Riding up during fall foliage season.Leitner-Poma tower head at T8.Upper lift line.Leitner six-pack bubble chairs near the summit.LPA terminalUnloading area.Chair with open bubble.Top drive terminal.Another view of the drive station.Breakover towers.View down the line.Bottom terminal and chair storage barn.Unloading area at the base.Return terminal and operator house.View inside the chair barn.In the winter, both loading and unloading are 90-degrees to the lift line.Winter unload setup.View down the line.Looking up the line.Lower section of the lift.
This was one of the first Leitner-Pomas with the LPA chairs in the US, and one of the last with the lifting frame design Poma had been using since at least 1994 (they switched over to the current lifting frame design which I liken to a modern retro take on their 1980s lifting frame model, in 2012).
This was THE first Leitner-Poma to feature the LPA chairs which just so happens to be the bubble variety. In 2013 the non-bubble LPA chairs made their debut at Breckenridge and Blue Mountain, Ontario.
Personally I’m not a huge fan of the newer LPA detachable terminals, they look a bit too wide and mundane in my opinion. Curious to see other peoples opinions on them however.
I’m a big fan of them. The width is great for maintenance, as there’s just more room to move around/rig parts/inspect things. You don’t have to turn sideways to get around machinery during a daily inspection. I do like Leitner’s terminals for looks, but they’re not available over here.
I like the LPA terminals and most of Poma/Leitner-Poma’s other designs. I much prefer the flat wooden underskin of the LPA to the boxy metal structure that most Doppelmayr detachable terminals have on their undersides. The LPA terminals also sound really cool in my opinion.
I’m also a fan of the ‘boxy metal structure’ hanging under the Doppelmayr Uni-G terminals. Like the added width of the LPA structures, it’s designed purely to make our maintenance lives easier. It’s actually structural, so that you can stand on it and inspect/lube the bullwheel and work on the brakes. Far better than putting up a ladder or trying to build scaffolding.
I was somewhat surprised that Mount Snow only said this lift was “the first 6-Pack Bubble Chair on the East Coast” in its recent tweet when it was in fact the first on the entire continent. There was a good deal of publicity about this lift when it was being installed, though nowhere near as much as there was for Ramcharger 8 seven years afterward. For example, until 2015 Mount Snow’s trail map had a big banner displaying the slogan “Where Every Day Is A Bluebird Day” at the top. I feel like this lift deserves a bit more recognition for being the first bubble six-pack in North America as it really was the Ramcharger of its day.
This lift has been problematic over the last few years. It is constantly starting and stopping. It also remains on hold for long periods of time. My understanding is they have a lot of sensor faults happening with this lift. Yesterday I was on this lift for ~25 minutes before getting to the top (frequent starts and stops all the way up). Subsequently I cut to Sundance Express and stayed there for the remainder of the day. I don’t understand how any resort, Vail operated or not, could have their flagship lift be so unreliable/unlappable. It’s also the only lift if you want to ride top to bottom since Grand Summit Express doesn’t run that much any more except for the busiest of days (in which you would want to avoid the main face anyway) pending weather isn’t a problem.
Fun fact: in 30+ years of skiing Bluebird Express remains the only lift I have had to be evacuated off of.
One of my first ever Bubble chairlifts ever. I do not like the 90 degree loading at the top. I forgot if they did. The most busiest lift by far. I only go on this at the very beginning or very end of the day. Great lift and great views. Accesses every area here so that’s a bonus! The only Leitner Poma lift here?
That’s Chair 50, the “golden bubble”. The 50th chair on most of Mount Snow’s lifts are painted gold to commemorate the mountain’s fiftieth anniversary, and Chair 50’s bubble is yellow for the same reason. (Nitro Express and Grand Summit Express don’t have golden chairs; I don’t know why. Seasons and Beartrap didn’t get them due to having less than 50 chairs. And Discovery got a stars-and-striped paint job on Chair 1 in lieu of a golden chair.)
Lift Blog 
are those dopplemayr chairs?
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They are Leitner chairs.
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This was one of the first Leitner-Pomas with the LPA chairs in the US, and one of the last with the lifting frame design Poma had been using since at least 1994 (they switched over to the current lifting frame design which I liken to a modern retro take on their 1980s lifting frame model, in 2012).
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This was THE first Leitner-Poma to feature the LPA chairs which just so happens to be the bubble variety. In 2013 the non-bubble LPA chairs made their debut at Breckenridge and Blue Mountain, Ontario.
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Does Big Blue at Palisades not have LPA chairs?
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No, Big Blue appears to have Omega chairs.
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I think 90 degrees unloading is a good idea on bubble chairs. This gives time between the bubble opening and the people unloading.
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Is this Leitner-Poma’s first bubble chair?
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Yes
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Isn’t Coleman Brook Express at Okemo the first? The bubbles were added about six years ago.
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Coleman Brook Express has never had them. The Sunburst Six wasn’t until 2014, and the Jackson Gore conversion into a bubble lift wasn’t until 2015.
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Personally I’m not a huge fan of the newer LPA detachable terminals, they look a bit too wide and mundane in my opinion. Curious to see other peoples opinions on them however.
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I’m a big fan of them. The width is great for maintenance, as there’s just more room to move around/rig parts/inspect things. You don’t have to turn sideways to get around machinery during a daily inspection. I do like Leitner’s terminals for looks, but they’re not available over here.
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I like the LPA terminals and most of Poma/Leitner-Poma’s other designs. I much prefer the flat wooden underskin of the LPA to the boxy metal structure that most Doppelmayr detachable terminals have on their undersides. The LPA terminals also sound really cool in my opinion.
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There’s something I love about the whoosh that LPA and TB-41 grips make when entering and leaving terminals and when passing through sheaves.
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Well, Poma’s logo is called a “swoosh” for a reason, right?
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I’m also a fan of the ‘boxy metal structure’ hanging under the Doppelmayr Uni-G terminals. Like the added width of the LPA structures, it’s designed purely to make our maintenance lives easier. It’s actually structural, so that you can stand on it and inspect/lube the bullwheel and work on the brakes. Far better than putting up a ladder or trying to build scaffolding.
LikeLike
I was somewhat surprised that Mount Snow only said this lift was “the first 6-Pack Bubble Chair on the East Coast” in its recent tweet when it was in fact the first on the entire continent. There was a good deal of publicity about this lift when it was being installed, though nowhere near as much as there was for Ramcharger 8 seven years afterward. For example, until 2015 Mount Snow’s trail map had a big banner displaying the slogan “Where Every Day Is A Bluebird Day” at the top. I feel like this lift deserves a bit more recognition for being the first bubble six-pack in North America as it really was the Ramcharger of its day.
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only 2400 skiers? that’s not alot, especially with a 6 pack. That’s worse than lots of high speed quads
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This lift has been problematic over the last few years. It is constantly starting and stopping. It also remains on hold for long periods of time. My understanding is they have a lot of sensor faults happening with this lift. Yesterday I was on this lift for ~25 minutes before getting to the top (frequent starts and stops all the way up). Subsequently I cut to Sundance Express and stayed there for the remainder of the day. I don’t understand how any resort, Vail operated or not, could have their flagship lift be so unreliable/unlappable. It’s also the only lift if you want to ride top to bottom since Grand Summit Express doesn’t run that much any more except for the busiest of days (in which you would want to avoid the main face anyway) pending weather isn’t a problem.
Fun fact: in 30+ years of skiing Bluebird Express remains the only lift I have had to be evacuated off of.
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It may or may not have passed its first inspection for 2024 summer
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Well at least it passed inspection (eventually).
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One of my first ever Bubble chairlifts ever. I do not like the 90 degree loading at the top. I forgot if they did. The most busiest lift by far. I only go on this at the very beginning or very end of the day. Great lift and great views. Accesses every area here so that’s a bonus! The only Leitner Poma lift here?
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I noticed that in videos of this lift, there is one chair with a yellow bubble. Does anyone know why this is?
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That’s Chair 50, the “golden bubble”. The 50th chair on most of Mount Snow’s lifts are painted gold to commemorate the mountain’s fiftieth anniversary, and Chair 50’s bubble is yellow for the same reason. (Nitro Express and Grand Summit Express don’t have golden chairs; I don’t know why. Seasons and Beartrap didn’t get them due to having less than 50 chairs. And Discovery got a stars-and-striped paint job on Chair 1 in lieu of a golden chair.)
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