portfolio phasing out the CTEC stuff from what it seems like.
As far as Sugarloaf’s next lift is concerned I think it’s far more likely that Loon gets a D-Line 6 to replace the South Peak Express since that’s next on their list and the refurbished lift potentially moves to be the Timberline replacement as Sugarloaf stated it will be a detachable quad.
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So I may be looking at a different timeline but last I saw, superquad was first in line for ‘25 on. Agreed that double runner needs it first- but that should be a FGQ.
https://www.sugarloaf2030.com/timeline
North peak will be replaced, but is a better candidate for a timberline replacement. Doesn’t have enough vert or length to cover super quad, and would cover vert and close to length of proposed extended timberline (with modifications). I could see it going to SR- maybe a little white cap replacement- too.
I would not be surprised to see the 8k+ ft six shooter get mostly gutted for wherever it’s going next. I assume the gearbox, motor, and backup PM are serviceable. Same with the cross arms on the towers, and then utilize the carriers from below the grip or the taco down. Doing that would likely save money over a full new build, and that style of carrier has aged better than many others. That being said, it would likely be a slow build, like swift current to bucksaw took a couple years. As far as capacity- putting the 8k capacity equipment on a 6.6k length line is going to allow you to put chairs closer together- I don’t see the capacity being an issue.
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I think a SuperQuad replacement would have to be a new build; moving this lift wouldn’t save you too many years or hours since it was built.
Some kind of shuffle with a used detach quad to replace Timberline makes more sense, but I’m still unclear on the alignment there. The existing alignment is obviously too far from Bullwinkle’s, but a straight shot from Bullwinkle’s would have to decimate Tote Road and be the most wind-exposed part on the mountain, so that seems a non-starter. Maybe extra vertical down to that new green trail cut off of the top of the new lift?
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The timberline alignment has 2 pretty straight forward options:
1. Mid station detach turn at the existing base. Expensive and basically 2 lifts
2. Have lower section run essentially in alignment with Binder, then put in an “Alta supreme” canted sheave turn at the intersection with the current lifeline.
Another option would be to go off the backside, but I think that’s a non starter due to the AT corridor.
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I’d think that a full-on, angled midstation at the current Timberline base would be expensive, and tough to construct on that plot of land. Doesn’t really fit the Sugarloaf tradition of low capital expense.
A Supreme-style bend might work, though I don’t know how much expense that adds to the investment. Also not sure if the angle would work. Maybe if the lower terminal is SW of Bullwinkle’s, and the turn is slightly uphill of the current Timberline base; that might be just enough to stay off the ridge edge.
I also thought the AT corridor would be too close for anything further, but that new green trail cut this year (Chipper I think?) goes further out into that area than I thought possible. Kind of looks like it’s meant to line up with the current Timberline liftline extended, to me. But that would be close to a 7500 foot lift.
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I agree with the economics of a mid station, but I think the existing pad is large enough to take a turn station with minimal rework assuming they push most loading to bulkwinkles (like Alta Collins every 10th chair).
A tower turn must be less money than a mid station, but I don’t picture it being at the timberline base- I picture it being closer to the spillway cross cut area. From there, binder is close to a straight shot to bullwinkles and it would be a ~5 degree turn. Doing that would allow you to keep low to the ground for wind.
Regardless of where around bullwinkles it’s located, it will need to be below the unload of bucksaw to make it a 2 lift trip and relieve the super quad.
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I’m kind of surprised they didn’t prioritize a second moonlight detach to make the Lone Tree terrain more lappable (from sattelite imagery, it’s obvious at one point, an out-of-base lift was planned for that area … more recently we’ve seen a mid-mountian alingment).
Or for that matter get around to replacing the odd number of key fixed grips left in moonlight (Derringer, Iron Horse, Pony Express).
But I guess I’m just assuming a rather Vail/Alterra playbook (get everything up to CD4, hold the bubbles).
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I completely agree. It’s astounding how Big Sky can keep spending so much money on lift upgrades and still not actually address any of the major flow problems
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No talk I’ve heard of Southern Comfort. Given the growing SP base area, nature of the lift’s clientele, and long no-way-out lift lines, a fancy 8 would be appreciated back there.
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SoCo doesn’t need an 8. A 6 there will do the job well
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The amount of terrain that requires a ride on Lone Tree to reach is ridiculous.
At this point, such a direct “Madison base to top of Lone Tree” lift being built to make lapping Moonlight Basin easier would be the equivalent of what constructing DeMoisy did this year for the Strawberry Basin side of Snowbasin.
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On the positive side, it skis practically like YC back there. Careful what we wish for.
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I made this map which really shows how badly a 6 pack to the top of lone tree is needed. All the red terrain currently requires 2 lift rides to access and lap so the entire red terrain pod doesn’t really have a lift that serves it making the flow over there so awkward. This 6 Shooter replacement doesn’t improve on this blatant issue at all.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vshJlP4DkSeJ2-kLSHTNq87VmTADKaFR/view?usp=drivesdk
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While it may be “ridiculous”, that’s what keeps a lot of people away from the North side making the skiing much more enjoyable. I am sure people who don’t ski big sky often or just vacation there scratch their head at the flow problems and rightfully so, some of the flow issues are bad. But those flow issues also make the north side so unique. It’s very easy to find fresh snow 3-4 days after a storm on the north side if you know about some of the nooks and crannies that exist up there. I hope the new lift doesn’t change this uniqueness but I fear I’m wrong.
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So excited!!! I love to see that Big Sky is investing in the moonlight side because of how bad the lift setup has been over there. This will definitely address the capacity issues, increase comfort on what is a very cold lift ride, and reduce ride time on such a long lift.
Six Shooter, though, is one of the only lifts on the moonlight side which is actually in the right location. This would have made me phase it in later than lifts that would solve the awkward flow on this side. Even with this upgrade, you will still have to take Lone Tree up after riding this new lift to access most of the moonlight terrain so that issue isn’t really addressed. Therefore I would have preferred to see a D-Line 6 pack from the base of Six Shooter to the top of Lone Tree and leave the existing Sixer as is for a bit. I believe this would have had a far more positive experience improvement over than this project. Headwaters and Iron Horse also needed extensions and realignments to improve their usability where 6 shooter was actually in the right spot already.
Not complaining though. This is definitely a huge step in the right direction and hopefully they will address these other issues I mentioned in the years to come.
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6 Shooter has felt beat up for awhile, suffers from low capacity, and for real estate purposes the Madison redevelopment will need to be serviced by the same bling the main base carries. I guess I’m not surprised.
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This lift will be the 9th 6 Place Chair in the whole world to be removed and replaced with Adventure Express at Moonstone, Asitzmuldenbahn, Sportbahn Asitzkogel 2000, and Kapellen (Leitner’s first 6 Bubble Seater) in Austria, Mouscades 1 and Plan de l’Homme in France, Estany in Andorra, and Poljice in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Longest 8 Seater right now is Silvretta Bahn in Austria
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I’m intrigued to know what exactly it means to partner with a real estate development company on a lift. Do they basically cover some of the cost of the lift so down the road their clientele will be happy? Are they in charge of upkeep?
To my knowledge, all of the other Big Sky lifts have just been done by Boyne?
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It’s a fairly common arrangement across the west. Developer pays some or all of the capital cost while resort with established operations and maintenance runs the lift.
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LML owns the Y/C, the MLB real estate component and S/P real estate. They probably helped foot the bill for the new Tram as well as the new Gondola system and most certainly the Gondola to the O&O.
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Anybody have a estimate of what this will cost?
I wonder how much has been spent since 2018.
Ramcharger D line, Shedhorn upgrade, Swifty D line, Tram, gondola d line.
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Don’t forget about Powder Seeker 6 and Challenger 3 which were both built in 2016
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How will the terminal parking work with the length of this lift. I would think there would be way too many chairs on a lift this long
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Its why its a fast 6m/s eight pack (need less carriers if they are moving fast & are big) with slightly longer terminals like Mammoth built this season they can stack the chars in terminal and with an enclosure similar to the new lift at Mammoth or both D lines at Sunday River they can keep them dry.
The land company is partner with the One and Only resort too, I bet the new Hotel had something to do with the replacement, can’t have a fancy gondola leading to a bottleneck.
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It’s remarkable how many lift upgrades Big Sky has made in recent years, but even more remarkable to me is how many more they really need to be strongly considering.
– Lone Tree 6 (hell, a 4 would be fine) to give intermediate skiers a huge, fantastic standalone pod and further reduce pressure on what will now be North Side 8.
– Pony Express/Iron Horse 6 to combine two important connector lifts and improve access to Moonlight’s long groomers. Would be even better if it linked up near where North Side 8 will unload.
– Thunder Wolf 6 to replace an aging HSQ with an upgraded lift, and Lone Moose 4 to give a HSQ out of that future village area. Presumably a refurbished Thunder Wolf 4 would be fine, though we’re already pretty far removed from the similar Shedhorn upgrade.
And that’s before you even get to terrain expansion (there’s another pod possible on the Moonlight Basin side beyond Lone Tree) or things that are more wishlist-y, like a slightly longer Headwaters (loading closer in to Stillwater Bowl).
I skied Big Sky last year and while I really enjoyed certain parts of the mountain, I’ve never skied a place with bigger flow problems, except, ironically, Crystal on a powder morning. Boyne has its work cut out for itself, and unfortunately I’m not confident that an Explorer Gondola or an eight-pack replacement of Six Shooter are enough to get them there.
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Very well said. The mountain is amazing but the lift network in the former moonlight terrain is so poorly laid out how it is right now. The main reason for this is just Moonlight’s limited budget back when this terrain was first developed. They totally shortcut the lifts for Headwaters and Lone Tree making them way too short and in the complete wrong spots. Iron Horse was built before Moonlight became an independent ski area so they didn’t foresee the need to bring it all the way to the top of Six Shooter where it clearly should have been in hindsight.
I think Big Sky/Boyne realize all these issues and I’m hopeful they will be addressed soon but with the size of the resort, overhauling the entire lift network is a long and expensive process. To be honest I am extremely impressed with how much they’ve already done/committed to. When the 2025 vision was first released I thought it was a bunch of bs dreams and empty promises that would never actually happen but they stuck to their word, adjusted things along the way, and have invested in their resort more than anyone else in North America. Kudos to Boyne!!!
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Everything about Moonlight Basin seems to be whacky and poorly planned.
The resort was built out during the housing bubble/run up to the financial crisis, with loans from Lehman Brothers. Even before things went truly south, they were clearly straining to get the resort built out, with short, stop-gap fixed grips serving key terrain … When Lehman went bankrupt, the bank dragged Moonlight Basin (and the American economy, for that matter) down with them. The resort was even acquired by Lehman years into bankruptcy proceedings.
After the dust had settled in 2013, Boyne (along with a hedge fund that also acquired the bankrupt Yellowstone Club, next door) acquired both Moonlight and Spanish Peaks, creating today’s Big Sky footprint.
IDK if the acquisition came with any tricky baggage for Boyne, but you have to imagine it was a bit of a windfall for them: a dramatically expanded footprint, with a bunch of lift infra built out by an entity whose debts had been erased in court proceedings. All at post-financial crisis firesale prices.
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Sort of.
LML AKA Cross Harbor (that Hedge Fund) bought the debt of S/P and MLB, they retained all the RE and sold the land for the ski area ops to Boyne.
They got the thing that makes a LOT of $$$ with some capital investments that were as you say, already paid for and Boyne has to maintain an enormous lift and ski infrastructure.
Pretty shrewd.
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Lone Mtn Land was a real change agent here. Absent their swooping into town and seeing easy billions to be made in a profoundly underdeveloped region, we’d still be much closer to the sleepy old Big Sky. LMLC doesn’t mess around.
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Agree with much of this . . . while I don’t have the financial insights (which are tied up in the complicated relationship between Boyne Resorts and Lone Mt. Land Co, which have different incentives), agree that those first two lifts (Iron Horse and base to Lone Tree) should be high on list for Moonlight and would really make it a more skiable/useable area.
On the Big Sky/Mountain Village side, I suspect that Southern Comfort will be first upgrade so long as Montage/Spanish Peaks kicks in some money. If you’re living over there, a cold, slow lift isn’t the way you want to start your day or finish your day. That will be higher priority than Lone Moose or ThunderWolf (though because I like skiing that area, would love a TW upgrade).
BTW, did the Explorer gondola get pushed back? I thought that was a two year project, ready for Fall 2024.
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Agreed re SC. Money talks, and being the sole route to Big Sky out of a 5-star hotel is a different reality than its origin as a sleepy back bowl.
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There have been rumours that the Montage and Spanish Peaks are planning a gondola to connect to the top of Andesite.
Explorer is planned for 25/26 ski season as they will be building the teaching center and top restaurant complex to open concurrently.
Trails were cut on Flatiron mountain last summer, the runs are along the ridge top and run east toward the meadows village (green real estate terrain) maybe the old Six Shooter is heading there I seem to remember it needing a 6000+ foot long lift.
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Do you have any more info on this project on Flatiron. I’ve seen it brought up a few times on this site
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That would be classic Big Sky. Apply an over engineered solution for a real estate lift that doesn’t address core flow/imbalance issues tying this terrain to the resort core.
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Those Flatiron trails have been there since before Moonlight Basin began independent ski ops. The front side is worthy terrain with a good vert and good aspect, the ridge terrain trending to the East is ok green terrain but as said that Dopply-Yan is painfully slow.
Currently LML AKA S/P is completing a whole bunch of buildouts below the Lone Moose area on the south side below Montage. There has been a road pioneered and geo-stabilized up that back side of Flatiron so “if” they decide to put more homes/lots on the market that is an option. There is still a lot of dirt available between Highlands and the bottom of Southern Comfort and it already has wet & dry utilities and roads.
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All well said.
FWIW, if you look closely at the Flatiron proposal, they are proposing a chondola type lift to replace Thunderwolf and a detach quad for Lone Wolf (with a bunch of new terrain to serve in that pod). Chondola makes sense given Flatiron clientele and potential to take them up to Everett’s out of the elements.
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Is there going to be a screen on the end of the bottom terminal like Big Sky’s other D-Lines?
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Yes indeed! Expect a similar layout to Jordan 8 or Barker 6’s screens.
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Thanks Everett! Do you guys have plans for the existing sixer yet?
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Somehow, any big sky post feels incomplete without Paul Wanders somewhere in the comments
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The new lift will be named Madison 8
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On Big Sky’s website they refer to it as Madison 8.
https://bigskyresort.com/madison-8-chair-back-photography?j=572890&sfmc_sub=272386074&l=87_HTML&u=32518068&mid=514003883&jb=1011&sfcid=0035Y00003z86hEQAQ&utm_source=mc_bigsky&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter2023-24&utm_content=572890_bs_newsletter_02-23-2024&phone=8449624180
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Any updates on where Six Shooter is heading??
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I’m wondering too. I’ve heard just about every possibility out there through the rumor mill-
Relocated to a new alignment elsewhere in Big Sky (using it to replace Lone Moose seems to be the most frequently mentioned alignment)
Relocated to a different Boyne Resort (Sugarloaf & the other eastern hills seem to be mentioned most frequently)
Sold/relocated to another Montana ski area (Red Lodge using it to replace the triple has been mentioned several times, but a comment above hints at a different hill in SW Mt [is it maybe Discovery?] seriously considering it)
Simply scrapped due to age (although Ramcharger was a full decade older & still reused) and/or its history of mechanical glitches.
really interested to figure out what it’s fate ends up being!
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Supposedly it’s headed to Sugarloaf which has plenty of overdue lift replacements and already operates two CTEC detachables from around this era.
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While its true that Sugarloaf has two CTEC detachables, they were not made while CTEC was owned by Doppelmayr. Doppelmayr USA was formed in 2002 after the merger of Garaventa and Doppelmayr, with Garaventa using (almost all) CTEC parts for their lifts prior to that. Between 2002 and 2011, the company was known as Doppelmayr CTEC, but then just became Doppelmayr. In this span of time, most of the new chairlifts that were built all came with parts made by Doppelmayr.
The two lifts at Sugarloaf (Whiffletree and SuperQuad) were built in 1994 and 1997, and compare that to Six Shooter (built in 2003) its pretty much like two different manufactures built them both. This explains why some of the terminal designs, sheaves and grips on Six Shooter look noticeably different when compared to other CTEC detachables built before 2002, with some of the towers and crossarms still having CTEC influence. Basically, the equipment is just a lot different because the Sugarloaf lifts are pre-2002 merger Its not all just CTEC with Six Shooter.
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So then would it be a Super Quad upgrade or is it more likely to be used elsewhere at Sugarloaf?
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Fair points Tucker. Boyne manager I spoke with didn’t know which lift it is set to replace. I’d guess Timberline (if not SuperQuad) but am not sure. Maybe others here have more intel.
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While Sugarloaf could use some lift replacements, I’m not sure that Six Shooter would fit in well there. The three lifts whose replacements are outlined in the Sugarloaf 2030 plan are SuperQuad, Double Runner and Timberline. A SuperQuad replacement would be the flagship of the mountain, so I think Boyne would go with a D-Line bubble six as that seems to be their preference for lifts with that kind of role. The capacity of an HS6 is not really needed for Double Runner or Timberline so I doubt Six Shooter would replace either of those lifts.
Personally I think the best place at a New England Boyne resort to relocate Six Shooter would be as a replacement for either Lincoln Express or North Peak Express at Loon. North Peak often gets long lines, and Lincoln is the only way to the main area of the mountain from the South Peak beginner area as well as the new pulse gondola that was just announced, so the existing HSQ should be getting higher traffic in the season to come.
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@BB17 its already been confirmed by Peter that Six Shooter is going to Sugarloaf, so its bound to replace either one of those three lifts. I have a hunch it could replace the SuperQuad, but that seems like a long-term project, or at least one we will not see for a couple years. Same thing with Timberline as well, both are under the “2025 and Beyond” part of the timeline. I think you’re right that Boyne would probably want to go all out with a modern (possible D-line) lift for the SuperQuad, but Sugarloaf does not get new lifts often unfortunately.
Double Runner is listed on the 2030 timeline as being somewhat of a “Short-term” project, so I think that Six Shooter will probably be re-installed there. It is right next to the base area, and a lot of beginners can access it easily through either the Skidway & Sawduster chairs. It would also serve a small pod of trails that is underutilized, but are extremely open and wide with great snowmaking coverage. Assuming that they would not increase the capacity at all and put in a loading carpet, this could be a huge upgrade to the Double Runner area, and it could be a perfect beginner lift.
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wouldn’t a Double Runner replacement require a mid-station? Would Doppelmayr even build a new station for a 2003 lift that runs pre-merger Garaventa-CTEC detachable equipment?
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I think in this case, they would probably just make the top terminal end where DR-E ends now, which is right next to the Skyline quad. It would make sense, as most people (mainly beginners) get off DR-W at the mid-station anyway. It would chop off the last 1,323 feet uphill, and considering that the upper part of DR-W is also mostly intermediate/advanced trails, there is not much there to take terrain wise – at least if you’re learning to ski.
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I lean more towards Timberline. Six Shooter is a long lift that they could pretty easily reprofile for it (and that extension to Bullwinkles), and they probably want six pack chairs for wind resistance.
Will Double Runner even go detach? They’re seemingly being purposefully vague on the Sugarloaf 2030 site:
“A centrally located lift, Double Runner will be replaced and upgraded with a modern, high capacity chairlift.”
Meanwhile Timberline:
“We will work to replace and upgrade Timberline to provide faster and more reliable access to Sugarloaf’s summit.”
I wouldn’t be completely shocked if they go for fixed quad with a loading carpet.
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I dug through Peter’s new lifts part of the blog and I saw in the 2025 section that timberline will indeed be replaced by six shooter.
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