Projects & Plans

Eagle’s Rest Lift Returning to Jackson Hole

Peter Landsman11 Comments
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The Bridger-Teton National Forest approved construction of a new Eagle’s Rest chairlift along with two possible alignments for Sweetwater in 2015.

The list of firms which have supplied ski lifts to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is impressive: Hall, Willamette, Murray-Latta, Mueller, Riblet, Heron, Doppelmayr, Garaventa CTEC, Lift Engineering, Poma, Doppelmayr CTEC, Garaventa and Leitner-Poma.  This fall, Skytrac Lifts will join the club as it builds a new version of one of Jackson Hole’s inaugural chairlifts from 1965.  The new Eagle’s Rest quad will follow a revised alignment from the original, which was removed to make way for the three station Sweetwater Gondola in 2016.  Running across six towers between the Sweetwater and Bridger gondolas, the new top station will be located near the bottom of Sundance Gully.  Beginner skiers and snowboarders will also be able to reach the lift from the new Solitude Station learning center.

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The new lift will travel just south and uphill of the old one, which was retired in 2016.

Eagle’s Rest will become the third new lift in five years for Jackson Hole, which just concluded its busiest season ever with more than 715,000 skier visits.  The Ikon Pass partner mountain will also add 14 new cabins to Sweetwater, increasing capacity between the base area, Solitude Station and Casper Restaurant by nearly 30 percent.  The new cabins will match the 48 Omega IV 8 LWI models currently in service.  Both the Skytrac quad chair and CWA cabins will be ready for guests this November.

Snoqualmie Announces Holiday Quad Project

Peter Landsman22 Comments
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This 1975 double at Summit Central is being retired in favor of a modern quad chair.

The Summit at Snoqualmie, operated by Boyne Resorts, is getting in on the new lift action.  One of eleven Riblets still operating at Washington’s most-visited resort will be replaced with a fixed grip quad over the summer.  The Holiday Quad will feature a height adjustable loading carpet and more than double hourly capacity on this section of Summit Central, which caters to beginners.  The 1,380 foot lift will rise 260 feet at a maximum speed of 450 feet per minute.  The most recent Summit master plan contemplated removing the Gallery lift alongside this project.

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Notably, of the more than 35 chairlifts built at Snoqualmie over the decades, Holiday will be the first supplied by Doppelmayr.  “Going from a two-person to four-person chair and adding the easy loading conveyor will be a true game changer for Summit Central, particularly for our first-timers and kids,” stated Guy Lawrence, President & General Manager at The Summit in an online announcement.  Construction will begin in June and wrap up prior to the 2019-20 season.

Sugar Mountain’s Second Detachable to Enhance Beginner Experience

Peter Landsman11 Comments

Fifty years after its trusty beginner chairlift opened, Sugar Mountain says the Brown Hall double has carried its last skiers and snowboarders.  Next winter, a Doppelmayr detachable quad chair will run up the Easy Street slope, more than doubling uphill capacity to 2,400 people per hour.  The new lift, tentatively dubbed the Silver Bullet, will also improve ride time from more than six minutes to two and a half while making loading and unloading more comfortable.

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“Replacing the original Easy Street lift is not just an upgrade, it is example of the continued commitment to offering our guests an exceptional mountain experience,” said Sugar Mountain Resort owner Gunther Jochl in a statement.  “The majority of our guests are beginners who go on to develop skiing and snowboarding as a life-long, family activity.  Generation after generation lays roots right here on our beginner terrain.  This hasn’t changed in Sugar’s fifty year history.”  Sugar Mountain launched its first high speed lift, the Summit Express six pack, in 2015.

Brian Head Announces Navajo Express

Peter Landsman8 Comments

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The two longest chairlifts at Brian Head Resort will both be detachable quads by next season.  The Navajo triple chair will be retired this spring and replaced over the summer, enhancing beginner and family options at one of Utah’s highest elevation resorts.  The move comes five years after the installation of Brian Head’s first detachable lift, the Giant Steps Express.

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Lift Engineering constructed the current Navajo lift in 1980 to service almost exclusively beginner terrain.  The existing lift runs 3,900 feet and rises 620 vertical feet over nine minutes.  Brian Head lift maintenance is selling components from it including towers, sheave assemblies, pneumatic emergency and service brakes, grips and chairs.

The new lift will be built by Doppelmayr USA.

Red Mountain Details Upcoming Topping Expansion

Peter Landsman7 Comments

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Western Canada’s oldest ski resort will continue to expand next summer with the addition of a new triple chairlift.  Red Mountain, situated along British Columbia’s famed Powder Highway, says the long sought Topping lift and terrain will debut for the 2019/20 season and bring the resort to 3,840 acres.  “This new triple chair is exciting on its own,” said Red CEO Howard Katkov in a statement. “But what’s truly exciting is how the Topping Chair continues our dedication to improving the adventure for our guests.  This new chair streamlines skier traffic around the resort beautifully.”  Guests will now be able to access Grey Mountain (opened in 2013) from the Silverlode lift (opened 2007) without needing to ride the extremely long Motherlode chair.  The 300 acre boundary expansion will also include six new intermediate trails approaching 1,000 vertical feet apiece.

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The new chairlift seen operating last winter at Big White.

The Mueller lift was purchased last year from Big White, where it operated for four decades as the Powder chair.  At Red, Topping will join an all fixed grip fleet of lifts built by Mueller, Doppelmayr, Poma, Lift Engineering and Thiokol.  With the confirmation of Red’s project, ski resorts across British Columbia have now committed to add at least four new lifts in 2019, more than any other Canadian province thus far.

Leitner-Poma to Build New Quad at Sasquatch Mountain

Peter Landsman9 Comments
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North America will be down to 56 operating Mueller lifts after this double chair is no more.

The original chairlift from Sasquatch Mountain Resort’s inaugural 1969-70 season will be replaced this summer with a Leitner-Poma fixed grip quad chair.  The new 4,000 foot lift will supplant a classic Mueller center pole double called Skyline, which rises just over 1,000 vertical feet.

Sasquatch, situated along a gravel road north of the fast growing city of Chilliwack, British Columbia, also features a Doppelmayr triple chair and newer Mueller beginner lift.  Back in December 2017, the resort announced a used Doppelmayr detachable quad chair would replace Skyline, a project which did not end up happening.

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Sasquatch Mountain used to be known as Hemlock Valley Resort and is operated by the Berezan Hospitality Group.

Bogus Basin to Add Fourth High Speed Quad

Peter Landsman13 Comments
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Opened in 1965 and converted to a triple in 1999, the Morning Star lift acts as a major out-of-base people mover at Bogus Basin and will be replaced this summer.

Make it an even six new lifts slated for construction across the great state of Idaho this year.  Bogus Basin announced today it will replace the Morning Star triple with a 3,100 foot detachable quad chair from Doppelmayr USA in time for next winter.  Capacity will increase and ride time will quicken dramatically to just over three minutes.  The Morning Star Express will rise approximately 625 vertical feet and service a variety of tails from beginner to expert.

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Nearly all of Bogus Basin’s terrain will be serviced by high speed lifts beginning next winter.

“We are really excited about an improvement that will have a tremendous impact on the flow of guests throughout the area in winter and summer,” said Kevin Settles, Bogus Basin board chairman in a press release. “The community has been incredibly supportive of the changes that have happened at Bogus Basin over the past three years, all of which are part of a comprehensive master plan.”  Bogus is the largest 501(c)3 nonprofit ski area in the country and operates a fleet of seven chairlifts on 2,600 acres.  Expect the $5 million lift to open some time in December.

 

Washington’s First Bubble Chair Coming to Mission Ridge

Peter Landsman54 Comments
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Washington’s second longest chairlift is slated to be replaced with a newer version this fall.

The fifth US state to feature a bubble lift will be a place close to my heart – Washington.  Although both Alterra and Vail Resorts now operate mountains in the Evergreen State, it’s independent gem Mission Ridge that will debut a bubble lift next season.  Subject to Forest Service and state approvals, the used detachable quad will replace the Poma-built Liberator Express, which launched in 2005.  The existing lift came used from Winter Park and is now 34 years old.

Liberator stretches more than 6,500 feet and rises 1,600′ vertical but has not been very reliable in its life up north.  “The costs and limitations associated with maintaining the Liberator required us to take a new approach, so we began a search and found an ideal replacement,” said General Manager Josh Jorgensen in a statement.  “If approved, this investment will offer consistency of operations and a much more comfortable ride up the mountain,” he added.  “The new lift will come with all new electronic systems and controls which will serve Mission well for many years into the future.”

“We feel fortunate to have this opportunity,” noted Larry Scrivanich, the Seattle entrepreneur who purchased Mission Ridge from Harbor Properties 16 years ago.  At the time, Harbor also owned and had invested in new lifts at two other mountains while mostly neglecting its Wenatchee property.  Under Mr. Scrivanich’s leadership, Mission not only added the Liberator Express, but also Washington’s most comprehensive snowmaking system.  The resort recently launched an expansion plan, seeking to add three more lifts and a ski-in, ski-out village northeast of the current base area.  Some noted at the time of the announcement that the Liberator lift should be addressed first.  Now it will be, though with another used lift.  If all goes according to planned, Mission Ridge guests can be the only ones in the world to ride a classic Riblet double chair to a bubble detachable next winter.

Correction: This story originally stated that the lift would be new from Doppelmayr.  It has been updated to reflect that the lift, while Doppelmayr, is coming used from Europe.

Windham Is Shuffling A Lift to Replace C Lift

Peter Landsman12 Comments

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Major lift moves will continue in the Catskill Mountains of New York this summer as Windham Mountain Resort moves its original detachable quad to replace a CTEC triple chair nearby.  “As one successful winter season full of upgrades begins to wind down, plans for the next are already in the works,” said the resort in a media release.  Last December, the larger Westside Six chairlift rendered the quad redundant and it hasn’t opened since.  The move will mean two different high speed lifts will serve as out-of-base workhorses in addition to Windham’s third detachable on East Peak.

C Lift, also known as Wonderama, started out on East Peak in 1987 and moved to its current location in 2006 to replace a Carlevaro-Savio triple.  The latest lift in this alignment will be the fourth new detachable built between neighbors Hunter, Windham and Belleayre in just the last three years.

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This 1993 Garaventa CTEC Stealth will move very close to home over the summer.

Windham also announced new grooming, trail widening and automated snowmaking investments today.

Owl’s Head to Replace Lake Lift

Peter Landsman30 Comments

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The world’s first high speed quad is finally headed for retirement after 38 winter seasons in two countries.  Owl’s Head in Quebec will dismantle the Lake quad this spring, a machine which originally entered service at Breckenridge as Quicksilver in 1981.  The Doppelmayr detachable moved to Quebec in 1999 but has been out of service of late due to mechanical problems.

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The soon-to-be-gone Lake lift utilizes chain conveyors and a remote tension bullwheel unlike modern detachable lifts.  Photo credit: rodo_af, remontees-mecaniques.net.

The replacement will be a $2.6 million Doppelmayr Alpen-Star fixed-grip quad with loading carpet that will open in time for next season.  The new lift will move up to 2,200 skiers per hour.  This is the first major investment by a new ownership group at an area with seriously aging infrastructure.  “We were more than due to upgrade this lift,” said Destination Owl’s Head CEO Pierre Bourdages.  “The loading carpet will be a huge improvement, especially for young and new skiers.”