This weekend is your last chance to ride Snowbird’s oldest chairlift, Chickadee. On Monday, Snowbird will begin work to replace the 1972 Thiokol double with a quad in partnership with Skytrac. The new lift will come out from underneath the Snowbird Center deck, giving beginners more space to queue and load. Riders will also enjoy a loading conveyor, making boarding even easier. “The new and fully grown-up version of the Chickadee chair will continue to create the next generation of powder chasers, future Olympians and local legends, just with a bit more room to squeeze in your whole fam,” said Snowbird.
Interestingly this will be the first lift in Snowbird’s 55 year history not constructed by Doppelmayr or a brand it acquired. Snowbird and Skytrac plan to fast-track construction and christen the new Chickadee for summer operations some time in July.
Lift Blog 
To be fair to the trivia, doesn’t Skytrac have a lot of CTEC institutional knowledge and practices as being founded by people who left CTEC?
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It does, but now Skytrac is part of the HTI group. Installing an HTI lift after the Doppelmayr Wilbere two years ago is an interesting choice, but not surprise seeing the proximity to the factory.
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They simply swapped the title blocks from CTEC to Skytrac
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I wonder how they will set it up to come out from under the deck
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I wonder because it’s such a short lift and their beginner’s lift, they went with the cheaper option instead of Doppelmayr.
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Possibly. Also they are doing this on fairly short notice it seems, so take into account who bid the lowest and could get it done in the time frame needed. Brand loyalty is not as huge of a thing in most (note I said MOST not all) of the industry now a days. Its who can do it for the best price and get it installed on an agreeable timeline.
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Skytrac is typically more flexible as far as custom or retrofit type projects are concerned. Such as fitting new Drive equipment into an existing concrete structure as on Chickadee?? Skytrac is a pretty comparable fixed grip lift compared to Doppelmayr. Doppelmayr can be the lower bidder if they want a project.
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I’m told the loading conveyor was axed from the project. The only lift going in this year with a loading conveyor is Mont Sutton.
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ah bummer. Well, perhaps later, if they really want it that bad. Sounds like time is of the essence at this point. Can’t blame em.
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It does still say it in the official announcement. Weird
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I’m guessing the new one is going to be top drive because of space and noise at the bottom.
Does anyone know what the chairs used to look like when it was new? The seats can’t be original since those are CTEC designs that came out later on.
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just a few days late but here are some photos of Chickadee’s original chairs. Just standard Thiokol center poles.
jhttps://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=996094&hl=Snowbird%20Utah%20Utah
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=937036&hl=Snowbird%20Utah%20Utah
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=937020&hl=Snowbird%20Utah%20Utah
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The original chairs were just standard Thiokol center pole ex Flatiron PC. Here is a photo of Chickadee’s original chairs. If I were to assume the original seats were replaced back in 1992 when they respliced the cable.
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=996094&hl=Snowbird%20Utah%20Utah
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If those are not original, then they most likely would have looked like this.
http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ut-snowbasin/littlecat/liftline.jpg
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I wonder where the drive terminal is gonna be, it will be interesting to see what skytrac does if its gonna be at the bottom underneath the snowbird center/bridges.
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Peter said in his writeup about the announcement that the new bottom terminal will not be under the Snowbird Centre. This is to “give beginners more space to queue and load” direct quote from Peter.
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I would guess a top drive. Installing the motor under the deck would be painful, and all the mechanical parts would be partially exposed. I wonder if the first tower will still be hanging the bridge because quads have heavier chairs.
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“The new lift will come out from underneath the Snowbird Center deck, giving beginners more space to queue and load.” The current double chairlift already comes out from the snowbird center deck so im not sure what they mean but that.
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