I think your description of Sheddy (YAN lift with doppelmayr grips and some doppelmayr towers) belongs on Lone Moose… Shedhorn deftinitely isn’t a YAN lift retrofitted by Doppelmayr :)
Actually it has doppelmayr tower tubes that were installed there with the intention of building a detachable in the near future. (that didn’t happen of course)
The original Shedhorn was the Heron Poma moved from the front side of Andesite, the Ramshead (Andesite) Chair. Doppelmayr installed new towers with plans to make it a high speed quad. Once Sheddy came out, the towers and all were replaced with the Ramcharger Lift (which replaced Ramshead in 1991.
There must have been an engineering change after the towers were fabricated. Possibly related: the haul rope was apparently cut a few feet too short and a new rope had to be brought in after the first splice.
Look at the size of the fourth and fifth towers! Last spring someone speculated that they were going to try to cross Ambush without any towers in the middle of the trail. Looks like they’ve got that covered.
They got it covered but they created the biggest e stop in America. If your in between the towers and the lift e stops the chair will bounce like crazy. One of the scariest lifts I have ever ridden.
Why do all Big Sky’s high speed lifts have low capacity (SIX SHOOTER, POWDER SEEKER, SOUTHERN COMFORT, SHEDHORN)?
Can additional chairs be added to increase capacity?
it is frustratingly difficult to find any photos or videos of Gondola 2, the combination of its short life at big sky, the time period, and the fact it only operated on busy days makes photos of it rare. it would be so cool to see two gondolas operating side by side at big sky.
Yes. Flatiron will start near the bottom of the Cabin lift and goes to the top of Lone Moose. Lakeview will start off the Natwista trail just above Madison base area. You can see the line from the Derringer lift.
Top five lifts (in my opinion) that need to be upgraded or have a loading carpet
1. Iron horse
2. lone tree (or have a detachable in the area)
3. tram to have more capacity per hour
4. dakota
5. lone moose
I saw on the big sky 2025 page that the new south face lift was going to go from mule skinner, hippie highway junction to the top of lone peak. It should start from the bottom of screaming left instead.
The Liberty Bowl seems to have been removed from current plans in favor of increasing capacity on the tram. I can’t find anything about it on the 2025 plan website while “tram upgrade” is there.
60-80 person could work if the interval was longer, also, start the lift down by the bottom of Challenger so the lift is around 8,000ft long. At 10min a load, the capacity would max at 480pph, they could also reserve some capacity for sightseeing so not all users are looking to ski off the peak.
That’s the dumbest thing I have heard. 60-80 people would turn the peak into a mogul field. The top is so small it can’t handle 60 people skiing down at one time. Talk about skiing on top of someone. Having the tram be longer sounds terrible. Don’t go changing keep the peak mogul free.
360pph is doubling the current capacity and could be achieved by simply increasing dwell time on a larger box. I’d take a big tram and rough first ten turns off the summit, over the planned chair up liberty ending near Otter Slide traverse, because the chair is going really wreck the peak, seeing how it will have a capacity around 1200pph.while still dumping on limited terrain. Some solution is happening as the tram has less than a decade left in so I’d suggest finding some stashes on moonlight and elsewhere, progress sucks sometimes but it pays the bills.
I won’t weigh in on cabin size, but a more modest proposal would be to run the new tram from the top terminal of the new gondola which is supposed to go about a third of the way up Powder Seeker. That would remove one of the uses for Powder Seeker, not that there’s a capacity problem there, and make sighseeing trips to the top a simple affair.
60-100 would only work if they metered the capacity, there are days when those runs could handle that number, and days when it couldn’t. If they controlled day to day how many people the tram took up based on evaluation by patrol (which is done anyway already) they could mitigate lines and keep people safe. That would also likely be a single car not a jig back like it is now, so its double capacity not 4 times, assuming a 60, and give the previous car time to get off the very top.
That’s a bit rude, to be clear I don’t want the peak to be overcrowded, that would suck. But doing nothing is not an option.
The bottom station of the tram is drifting, it is on a rock glacier and has moved roughly 20 feet since it was built in 95. It is getting close to the point where the drift cannot be countered by adjusting the shiv trains in the stations and a replacement is necessary from an engineering standpoint within the next 10-15 years. Now I don’t know about you, but if I was spending 10+ million bucks on a new tram, I would build it so it doesn’t have hour long lines at a resort known for its lack of lift lines. 1 60 passenger cabin would not put that many more people on the peak compared to the 2 15’s that it currently has, but it would help a lot with the crazy line that thing gets on peak days.
Sorry I just hate it when people want to flood the peak. Lone peak is a special place and I would rather wait an hour in a line then have to ski down with 59 other people. I know the tram needs to be replaced. A 30 person tram would be great. I also only ski the tram because I don’t like skiing moguls. The resort has become a massive mogul field in the past couple years. It’s sad to see such an amazing resort going to shit.
I’m with Doppelmayr FTW that capacity improvements are of the essence, especially when there’s a convenient reason for doing so (relocating the tram terminal since it’s shifting). You sound like one of those powder hounds who’d have criticized Vail and Beaver Creek ten years ago when the High Noon Express and Rose Bowl Express lifts were installed to increase capacity out of experts-only areas.
I’ve only had a single visit to Big Sky and skied the tram a few times, but there is so much terrain off it that I’m not worried about a larger
capacity up there.
In my home city of Innsbruck the old 25 passenger, single cabin summit tram (Hafelekarbahn) was rebuilt to a 69 passenger 13 years ago, and there was a lot of moaning round that change. But the crowds are still at the bottom and the two official runs that are very roughly similar to the Big Sky couloirs and the various out of bounds variants aren’t overcrowed. It gets tracked out a little sooner, but so what – at least I can still get work done in
the afternoon after skiing until fatigue.
If you have been here one time you know nothing about the snow conditions. The tram changes drastically from day one to the last day of the season. Some years it’s amazing and a lot opens. This year Liberty Bowl has been the only thing open. The resort will be very lucky to get everything on the tram open this year. The space on the peak is not big and is packed with 30 people on the peak.
360pph is doubling the current capacity and could be achieved by simply increasing dwell time on a larger box. I’d take a big tram and rough first ten turns off the summit, over the planned chair up liberty ending near Otter Slide traverse, because the chair is going really wreck the peak, seeing how it will have a capacity around 1200pph.while still dumping on limited terrain. Some solution is happening as the tram has less than a decade left in so I’d suggest finding some stashes on moonlight and elsewhere, progress sucks sometimes but it pays the bills.
There is a great article about the Lone Peak Tram that appeared in the January 1996 issue of Ski Area Management, written by David Hamre and Doug McCarty. Thought I would share some of that information here to add to lively discussion going on.
The tram is located on top of a ice-cored rock glacier that moves roughly 6-8 inches per year. The location of the bottom terminal and alignment of the tram were chosen so that the lift stays in alignment as the glacier moves. When the lift was built, it was estimated that the downhill movement of the bottom terminal and the rope stretch would occur at approximately the same rate. This means that theoretically the lift would never have to be respliced. (Note: This was an engineering estimation when the lift was built. I do not know if this worked out exactly as estimated, someone from Big Sky would have to comment on if the tram has ever had a resplice). The design engineers were also worried about the bottom terminal transferring heat to the glacier and melting portions of it to create voids that would cause uneven settling of the structure. Insulation between the terminal and the ground and an advanced system of thermal probes were used to prevent any undesired heat transfer.
The Lone Peak Tram was the result of some impressive engineering to overcome a set of unique challenges. A tram replacement will have to deal with these same challenges while also increasing capacity, not an easy task. I think the Lone Peak Tram II project is one of the most exciting lift projects on the horizon and I can’t wait to see what the next team of engineers comes up with at Big Sky.
The tram cable was replaced/ might have just added some more cable into the line about three years ago. The tram is an amazing lift and the new one will also be amazing.
The yellow alignment would be extremely expensive with the angle station. I would extend the bottom terminal to have it end in the Big Sky Town Center parking lot and expand that lot just because it would make the area even more convenient and popular.
This will never happen. The land is to expensive to build a parking lot in the town center. Plus the only land Big Sky owns in the TC is the golf course. I don’t understand why people want to make Big Sky like Telluride. It’s just never going to work at BS.
I am all for the blue alignment as as method of quickly getting skiers to and from the mountain. However, I believe that big sky should focus more on transforming slow lifts in to fast lifts
Actually, a cheap way to improve big sky for next season would just be to add some new glades. Thinking over moonlight area, bringing back deadwood and glading lone moose too. That would bring some good skiing. Maybe magic meadows bigger too?
It would be wonderful to see Big Sky manage the forest but the only thing they care about is new lifts. Almost every tree run could use a fix up. Big Sky likes being the most dangerous tree skiing in North America. I wish the resort cared about it’s land and the safety of its skiers.
Yup Big Sky is great at getting people to never come back. From taking days to get here to the rocks to terrible customer service they do a great job at getting people to never return. So many better easier resort to ski.
They clean glades and add new ones almost every summer. The Africa glades could use some work and war dance is done for but overall they do a very good job of keeping the glades clean. They just cleaned blue Room this past summer and it is fantastic now with all the small trees gone.
War dance is a special case because of the houses someone built below it it became an avalanche concern which makes it impossible for them to clear it anymore, atleast until their are some full grown trees in that run.
I disagree. I think Big Sky does a cheap job cleaning the forest. I have friends on the saw crew and tell them every year to do a better job but management won’t spend the money to have a healthy forest. Cool that you named two runs when Big Sky has 2000+ acres of glades. I’ll say they are doing a good job when they do 400 acres a year. I would love to see from Big Horn to Mad Wolf all cleared. It’s to bad when they did blue room they didn’t fix the bottom steep area. Every woods run on the R8 side could be widened. Stump farm needed to be cleaned out years ago. Don’t even get me started on shedhorn and Dakota because nothing have been done on that side of the mountain for yearsssssss.
Big sky says they care about lifts, but let’s be real they only seem to like making flashy new ones, what they need is to upgrade all the slow chairs – iron horse, lone tree, explorer, headwaters, lone moose in particular. And the tram too. Sometimes I just don’t so those areas because the lift is too slow
Because the old shedhorn, challenger, and lone peak triple were all known for being really fast and making people want to ski those runs. Plus every lift you mentioned on this list has had a replacement atleast mentioned for the big sky 2025 plan. Ramcharger was the first high speed that was replaced as part of 2025 and that let them replace one of the slowest lifts on the mountain with a HS. And the new swifty will take 3 mins off the ride time making that lift much more lappable.
Yeh I just a bit annoyed that no new lifts of note came this year and only one lift is coming next year and t isn’t the most essential. Since the new plan means that on average 3 lifts should be built over two years I am disappointed that one lifts is being built over the past and coming two years.
This past year was the mall renovation project which I assume prevented the ability to put in a flagship lift. They definitely made the right call by focusing on that because that building was overcrowded and outdated. While one project is less than we are used to with 2025 swifty is a huge lift almost double the length of ramcharger so it probably isnt easy to add much more to the docket.
I would argue the 2 most essential projects for 2025 are swifty and the tram, atleast capacity wise. The lines on swifty on more crowded days are getting pretty crazy
Swifty is a high hour and ultra critical main line lift without witch the operation of the lone peak portion of big sky is nearly impossible, it has suffered some reliability issues in the last few seasons and its quickly becoming a bottleneck, in fact, I was surprised that it was not originally in the plan to do it before Ramcharger. Though I agree it would be cool to have more big projects faster I think the costs are driving the pace of these replacements.
I’ve heard a gondola is under consideration from the new Montage hotel to the top of Andesite. It would be about 8,000 feet long by 1,400 vertical. This would provide more direct access to the mountain in the morning but also important downloading capacity in the afternoons (as well as possible evening access to Everett’s.) Just a rumor but it will be interesting to see what happens on that part of the mountain the next few years.
I am not a fan of this project. I think it would be an extremely underutilized lift. Nobody is going to ski down to Spanish peaks during the day even if there is a fancy new gondola. The only people who will use it are people staying in the montage and they will only use it for their first run. There are so many places where this money could be better spent.
This lift isn’t for skiing. They want people to be able to go from the Big Sky base to SP easier and during the night. The people staying in the Montage will also use it as their last run because skiing to SP sucks lol.
I think the gondola has moved from an under consideration project to a planned project. Montage and Spanish Peaks seem to be under the impression it is happening after the Tram and Village Gondola (unless their real estate venture fails).
It is interesting seeing how Big Sky has deviated from its original 2025 plan order. Swift Current 6 was supposed to be installed after the North Village Gondola (which is looking like a prime candidate for 2022) and the lower Moonlight lift (which is TBA).
Big Sky rumor is that concrete will start next summer on the tram and gondola. Both projects will prob take two summers so should be ready winter 23/24.
Did you get any indication of what the tram replacement would be and what alignment it would run on. It would have to be a different alignment if they are planning for a 2 year project because Big Sky would not go an entire ski season without a tram
They have not announced anything yet. Survey stakes have been in place since last Feb-march and I have heard from reliable sources that they will be starting foundation work next summer. The tram alignment has the base in the location discussed housed in a shared complex with the new Explorer Gondola, there is a tower above the Gullies and the top terminal will be near the current observation railings east of the current tram.
It seems strange to me that all the other projects at Boyne resorts were announced months ago and there is still nothing from Big Sky. It makes me wonder if Boyne decided to push off starting the projects at Big Sky since they are already putting in Jordan 8 at Sunday River, Diciples 8 at Boyne Mountain, and Seven Brothers at Loon. This is already more on Boynes plate than a usual summer even before the tram and gondola at Big Sky.
Interesting I didn’t know about all those projects. If Big Sky wants to follow the 2025 timeline they have/should start on tram and gondola this summer. Go look at the 2025 plan.
Big Sky has gotten a lot of attention over the past 10-20 years and I think they are in a relatively healthy position to hold off right now on major upgrades and expansions so that Boyne can focus on some of their other properties.
I don’t see the upgrades stopping at Big Sky. The other major player in town has pumped over $2-3 billion into the area with Big Sky investing around $100 mil. Big Sky planned to invest $150 mil in the 2025 plan. Go look at the 2025 website and you will see the plan for the next 4-5 years. Looks like everything is still on track to keep investing and building.
The resort needs a tram upgrade no matter what. The Lone Peak tram will only last a couple more years so something has to be done. That’s going to be a major project and cost a lot.
Yes the tram base is built on a rock glacier and has moved down hill 15-20 feet over its life span. It has been moving mostly straight down the hill but it is starting to tilt and rotate.
Yes it prob would but the top also has a major crack going through the concrete…. Sooo the plan is to move the bottom off the glacier and build a new top. Plus they want to build a bigger tram so ya.
The Lone Peak Tram will be replaced with a Garaventa 75 passenger tram over the course of Summer 2022 and Summer of 2023. This summer they will start mapping and pouring foundations. Next summer they will start steel work. It will be in a completely new alignment, starting near the bottom of Powder Seeker and running to the left of it up the side of Lone Peak. It will have 1 30 Metre Tower near the top of “The gullies”. It will be a Peak Line Product, Garaventa’s latest Tram product. This will definitely be interesting to see being built, and the final product should be really cool.
Maybe that is what the big announcement big sky is hinting on social media on February 15 will be related to. Will suck to have the peak turn into a mogul field.
You have to remember that with the tram, 65+% of the people riding up the tram come straight back down. That number will probably increase with the lines getting shorter. Also, most of the people who do ski down come down liberty bowl. There are plenty of other powder stashes besides Liberty (especially in the backcountry). The tram really needs to be replaced because the lines are way to long and that the glacier is moving. Hopefully the new tram will have a cheaper add on and be free on not crowded days because $80 on top of a $200 ticket is just insane but who said skiing is a cheap sport. Big sky has great skiing so even if the glades aren’t perfect then there are plenty of other things to do. Big sky isn’t the best run resort but I do like how it is pioneering the American lift industry. They should build another lift while they’re building the tram. That’s just my thought though.
Big Sky doesn’t have a Backcountry. Most of the backcountry is a rocky cliff face that kills people and skis. If you want to ski Backcountry from a resort go to Jackson.
I’ve been on Jackson’s tram and let me say that it’s really really cool! I’m looking forward to the new tram at big sky. One thing that must happen is that they need to widen the Liberty and Yeti traverses. The whole peak is not going to turn into a mogul field.
Lone Moose has now been down for almost a week. Big Sky said they would give an update once they have a repair timeline estimate, but still nothing from them. Does anyone know what happened to the lift?
I can’t help but wonder what the plan is? Will it be repaired, or is it out of commission until the end of the season when it can be replaced? There is already talk of it getting replaced with a detachable to serve the Flatiron Development, so if something major failed, I don’t see how dumping a ton of money into fixing this makes much sense.
It could be as simple as waiting on a replacement part. We have a lift down right now, as it happens, while we wait on a part to ship. It’s a little early in the season to say a lift would be out of commission for the duration.
Yes, that is definitely possible. This is the statement they put out
“Lone Moose is currently down for maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will share a better repair estimate as soon as we have one.”
It seems that if they are waiting on a part they would have said that as their estimate. To me the way this is worded makes it sound like something major enough that they have no clue when it will be fixed. Major issue=$$$. And with the Flatiron development calling for a detachable Lone Moose replacement they would be dumping major money into a lift that will be gone soon anyways, which is why this thought crossed my mind. They could totally do without Lone Moose since it is not a major lift.
I have no clue what is going on, just speculation.
Challenger was a class of steam locomotives back in the day. Iron Horse was a widespread nickname for trains. Pony Express was a mail service superseded by the first transcontinental railroad. So most likely no.
Lift Blog 
I think your description of Sheddy (YAN lift with doppelmayr grips and some doppelmayr towers) belongs on Lone Moose… Shedhorn deftinitely isn’t a YAN lift retrofitted by Doppelmayr :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually it has doppelmayr tower tubes that were installed there with the intention of building a detachable in the near future. (that didn’t happen of course)
LikeLike
The original Shedhorn was the Heron Poma moved from the front side of Andesite, the Ramshead (Andesite) Chair. Doppelmayr installed new towers with plans to make it a high speed quad. Once Sheddy came out, the towers and all were replaced with the Ramcharger Lift (which replaced Ramshead in 1991.
LikeLike
why does the new challenger lift have small extensions on the breakover????
LikeLike
There must have been an engineering change after the towers were fabricated. Possibly related: the haul rope was apparently cut a few feet too short and a new rope had to be brought in after the first splice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can confirm, they did cut too short and had to replace it. However the tower extension was in place before that so those are not related.
LikeLike
Ouch. Who ate the cost on splicing it too short?
LikeLike
Bridger Bowl got the first Skytrac fixed top drive terminal and the second tension return built by Skytrac.
LikeLike
I really like how Big Sky has recycled some lifts from other areas.
LikeLike
Including one I used to run long ago at Crystal (Cascade, formerly chair 9).
LikeLike
If anyone hasn’t seen the Ramcharger 8 Construction live cam, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF-_Ptv7I_0
Look at the size of the fourth and fifth towers! Last spring someone speculated that they were going to try to cross Ambush without any towers in the middle of the trail. Looks like they’ve got that covered.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The traffic flow is gonna be much better now, was kinda a pinch point on crowded days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They got it covered but they created the biggest e stop in America. If your in between the towers and the lift e stops the chair will bounce like crazy. One of the scariest lifts I have ever ridden.
LikeLike
Large sag is pretty common on top-drive lifts.
LikeLike
Just think about 60 people skiing down liberty bowl at the same time. Sounds terrible to me.
LikeLike
Why do all Big Sky’s high speed lifts have low capacity (SIX SHOOTER, POWDER SEEKER, SOUTHERN COMFORT, SHEDHORN)?
Can additional chairs be added to increase capacity?
LikeLike
Because the skier density at Big Sky is generally crazy low, making for excellent skiing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes the resort plans on adding more chairs in the next 5-15 years.
LikeLike
can you add design capacity of the high speed lifts to the spreadsheet?
LikeLike
Did you take any pictures of the inside of the 8 person chairs on Ramcharger Peter?
LikeLike
I found some neat shots of some of Big Sky’s long (and not so long) since removed lifts:
Gondola I – 4:05, 6:05
Lone Peak Triple (now Powder Seeker) – 4:00
Andesite Double (now Ramcharger) – 4:03
Gondolas (1 & 2) – 0:15, 2:29, 3:00, 5:29, 6:57
Lone Peak Triple – 5:32
Andesite Double (now Ramcharger) – 5:27
Explorer Double (I know it’s still running) – 7:05
Mad Wolf Double (now Thunderwolf) – 7:12
Chairlift.org also has a pretty good collection of Big Sky’s Gondola I:
http://www.chairlift.org/bigsky.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
it is frustratingly difficult to find any photos or videos of Gondola 2, the combination of its short life at big sky, the time period, and the fact it only operated on busy days makes photos of it rare. it would be so cool to see two gondolas operating side by side at big sky.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Any idea if Gondola 2 was the PHB gondola from Squaw or a Poma with the œuf (egg) cabins?
LikeLike
That’s a fantastic video for well more than just the lifts!
LikeLike
Good photo of gondola 1 here http://www.chairlift.org/pics/bs/bs13.jpg
LikeLike
Are the new lifts that are being constructed this summer real estate lifts?
LikeLike
Yes. Flatiron will start near the bottom of the Cabin lift and goes to the top of Lone Moose. Lakeview will start off the Natwista trail just above Madison base area. You can see the line from the Derringer lift.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pretty sure Flatiron is called Highlands, the other lift planned for Flat Iron Mountain would be called Flatiron.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s confusing because the Highlands real estate listings refer to the new lift that will service the neighborhood as Flatiron.
https://bigsky.com/properties/146-s-outlook-loop-16/
LikeLiked by 1 person
What stations will the new lifts have?
LikeLike
probably doppelmayr alpenstar terminals.
LikeLike
Swift Current has 32 towers
LikeLike
Will Lone Moose be getting a loading carpet this season?
LikeLike
They changed Lakeview to Madison?
LikeLike
Top five lifts (in my opinion) that need to be upgraded or have a loading carpet
1. Iron horse
2. lone tree (or have a detachable in the area)
3. tram to have more capacity per hour
4. dakota
5. lone moose
LikeLike
I saw on the big sky 2025 page that the new south face lift was going to go from mule skinner, hippie highway junction to the top of lone peak. It should start from the bottom of screaming left instead.
LikeLike
The Liberty Bowl seems to have been removed from current plans in favor of increasing capacity on the tram. I can’t find anything about it on the 2025 plan website while “tram upgrade” is there.
LikeLike
could big sky sell the tram to alta, they are looking for a pop-bottle tram up baldy, then put in like a 60-100 person tram?
LikeLike
60-100 person tram up lone peak would be WAY too much capacity because of the small area at the top of the peak.
LikeLiked by 3 people
60-80 person could work if the interval was longer, also, start the lift down by the bottom of Challenger so the lift is around 8,000ft long. At 10min a load, the capacity would max at 480pph, they could also reserve some capacity for sightseeing so not all users are looking to ski off the peak.
LikeLike
That’s the dumbest thing I have heard. 60-80 people would turn the peak into a mogul field. The top is so small it can’t handle 60 people skiing down at one time. Talk about skiing on top of someone. Having the tram be longer sounds terrible. Don’t go changing keep the peak mogul free.
LikeLike
360pph is doubling the current capacity and could be achieved by simply increasing dwell time on a larger box. I’d take a big tram and rough first ten turns off the summit, over the planned chair up liberty ending near Otter Slide traverse, because the chair is going really wreck the peak, seeing how it will have a capacity around 1200pph.while still dumping on limited terrain. Some solution is happening as the tram has less than a decade left in so I’d suggest finding some stashes on moonlight and elsewhere, progress sucks sometimes but it pays the bills.
LikeLike
I won’t weigh in on cabin size, but a more modest proposal would be to run the new tram from the top terminal of the new gondola which is supposed to go about a third of the way up Powder Seeker. That would remove one of the uses for Powder Seeker, not that there’s a capacity problem there, and make sighseeing trips to the top a simple affair.
LikeLike
60-100 would only work if they metered the capacity, there are days when those runs could handle that number, and days when it couldn’t. If they controlled day to day how many people the tram took up based on evaluation by patrol (which is done anyway already) they could mitigate lines and keep people safe. That would also likely be a single car not a jig back like it is now, so its double capacity not 4 times, assuming a 60, and give the previous car time to get off the very top.
LikeLike
Booooooo 60 people at a time. Keep the peak mogul free.
LikeLike
That’s a bit rude, to be clear I don’t want the peak to be overcrowded, that would suck. But doing nothing is not an option.
The bottom station of the tram is drifting, it is on a rock glacier and has moved roughly 20 feet since it was built in 95. It is getting close to the point where the drift cannot be countered by adjusting the shiv trains in the stations and a replacement is necessary from an engineering standpoint within the next 10-15 years. Now I don’t know about you, but if I was spending 10+ million bucks on a new tram, I would build it so it doesn’t have hour long lines at a resort known for its lack of lift lines. 1 60 passenger cabin would not put that many more people on the peak compared to the 2 15’s that it currently has, but it would help a lot with the crazy line that thing gets on peak days.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry I just hate it when people want to flood the peak. Lone peak is a special place and I would rather wait an hour in a line then have to ski down with 59 other people. I know the tram needs to be replaced. A 30 person tram would be great. I also only ski the tram because I don’t like skiing moguls. The resort has become a massive mogul field in the past couple years. It’s sad to see such an amazing resort going to shit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The need to move people around the mountain more efficiently is sometimes more important than preserving powder stashes for the powder junkies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You must not like skiing powder. Just be happy with your ramcharger and stay away from the tram.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with Doppelmayr FTW that capacity improvements are of the essence, especially when there’s a convenient reason for doing so (relocating the tram terminal since it’s shifting). You sound like one of those powder hounds who’d have criticized Vail and Beaver Creek ten years ago when the High Noon Express and Rose Bowl Express lifts were installed to increase capacity out of experts-only areas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve only had a single visit to Big Sky and skied the tram a few times, but there is so much terrain off it that I’m not worried about a larger
capacity up there.
In my home city of Innsbruck the old 25 passenger, single cabin summit tram (Hafelekarbahn) was rebuilt to a 69 passenger 13 years ago, and there was a lot of moaning round that change. But the crowds are still at the bottom and the two official runs that are very roughly similar to the Big Sky couloirs and the various out of bounds variants aren’t overcrowed. It gets tracked out a little sooner, but so what – at least I can still get work done in
the afternoon after skiing until fatigue.
LikeLike
If you have been here one time you know nothing about the snow conditions. The tram changes drastically from day one to the last day of the season. Some years it’s amazing and a lot opens. This year Liberty Bowl has been the only thing open. The resort will be very lucky to get everything on the tram open this year. The space on the peak is not big and is packed with 30 people on the peak.
LikeLiked by 1 person
360pph is doubling the current capacity and could be achieved by simply increasing dwell time on a larger box. I’d take a big tram and rough first ten turns off the summit, over the planned chair up liberty ending near Otter Slide traverse, because the chair is going really wreck the peak, seeing how it will have a capacity around 1200pph.while still dumping on limited terrain. Some solution is happening as the tram has less than a decade left in so I’d suggest finding some stashes on moonlight and elsewhere, progress sucks sometimes but it pays the bills.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There is a great article about the Lone Peak Tram that appeared in the January 1996 issue of Ski Area Management, written by David Hamre and Doug McCarty. Thought I would share some of that information here to add to lively discussion going on.
The tram is located on top of a ice-cored rock glacier that moves roughly 6-8 inches per year. The location of the bottom terminal and alignment of the tram were chosen so that the lift stays in alignment as the glacier moves. When the lift was built, it was estimated that the downhill movement of the bottom terminal and the rope stretch would occur at approximately the same rate. This means that theoretically the lift would never have to be respliced. (Note: This was an engineering estimation when the lift was built. I do not know if this worked out exactly as estimated, someone from Big Sky would have to comment on if the tram has ever had a resplice). The design engineers were also worried about the bottom terminal transferring heat to the glacier and melting portions of it to create voids that would cause uneven settling of the structure. Insulation between the terminal and the ground and an advanced system of thermal probes were used to prevent any undesired heat transfer.
The Lone Peak Tram was the result of some impressive engineering to overcome a set of unique challenges. A tram replacement will have to deal with these same challenges while also increasing capacity, not an easy task. I think the Lone Peak Tram II project is one of the most exciting lift projects on the horizon and I can’t wait to see what the next team of engineers comes up with at Big Sky.
LikeLiked by 3 people
The tram cable was replaced/ might have just added some more cable into the line about three years ago. The tram is an amazing lift and the new one will also be amazing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLike
The yellow alignment would be extremely expensive with the angle station. I would extend the bottom terminal to have it end in the Big Sky Town Center parking lot and expand that lot just because it would make the area even more convenient and popular.
LikeLike
This will never happen. The land is to expensive to build a parking lot in the town center. Plus the only land Big Sky owns in the TC is the golf course. I don’t understand why people want to make Big Sky like Telluride. It’s just never going to work at BS.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think there is any reason to connect the town of Big Sky to the ski area with a lift.
LikeLike
I am all for the blue alignment as as method of quickly getting skiers to and from the mountain. However, I believe that big sky should focus more on transforming slow lifts in to fast lifts
LikeLike
Both alignments would never work. Look at the starting point.
LikeLike
The starting point could be moved, just not over any houses.
LikeLike
Just forget about it. This will never happen.
LikeLike
Actually, a cheap way to improve big sky for next season would just be to add some new glades. Thinking over moonlight area, bringing back deadwood and glading lone moose too. That would bring some good skiing. Maybe magic meadows bigger too?
LikeLike
It would be wonderful to see Big Sky manage the forest but the only thing they care about is new lifts. Almost every tree run could use a fix up. Big Sky likes being the most dangerous tree skiing in North America. I wish the resort cared about it’s land and the safety of its skiers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeh I think they realise the new tech high lifts bring people here but the slow lifts and quality of trees and presence of rocks ca bring people away
LikeLike
Yup Big Sky is great at getting people to never come back. From taking days to get here to the rocks to terrible customer service they do a great job at getting people to never return. So many better easier resort to ski.
LikeLike
They clean glades and add new ones almost every summer. The Africa glades could use some work and war dance is done for but overall they do a very good job of keeping the glades clean. They just cleaned blue Room this past summer and it is fantastic now with all the small trees gone.
War dance is a special case because of the houses someone built below it it became an avalanche concern which makes it impossible for them to clear it anymore, atleast until their are some full grown trees in that run.
LikeLike
I disagree. I think Big Sky does a cheap job cleaning the forest. I have friends on the saw crew and tell them every year to do a better job but management won’t spend the money to have a healthy forest. Cool that you named two runs when Big Sky has 2000+ acres of glades. I’ll say they are doing a good job when they do 400 acres a year. I would love to see from Big Horn to Mad Wolf all cleared. It’s to bad when they did blue room they didn’t fix the bottom steep area. Every woods run on the R8 side could be widened. Stump farm needed to be cleaned out years ago. Don’t even get me started on shedhorn and Dakota because nothing have been done on that side of the mountain for yearsssssss.
LikeLike
Big sky says they care about lifts, but let’s be real they only seem to like making flashy new ones, what they need is to upgrade all the slow chairs – iron horse, lone tree, explorer, headwaters, lone moose in particular. And the tram too. Sometimes I just don’t so those areas because the lift is too slow
LikeLike
Because the old shedhorn, challenger, and lone peak triple were all known for being really fast and making people want to ski those runs. Plus every lift you mentioned on this list has had a replacement atleast mentioned for the big sky 2025 plan. Ramcharger was the first high speed that was replaced as part of 2025 and that let them replace one of the slowest lifts on the mountain with a HS. And the new swifty will take 3 mins off the ride time making that lift much more lappable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeh I just a bit annoyed that no new lifts of note came this year and only one lift is coming next year and t isn’t the most essential. Since the new plan means that on average 3 lifts should be built over two years I am disappointed that one lifts is being built over the past and coming two years.
LikeLike
This past year was the mall renovation project which I assume prevented the ability to put in a flagship lift. They definitely made the right call by focusing on that because that building was overcrowded and outdated. While one project is less than we are used to with 2025 swifty is a huge lift almost double the length of ramcharger so it probably isnt easy to add much more to the docket.
I would argue the 2 most essential projects for 2025 are swifty and the tram, atleast capacity wise. The lines on swifty on more crowded days are getting pretty crazy
LikeLike
Swifty is a high hour and ultra critical main line lift without witch the operation of the lone peak portion of big sky is nearly impossible, it has suffered some reliability issues in the last few seasons and its quickly becoming a bottleneck, in fact, I was surprised that it was not originally in the plan to do it before Ramcharger. Though I agree it would be cool to have more big projects faster I think the costs are driving the pace of these replacements.
LikeLike
Powder Seeker is out of alphabetical order in this list ;)
LikeLiked by 1 person
All Spanish Peaks lifts have been repainted from the maroon color scheme to grey and white like Thunder Wolf and Swift Current.
LikeLike
I’ve heard a gondola is under consideration from the new Montage hotel to the top of Andesite. It would be about 8,000 feet long by 1,400 vertical. This would provide more direct access to the mountain in the morning but also important downloading capacity in the afternoons (as well as possible evening access to Everett’s.) Just a rumor but it will be interesting to see what happens on that part of the mountain the next few years.
LikeLike
Would it be a liftline Similar to this?
It would be cool if it was a D-line gondola. With the North Village Gondola Big Sky would be the first ski area in the US to have 2 D-line gondolas!
LikeLike
I am not a fan of this project. I think it would be an extremely underutilized lift. Nobody is going to ski down to Spanish peaks during the day even if there is a fancy new gondola. The only people who will use it are people staying in the montage and they will only use it for their first run. There are so many places where this money could be better spent.
LikeLike
This lift isn’t for skiing. They want people to be able to go from the Big Sky base to SP easier and during the night. The people staying in the Montage will also use it as their last run because skiing to SP sucks lol.
LikeLike
I think the gondola has moved from an under consideration project to a planned project. Montage and Spanish Peaks seem to be under the impression it is happening after the Tram and Village Gondola (unless their real estate venture fails).
LikeLike
It is interesting seeing how Big Sky has deviated from its original 2025 plan order. Swift Current 6 was supposed to be installed after the North Village Gondola (which is looking like a prime candidate for 2022) and the lower Moonlight lift (which is TBA).
LikeLike
I have a feeling the gondola will be for 2023.
LikeLike
Big Sky rumor is that concrete will start next summer on the tram and gondola. Both projects will prob take two summers so should be ready winter 23/24.
LikeLike
Did you get any indication of what the tram replacement would be and what alignment it would run on. It would have to be a different alignment if they are planning for a 2 year project because Big Sky would not go an entire ski season without a tram
LikeLike
Yes the new tram base will be located behind and up the hill from the bottom of powder seeker.
LikeLike
Like where the old gondola terminal was along Jay Walk?
LikeLike
Yes and that is the location of the new bowl building and end of new two stage gondola.
LikeLike
Has Big Sky made any official announcements about this yet, or is it all just rumors at this point?
LikeLike
They have not announced anything yet. Survey stakes have been in place since last Feb-march and I have heard from reliable sources that they will be starting foundation work next summer. The tram alignment has the base in the location discussed housed in a shared complex with the new Explorer Gondola, there is a tower above the Gullies and the top terminal will be near the current observation railings east of the current tram.
LikeLike
Will the new gondola end between the bottom of Blackrock gully and Southwall crossing over Powder Seeker?
LikeLike
What kind/capacity will the new tram be?
LikeLike
Rumor has it 80 people👎 Im guessing it’s somewhere between 15 and 80 lol. Going to make the biggest mogul field in America.
LikeLike
80 is way too much capacity for lone peak. It better be way less😡
LikeLike
It seems strange to me that all the other projects at Boyne resorts were announced months ago and there is still nothing from Big Sky. It makes me wonder if Boyne decided to push off starting the projects at Big Sky since they are already putting in Jordan 8 at Sunday River, Diciples 8 at Boyne Mountain, and Seven Brothers at Loon. This is already more on Boynes plate than a usual summer even before the tram and gondola at Big Sky.
LikeLike
Interesting I didn’t know about all those projects. If Big Sky wants to follow the 2025 timeline they have/should start on tram and gondola this summer. Go look at the 2025 plan.
LikeLike
Big Sky has gotten a lot of attention over the past 10-20 years and I think they are in a relatively healthy position to hold off right now on major upgrades and expansions so that Boyne can focus on some of their other properties.
LikeLike
I don’t see the upgrades stopping at Big Sky. The other major player in town has pumped over $2-3 billion into the area with Big Sky investing around $100 mil. Big Sky planned to invest $150 mil in the 2025 plan. Go look at the 2025 website and you will see the plan for the next 4-5 years. Looks like everything is still on track to keep investing and building.
LikeLike
The resort needs a tram upgrade no matter what. The Lone Peak tram will only last a couple more years so something has to be done. That’s going to be a major project and cost a lot.
LikeLike
Why will it ‘only last a couple more years’? Is there an imminent failure of a major component?
LikeLike
Never mind, I saw where the bottom terminal is moving. However, wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to rebuild/resituate the bottom?
LikeLike
Yes the tram base is built on a rock glacier and has moved down hill 15-20 feet over its life span. It has been moving mostly straight down the hill but it is starting to tilt and rotate.
LikeLike
Yes it prob would but the top also has a major crack going through the concrete…. Sooo the plan is to move the bottom off the glacier and build a new top. Plus they want to build a bigger tram so ya.
LikeLike
Copy that.
LikeLike
The Lone Peak Tram will be replaced with a Garaventa 75 passenger tram over the course of Summer 2022 and Summer of 2023. This summer they will start mapping and pouring foundations. Next summer they will start steel work. It will be in a completely new alignment, starting near the bottom of Powder Seeker and running to the left of it up the side of Lone Peak. It will have 1 30 Metre Tower near the top of “The gullies”. It will be a Peak Line Product, Garaventa’s latest Tram product. This will definitely be interesting to see being built, and the final product should be really cool.
LikeLike
Maybe that is what the big announcement big sky is hinting on social media on February 15 will be related to. Will suck to have the peak turn into a mogul field.
LikeLike
I believe it is because if you look at the outline it kind of looks like a Garaventa Tram car.
LikeLike
Will they start building the gondola at the same time like what was mentioned above?
LikeLike
As a general question, does Big Sky tend to get busy for Presidents’ Day weekend, I’m heading up there.
LikeLike
You have to remember that with the tram, 65+% of the people riding up the tram come straight back down. That number will probably increase with the lines getting shorter. Also, most of the people who do ski down come down liberty bowl. There are plenty of other powder stashes besides Liberty (especially in the backcountry). The tram really needs to be replaced because the lines are way to long and that the glacier is moving. Hopefully the new tram will have a cheaper add on and be free on not crowded days because $80 on top of a $200 ticket is just insane but who said skiing is a cheap sport. Big sky has great skiing so even if the glades aren’t perfect then there are plenty of other things to do. Big sky isn’t the best run resort but I do like how it is pioneering the American lift industry. They should build another lift while they’re building the tram. That’s just my thought though.
LikeLike
Big Sky doesn’t have a Backcountry. Most of the backcountry is a rocky cliff face that kills people and skis. If you want to ski Backcountry from a resort go to Jackson.
LikeLike
Would anyone be willing to tell me how to post photos and choose a picture?
LikeLike
I’ve been on Jackson’s tram and let me say that it’s really really cool! I’m looking forward to the new tram at big sky. One thing that must happen is that they need to widen the Liberty and Yeti traverses. The whole peak is not going to turn into a mogul field.
LikeLike
Lone Moose has now been down for almost a week. Big Sky said they would give an update once they have a repair timeline estimate, but still nothing from them. Does anyone know what happened to the lift?
I can’t help but wonder what the plan is? Will it be repaired, or is it out of commission until the end of the season when it can be replaced? There is already talk of it getting replaced with a detachable to serve the Flatiron Development, so if something major failed, I don’t see how dumping a ton of money into fixing this makes much sense.
LikeLike
It could be as simple as waiting on a replacement part. We have a lift down right now, as it happens, while we wait on a part to ship. It’s a little early in the season to say a lift would be out of commission for the duration.
LikeLike
Yes, that is definitely possible. This is the statement they put out
“Lone Moose is currently down for maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will share a better repair estimate as soon as we have one.”
It seems that if they are waiting on a part they would have said that as their estimate. To me the way this is worded makes it sound like something major enough that they have no clue when it will be fixed. Major issue=$$$. And with the Flatiron development calling for a detachable Lone Moose replacement they would be dumping major money into a lift that will be gone soon anyways, which is why this thought crossed my mind. They could totally do without Lone Moose since it is not a major lift.
I have no clue what is going on, just speculation.
LikeLike
Does anyone know if challenger, iron horse, and pony express are named after the mj doubles at wp? Just wondering
LikeLike
Challenger was a class of steam locomotives back in the day. Iron Horse was a widespread nickname for trains. Pony Express was a mail service superseded by the first transcontinental railroad. So most likely no.
LikeLike
Is it confirmed that foundation work for the gondola is starting this summer along with completing the tram
LikeLike
Next year instead of doing a per day charge, Big Sky will charge per ride for the Lone Peak Tram
LikeLike