Ridge Triple was the Main Street Triple. Main Street was removed when the High Speed Poma was installed.
The Cheers double was not a Brandle. The Brandle ran the same path as the current High Speed Poma. It was removed in the 80’s. Not sure what Cheers was. It had a Hall like overhead drive and Riblet style center pole chairs. The towers were not Riblet, may have been hall but they were cut to height which is not common on the Halls I have seen.
Loki double had CTEC carriers on it in it’s final days. The Loki Triple and Double ran alongside each other. The Hall was the original lift with the CTEC coming later. The Hall only ran at peak times from that point. The Hall was the faster lift.
Main Street Double (Brandle?), 1963 – 198?
Main Street Triple (CTEC), 198? – 1998 (replaced by the Poma, became the Ridge Triple)
Cheers Double (brand unknown, picture: https://goo.gl/maps/dVgv8gSYwQnF9iAU6), 1977/1982 – 2016
You are probably right about it being St Lawrence. The chairs looked exactly like the chairs on the Blue lift at Mt Holiday. I have never seen a ST Lawrence with an overhead drive. Towers could have been St Lawrence but with the lifting frames on them they always looked more modern to me.
Yes, I believe this to be correct. I did not ever see the Brandon in person but I have seen it in pictures and it was totally different looking than the Cheers lift.
The Brandle 2,300-foot long double chair was already mentioned in a 1960 advertisement. Crystal Mountain was advertised as “Michigan’s newest and finest ski area, thrills the experts while soothing the timorous.”
All of this is correct, except the Cheers lift. It was a hydraulic powered lift that was purchased used, from another resort around 1980 after the hill was totally reshaped and named Cheers. Before that there was a very steep rope tow that some younger children couldn’t hold onto. I don’t recall the manufacturer’s name of this chairlift. It was an oddball.
The original lift was a double chair lift with 4 legged towers and came from Switzerland. It was installed around 1960 and was made by Brandle (the US version was called Brandley) It was on the Main Street run and was replaced by the Crystal Clipper.
The old Hall lift on Loki was fun to operate. It was a fast mover and would scoop you up quickly, but if you were not in position, it could plow you over. I saw a lot of collosal wipeouts on the loading ramp there!
I was a maintenance person from 1978 through 1986 who worked on both, the ski hill and golf course.
I doubt they’d actually do anything but I’d love to see a fourth lift for the front side at Crystal. whenever it was open, Cheers was a useful lift for the run underneath and could be used for races as it’s never crowded or anything, so maybe bring it back with a new lift or something. This one is really unlikely but a reliever lift for clipper that starts higher up would be nice too, right now half the front side runs including all of the main beginner trails empty into the same area underneath clipper and it gets really crowded on weekends. Maybe replace Ridge with a quad (lift is getting old and covers more terrain than anything else on the mountain when Backyard is closed) and then relocate the triple up front
I wouldn’t rule out a Cheers replacement. Crystal has always been good about making necessary changes. I don’t think Cheers was removed because they didn’t feel it was needed. I think it was removed due to it’s age and the scarcity of parts. Maybe a Ridge quad goes in and the old Ridge becomes the new Cheers. Ridge is old by Crystal standards but it is new by Midwest standards. I think within the next decade something like that may happen as well as a possible 6 pack to replace the Crystal Clipper.
Unless Crystal buys the land across the street, which has a similar sized hill, there is nowhere left to expand to. They will likely just focus on improving what they have.
I doubt Cheers will be replaced, they now actually use the unloading platform of that lift as the NASTAR start gate. All other is racing is done on Buck and sometimes on Loki, i’ve never set a course on Cheers to Lou. If it was replaced I would say it definitely gets a name change to Lou’s lift.
They’re not quite out of room yet… They own all the property to the northwest of the North Face. The Master Plan on their website (https://www.crystalmountainrealty.com/crystals-master-plan/) shows it as possible skiing expansion or a tubing hill. Getting there would be a challenge and they may also have to move a golf hole and a set of power lines to do it.
But yeah, a Cheers replacement may be more likely. Though I don’t think that the Ridge lift would be long enough to replace Cheers. Also with how many lift pairs are being taken out and being replaced with just 1 (see the Boynes) they may just choose to leave it open.
To add to the discussion, Main Street never had a triple. It was the original double-seat Brandle/Brandley from Switzerland that served from about 1960 up to the point when the Crystal Clipper was installed. Also, Crystal Mtn. does own 337 acres on the other side of M-115, but really doubt that it would get any use besides housing due to it being somewhat landlocked as far as a complete ski run.
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Ridge Triple was the Main Street Triple. Main Street was removed when the High Speed Poma was installed.
The Cheers double was not a Brandle. The Brandle ran the same path as the current High Speed Poma. It was removed in the 80’s. Not sure what Cheers was. It had a Hall like overhead drive and Riblet style center pole chairs. The towers were not Riblet, may have been hall but they were cut to height which is not common on the Halls I have seen.
Loki double had CTEC carriers on it in it’s final days. The Loki Triple and Double ran alongside each other. The Hall was the original lift with the CTEC coming later. The Hall only ran at peak times from that point. The Hall was the faster lift.
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According to the maps, Cheers was installed between 1977 (https://skimap.org/data/429/2200/1446407404.jpeg) and 1982 (https://skimap.org/data/429/2200/1453831619.jpeg) and Ridge was not there in 1991 (https://skimap.org/data/429/2200/1446928809.jpeg).
So is the following correct?
Main Street Double (Brandle?), 1963 – 198?
Main Street Triple (CTEC), 198? – 1998 (replaced by the Poma, became the Ridge Triple)
Cheers Double (brand unknown, picture: https://goo.gl/maps/dVgv8gSYwQnF9iAU6), 1977/1982 – 2016
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Main street triple was replaced by crystal clipper.
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If i remember correctly, Cheers was a St Lawrence
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You are probably right about it being St Lawrence. The chairs looked exactly like the chairs on the Blue lift at Mt Holiday. I have never seen a ST Lawrence with an overhead drive. Towers could have been St Lawrence but with the lifting frames on them they always looked more modern to me.
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Yes, I believe this to be correct. I did not ever see the Brandon in person but I have seen it in pictures and it was totally different looking than the Cheers lift.
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The Brandle 2,300-foot long double chair was already mentioned in a 1960 advertisement. Crystal Mountain was advertised as “Michigan’s newest and finest ski area, thrills the experts while soothing the timorous.”
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All of this is correct, except the Cheers lift. It was a hydraulic powered lift that was purchased used, from another resort around 1980 after the hill was totally reshaped and named Cheers. Before that there was a very steep rope tow that some younger children couldn’t hold onto. I don’t recall the manufacturer’s name of this chairlift. It was an oddball.
The original lift was a double chair lift with 4 legged towers and came from Switzerland. It was installed around 1960 and was made by Brandle (the US version was called Brandley) It was on the Main Street run and was replaced by the Crystal Clipper.
The old Hall lift on Loki was fun to operate. It was a fast mover and would scoop you up quickly, but if you were not in position, it could plow you over. I saw a lot of collosal wipeouts on the loading ramp there!
I was a maintenance person from 1978 through 1986 who worked on both, the ski hill and golf course.
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The old Cheers chair:
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That looks like a St. Lawrence double with the chair and tower design. It wouldn’t be far off to see a St. Lawrence lift in this part of Michigan.
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This photo was taken after removal of the original Brandley/Brandley Main Street lift.
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I doubt they’d actually do anything but I’d love to see a fourth lift for the front side at Crystal. whenever it was open, Cheers was a useful lift for the run underneath and could be used for races as it’s never crowded or anything, so maybe bring it back with a new lift or something. This one is really unlikely but a reliever lift for clipper that starts higher up would be nice too, right now half the front side runs including all of the main beginner trails empty into the same area underneath clipper and it gets really crowded on weekends. Maybe replace Ridge with a quad (lift is getting old and covers more terrain than anything else on the mountain when Backyard is closed) and then relocate the triple up front
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I wouldn’t rule out a Cheers replacement. Crystal has always been good about making necessary changes. I don’t think Cheers was removed because they didn’t feel it was needed. I think it was removed due to it’s age and the scarcity of parts. Maybe a Ridge quad goes in and the old Ridge becomes the new Cheers. Ridge is old by Crystal standards but it is new by Midwest standards. I think within the next decade something like that may happen as well as a possible 6 pack to replace the Crystal Clipper.
Unless Crystal buys the land across the street, which has a similar sized hill, there is nowhere left to expand to. They will likely just focus on improving what they have.
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I doubt Cheers will be replaced, they now actually use the unloading platform of that lift as the NASTAR start gate. All other is racing is done on Buck and sometimes on Loki, i’ve never set a course on Cheers to Lou. If it was replaced I would say it definitely gets a name change to Lou’s lift.
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Loki triple and double (with CTEC chairs):
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They’re not quite out of room yet… They own all the property to the northwest of the North Face. The Master Plan on their website (https://www.crystalmountainrealty.com/crystals-master-plan/) shows it as possible skiing expansion or a tubing hill. Getting there would be a challenge and they may also have to move a golf hole and a set of power lines to do it.
But yeah, a Cheers replacement may be more likely. Though I don’t think that the Ridge lift would be long enough to replace Cheers. Also with how many lift pairs are being taken out and being replaced with just 1 (see the Boynes) they may just choose to leave it open.
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To add to the discussion, Main Street never had a triple. It was the original double-seat Brandle/Brandley from Switzerland that served from about 1960 up to the point when the Crystal Clipper was installed. Also, Crystal Mtn. does own 337 acres on the other side of M-115, but really doubt that it would get any use besides housing due to it being somewhat landlocked as far as a complete ski run.
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Is this a picture of the original double-seat Brandle/Brandley from Switzerland?
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