Loading area.View back down the line.Unloading ramp.Top terminal building.Upper lift line.Lower lift line.Bottom terminal building.Bottom station and lift line.
Fun lift to ride if your trying to get to strawberry gondola when needles and middle bowl are crowded/shut down. The bad thing is this like the second beginner lift other than littlecat and it slows down so much. I also had a scary experience when I almost went off the end of the carpet before loading the chair because the gate opened too early.
Well why am I always the last one to hear about these things!?!? :( I mean I am happy that Ms. Becky got a carpet! But geeze!! See what happens when your health craps out on you and you can’t get out and ski for a few years!? :(
Went on becker this season and nothing has changed. It was probably done so the haul rope dont stretch as much with chairs. They do this every summer with porcupine but this is the first i seen with Becker.
They remind me a bit of some the Yan HSQ towerheads (and funnily enough, they were the same era) but obviously that doesn’t make sense because there shouldn’t be yan parts on a 1986 Stadeli triple at a resort with no Yans.
Probably just some Stadeli design experiment. Perhaps Yan or Stadeli took inspiration from something at the same time. Perhaps they stole each others design, or perhaps they just coincidentally developed similar looking tower heads at the same time. I don’t know, and I doubt we ever will considering it has been 35 years and neither of these companies have existed for 25.
When Becker was installed, it was owned by Sun Valley, who had a few Yan lifts. I’m wondering if Becker was planned to be a Yan and the towers were installed, but they later decided to go with Stadeli for some reason.
I do think that these towers are Doppelmayr, despite what I said earlier. If you look at the towers on Vail’s Game Creek and former Mountaintop high speed quads, you can see that they’re almost identical to Becker. Those two high speed quads were built in the mid 80’s and so was Becker. It looks to me like Vail was in the process of building two Doppelmayr fix-grip triples at Snowbasin to replace both the Becker and Porky doubles when Snowbasin sold to Earl Holding. Then for some reason he brought Stadeli in to finish the lifts.
They look like a Staedeli towerhead. Eventually one runs out of ways to skin a cat, to use a phrase. They’re definitely similar to Yans and Doppelmayrs of that era but they’re their own beast.
This lift is almost twice as long as the lift it replaced so it opened up more terrain and also allowed additional access to Middle Bowl, which prior to this lift was only accessible via Wildcat.
There was a lift before this? Also the only reason I can think replacement makes sense would be for its length. Personally I like a couple slow fixed grips. It keeps people off those runs and keeps them fresh longer
Yes- I didn’t realize it until a few years ago when Snowbasin celebrated their 75th anniversary. They posted about the history and what not. I am like you, I too prefer the slower fixed grip lifts and I learned to ski at this mountain back in the mid-80s so Becker and Porky are sort of sentimental to me, however- given that Becker helps provide access to Strawberry, I can see this lift getting upgraded in the not too distant future, sadly. Just like they did with Middlebowl and Wildcat.
Here is a picture of the bottom terminal of the previous Becker. Go back to the Snowbasin page on this site and read the comments and you’ll find out more about the previous lifts and can see their stats.
With Strawberry Basin being open more thanks to the DeMoisy Express being able to serve the area when the gondola is down, Becker now has more importance as an access lift to get over to that section of the mountain. It’s way more direct to ride up Becker then ski down Bear Springs to DeMoisy, than it is to take the Strawberry Traverse over from Middle Bowl and Needles. That alone I think would be more than enough reason to upgrade it. Whether they go with a quad or six pack will be dependent on what the traffic levels and the wind conditions are like in this area (I think it could do with just being a quad, but I could see them going for a six pack if they want wind resistance and larger chair spacing; at any rate I think it’ll probably be a Leitner-Poma lift like the last two six packs were, though Snowbasin could surprise us and go back to Doppelmayr).
The chairs on Becker and Porky are easily some of the most uncomfortable I’ve sat on in recent memory. Is there not a way to at least cushion them a little?
With DeMoisy now open, I feel Becker will probably get upgraded to a high speed quad or six pack in the coming years due to being on the somewhat more direct route from the base area over to DeMoisy that doesn’t involve the traverse from Needles Lodge.
With Becker being upgraded this coming summer, I’m wondering what the likelihood will be she’ll be scrapped or sold? Mid-80s design, well maintained, but not many mid-80s Stadeli’s out there other than Porky (likely gets replaced next year or the year after) and 1 or 2 in new Mexico I think.. A few earlier 80s out east.
I heard a rumor that Porcupine might be replaced in 2027, and yeah hopefully this chairlift isnt just scrapped like what snowbasin did with Wildcat and Middle bowl. Out of all of the removed chairlifts at snowbasin Middle bowl is the one i miss the most. You could lay sideways on that chair like a couch riding up with your skis hanging off one side.
I don’t think the parts are available enough and the lift is common enough to get reused, in one year alone we are saying farewell to two more Stadelli triples. Correct me if I am wrong but that means about two or even one left in the whole country. The biggest thing I will miss is the little “swiss house” motor rooms, I truly will miss that. I wish more lifts would be built into buildings like that, it looks so much less ugly than a big colorful aluminum structure.
realistically they could keep the Becker and Porky twins going indefinitely. Garaventa acquired WSO in 91 and Garaventa/Doppie has continued to provide support on WSO lifts, but it’s a good time to go ahead and replace them. With lift 7 at Taos being recycled this year, I think there is only 1 triple left out east somewhere? Prior to the new lifts installed in 98 at the Basin, Becker and Wildcat were the only way to get up the mountain and the newbies tended to avoid these lifts and stick to the Littlecat area, so frequent slowdowns/stops were not that big of an issue. But the mountain wasn’t as crowded back then either.
Some of the employees at snowbasin including chairlift operators are on visas and live out of the country. They all went back home recently so now strawberry gondola, allen peak tram, becker, and porucupine are closed for the season. Its a shame that old chairlifts like this are going away but becker needed to be replaced. I have never been on this chairlift without it slowing down or stopping atleast once. This chairlift is another way to get to strawberry without taking middle bowl or needles gondola.
Becker being used as a shortcut to Strawberry has also increased in the past two seasons now that DeMoisy can be used to lap that terrain by chairlift.
I never noticed a difference. I usually avoided becker because its a beginner oriented chairlift that slows and stops frequently but that will change next season with the new high speed quad.
Not widely known but here is some info about the Becker name: The lift was named after local historical icon Gustav “Gus” Becker, who, in 1929, was assigned to become the chair of the Ogden Winter Sports Commission and spearheaded the creation of a winter festival with attractions like sled dog racing and ski jumping. He and his family also founded the Becker Brewing and Malting Company, which first began operating in Ogden, Utah, in 1890 and manufactured beer, soda, and other products.
Lift Blog 
She’s a beauty. Interesting how she and Porky are pretty much the same length, but Porky has more chairs.
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Beckels isn’t as crowded since the Gondolas and JP HSQ went in back in 98
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Fun lift to ride if your trying to get to strawberry gondola when needles and middle bowl are crowded/shut down. The bad thing is this like the second beginner lift other than littlecat and it slows down so much. I also had a scary experience when I almost went off the end of the carpet before loading the chair because the gate opened too early.
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This chair now has a loading carpet? When did that happen?
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2016.
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Well why am I always the last one to hear about these things!?!? :( I mean I am happy that Ms. Becky got a carpet! But geeze!! See what happens when your health craps out on you and you can’t get out and ski for a few years!? :(
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Chairs are off of Becker for the past month or two. Wondering if she’s getting new grips, chair bottoms, or a new haul rope?
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Went on becker this season and nothing has changed. It was probably done so the haul rope dont stretch as much with chairs. They do this every summer with porcupine but this is the first i seen with Becker.
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Does anyone know what type of tower heads are on Becker and Porky? They don’t look like Stadeli or Doppelmayr tower heads.
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They remind me a bit of some the Yan HSQ towerheads (and funnily enough, they were the same era) but obviously that doesn’t make sense because there shouldn’t be yan parts on a 1986 Stadeli triple at a resort with no Yans.
Probably just some Stadeli design experiment. Perhaps Yan or Stadeli took inspiration from something at the same time. Perhaps they stole each others design, or perhaps they just coincidentally developed similar looking tower heads at the same time. I don’t know, and I doubt we ever will considering it has been 35 years and neither of these companies have existed for 25.
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When Becker was installed, it was owned by Sun Valley, who had a few Yan lifts. I’m wondering if Becker was planned to be a Yan and the towers were installed, but they later decided to go with Stadeli for some reason.
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I do think that these towers are Doppelmayr, despite what I said earlier. If you look at the towers on Vail’s Game Creek and former Mountaintop high speed quads, you can see that they’re almost identical to Becker. Those two high speed quads were built in the mid 80’s and so was Becker. It looks to me like Vail was in the process of building two Doppelmayr fix-grip triples at Snowbasin to replace both the Becker and Porky doubles when Snowbasin sold to Earl Holding. Then for some reason he brought Stadeli in to finish the lifts.
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That looks Doppelmayr to me. They had multiple there. I know because Super Bravo and Slide Brook have been reported similar.
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Here is a 1988 installed Doppie with similar towerheads/lifting frames.
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They look like a Staedeli towerhead. Eventually one runs out of ways to skin a cat, to use a phrase. They’re definitely similar to Yans and Doppelmayrs of that era but they’re their own beast.
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Any pictures of the new carpet?
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in switzerland they made bubble chairs by stadeli, the lift used to be 2 stages
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Becker was never 2 stage, the triple chair went is higher up than the old double chair.
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He meant in Switzerland where WSO Stadeli is from.
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is it just me or do these lifts sort of serve very little terrain for how long they are?
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This lift is almost twice as long as the lift it replaced so it opened up more terrain and also allowed additional access to Middle Bowl, which prior to this lift was only accessible via Wildcat.
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There was a lift before this? Also the only reason I can think replacement makes sense would be for its length. Personally I like a couple slow fixed grips. It keeps people off those runs and keeps them fresh longer
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Yes- I didn’t realize it until a few years ago when Snowbasin celebrated their 75th anniversary. They posted about the history and what not. I am like you, I too prefer the slower fixed grip lifts and I learned to ski at this mountain back in the mid-80s so Becker and Porky are sort of sentimental to me, however- given that Becker helps provide access to Strawberry, I can see this lift getting upgraded in the not too distant future, sadly. Just like they did with Middlebowl and Wildcat.
Here is a picture of the bottom terminal of the previous Becker. Go back to the Snowbasin page on this site and read the comments and you’ll find out more about the previous lifts and can see their stats.
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With Strawberry Basin being open more thanks to the DeMoisy Express being able to serve the area when the gondola is down, Becker now has more importance as an access lift to get over to that section of the mountain. It’s way more direct to ride up Becker then ski down Bear Springs to DeMoisy, than it is to take the Strawberry Traverse over from Middle Bowl and Needles. That alone I think would be more than enough reason to upgrade it. Whether they go with a quad or six pack will be dependent on what the traffic levels and the wind conditions are like in this area (I think it could do with just being a quad, but I could see them going for a six pack if they want wind resistance and larger chair spacing; at any rate I think it’ll probably be a Leitner-Poma lift like the last two six packs were, though Snowbasin could surprise us and go back to Doppelmayr).
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I think the only reason for replacement would be length. I just like a couple slow lifts, it keeps the runs fresher for longer
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Crowd distribution would be another reason. Becker being a six pack will undoubtedly move some traffic off of Wildcat and Middle Bowl.
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The chairs on Becker and Porky are easily some of the most uncomfortable I’ve sat on in recent memory. Is there not a way to at least cushion them a little?
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That’s odd. I recall them being rather comfortable about 10-15+ years ago. I suppose they have not aged well.
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Same here. I was in Weber County in ’15 and ’16. No complaints. The long-bench EJ on JP, however, I did find find less than optimal.
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maybe he just has a super skinny butt and needs the extra padding.
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With DeMoisy now open, I feel Becker will probably get upgraded to a high speed quad or six pack in the coming years due to being on the somewhat more direct route from the base area over to DeMoisy that doesn’t involve the traverse from Needles Lodge.
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Seems you and I were right. Long live Porky!!!
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Case in point regarding the lack of traverse when traveling from the top of Becker to the base of DeMoisy via Bear Springs:
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With Becker being upgraded this coming summer, I’m wondering what the likelihood will be she’ll be scrapped or sold? Mid-80s design, well maintained, but not many mid-80s Stadeli’s out there other than Porky (likely gets replaced next year or the year after) and 1 or 2 in new Mexico I think.. A few earlier 80s out east.
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I heard a rumor that Porcupine might be replaced in 2027, and yeah hopefully this chairlift isnt just scrapped like what snowbasin did with Wildcat and Middle bowl. Out of all of the removed chairlifts at snowbasin Middle bowl is the one i miss the most. You could lay sideways on that chair like a couch riding up with your skis hanging off one side.
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I don’t think the parts are available enough and the lift is common enough to get reused, in one year alone we are saying farewell to two more Stadelli triples. Correct me if I am wrong but that means about two or even one left in the whole country. The biggest thing I will miss is the little “swiss house” motor rooms, I truly will miss that. I wish more lifts would be built into buildings like that, it looks so much less ugly than a big colorful aluminum structure.
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realistically they could keep the Becker and Porky twins going indefinitely. Garaventa acquired WSO in 91 and Garaventa/Doppie has continued to provide support on WSO lifts, but it’s a good time to go ahead and replace them. With lift 7 at Taos being recycled this year, I think there is only 1 triple left out east somewhere?
Prior to the new lifts installed in 98 at the Basin, Becker and Wildcat were the only way to get up the mountain and the newbies tended to avoid these lifts and stick to the Littlecat area, so frequent slowdowns/stops were not that big of an issue. But the mountain wasn’t as crowded back then either.
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The lift you are talking about is the Sunnyside triple at Waterville Valley.
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R.I.P. The chairs have been coming off of the line. I wish they would have ran it for the rest of the season.
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Some of the employees at snowbasin including chairlift operators are on visas and live out of the country. They all went back home recently so now strawberry gondola, allen peak tram, becker, and porucupine are closed for the season. Its a shame that old chairlifts like this are going away but becker needed to be replaced. I have never been on this chairlift without it slowing down or stopping atleast once. This chairlift is another way to get to strawberry without taking middle bowl or needles gondola.
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Becker being used as a shortcut to Strawberry has also increased in the past two seasons now that DeMoisy can be used to lap that terrain by chairlift.
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I never noticed a difference. I usually avoided becker because its a beginner oriented chairlift that slows and stops frequently but that will change next season with the new high speed quad.
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Same. I was there this weekend thinking I could ride it one more time, but half the chairs were already off the line. :(
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Well the good news is that Porky is pretty much identical to Becker, only 50 ft longer, and you can still ride her for another year or two.
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Goodbye, old friend.
https://www.fox13now.com/news/uniquely-utah/a-piece-of-ogden-skiing-history-snowbasin-ski-resort-holds-auction-for-becker-chairlift
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Video of Becker from 2018. Sorry about the garbage camera angle https://youtu.be/go0RrfHWwVw?si=rl-SgUIoGu2Sv1vG
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Not widely known but here is some info about the Becker name:
The lift was named after local historical icon Gustav “Gus” Becker, who, in 1929, was assigned to become the chair of the Ogden Winter Sports Commission and spearheaded the creation of a winter festival with attractions like sled dog racing and ski jumping. He and his family also founded the Becker Brewing and Malting Company, which first began operating in Ogden, Utah, in 1890 and manufactured beer, soda, and other products.
Source:
https://www.powder.com/news/snowbasin-becker-lift-auction
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