Overhead drive from below.Upper portion of the lift line.Looking down the lift.Tension station down below.Counterweight and load zone.Riblet tower with aftermarket lifting frame.Looking back down the line.Motor room and unload ramp.Top station overview.
I’m not sure if they will ever paint the towers, as this lift could see a replacement soon. I have no sources on that, but the lift can be very popular, especially if you are going from peak 8 to peak 9 and don’t want to ski the sawmill cat track
It’s only a five minute ride at most, so it’s not really that bad. Then again, Lift E is probably more overdue than Lift C for an upgrade since Lift C is a weekends/holidays/whenever the Beaver Run SuperChair needs crowd relief lift.
I think if Lift E gets a high speed quad replacement, the lift should get a 90 degree load and run clockwise given that inline loading necessitates having to go past the lift in a narrow area then make a 180 degree turn right and slightly uphill.
I don’t see it being replaced anytime soon. To my knowledge, it was the last Riblet installed at Breck. It was even installed after the original Quicksilver lift. I’m sure it will go someday, but there are much higher priorities for capital expenditure.
I think this is the only one of Breck’s Riblet double chairlifts that was built with bail chairs to begin with. The others (Lifts C, 5, 6, and 7) all had their bail chairs retrofitted on sometime in the late 1990s.
That appears to be correct, as this is the other Riblet doubles have the newer style bail chairs have the bend, versus the straight bails that were on the 70s and early-80’s Riblet chairs.
E has not been mentioned as an upgrade in any of the Master Plans, so doubtful it would be happening anytime soon. I like the double chair as it is anyways. The lift never really has much line, the only time really is when 6 is on avy control or wind hold on powder day mornings.
Breck (and VR in general( has far more pressing upgrades/replacements in the next 5 years than E.
There was a Master Plan from ten years ago where Lift C was to be replaced with a high speed quad and parts from it would be used to extend Lift E uphill by about 500 or so feet.
These days, C seems like the more likely lift to get upgraded to a detachable as far as Peak 9’s Riblets go, to alleviate crowding at the Beaver Run and Mercury SuperChairs; and that one is actually on the Master Plan.
Given the 6 min ride time and the very tight base area, I’d think a fixed triple would work well here, once this lift reaches the end of its easily maintained life. Lines are rarely long, the offload area is small so only increasing capacity by a third would make sense, and by keeping the drive up top the lift maze at the bottom would hardly have to change to handle a triple. But three seats helps families with two small kids load and ride safely (a plus for ski school too).
I’m sure VR is mainly looking at detachables for most upgrades, but this line really doesn’t need to cut the ride from six to maybe 3.5 minutes. It’s not a lift folks lap much.
They might be able to prolong E’s life by borrowing parts from Lift 7/Rip’s Ride once that high speed quad is built.
A triple would certainly be adequate, but I think a fixed grip quad might be more efficient as far as making all important lifts seat even numbers of people.
Lift Blog 
So far, this is the only one of the Breckenridge Riblet lifts to not yet have its towers repainted from silver into this muted tan/brown.
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I’m not sure if they will ever paint the towers, as this lift could see a replacement soon. I have no sources on that, but the lift can be very popular, especially if you are going from peak 8 to peak 9 and don’t want to ski the sawmill cat track
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It’s only a five minute ride at most, so it’s not really that bad. Then again, Lift E is probably more overdue than Lift C for an upgrade since Lift C is a weekends/holidays/whenever the Beaver Run SuperChair needs crowd relief lift.
I think if Lift E gets a high speed quad replacement, the lift should get a 90 degree load and run clockwise given that inline loading necessitates having to go past the lift in a narrow area then make a 180 degree turn right and slightly uphill.
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I don’t see it being replaced anytime soon. To my knowledge, it was the last Riblet installed at Breck. It was even installed after the original Quicksilver lift. I’m sure it will go someday, but there are much higher priorities for capital expenditure.
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I think this is the only one of Breck’s Riblet double chairlifts that was built with bail chairs to begin with. The others (Lifts C, 5, 6, and 7) all had their bail chairs retrofitted on sometime in the late 1990s.
LikeLike
That appears to be correct, as this is the other Riblet doubles have the newer style bail chairs have the bend, versus the straight bails that were on the 70s and early-80’s Riblet chairs.
E has not been mentioned as an upgrade in any of the Master Plans, so doubtful it would be happening anytime soon. I like the double chair as it is anyways. The lift never really has much line, the only time really is when 6 is on avy control or wind hold on powder day mornings.
Breck (and VR in general( has far more pressing upgrades/replacements in the next 5 years than E.
LikeLike
There was a Master Plan from ten years ago where Lift C was to be replaced with a high speed quad and parts from it would be used to extend Lift E uphill by about 500 or so feet.
These days, C seems like the more likely lift to get upgraded to a detachable as far as Peak 9’s Riblets go, to alleviate crowding at the Beaver Run and Mercury SuperChairs; and that one is actually on the Master Plan.
LikeLike
Given the 6 min ride time and the very tight base area, I’d think a fixed triple would work well here, once this lift reaches the end of its easily maintained life. Lines are rarely long, the offload area is small so only increasing capacity by a third would make sense, and by keeping the drive up top the lift maze at the bottom would hardly have to change to handle a triple. But three seats helps families with two small kids load and ride safely (a plus for ski school too).
I’m sure VR is mainly looking at detachables for most upgrades, but this line really doesn’t need to cut the ride from six to maybe 3.5 minutes. It’s not a lift folks lap much.
LikeLike
They might be able to prolong E’s life by borrowing parts from Lift 7/Rip’s Ride once that high speed quad is built.
A triple would certainly be adequate, but I think a fixed grip quad might be more efficient as far as making all important lifts seat even numbers of people.
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Breck moved Lift 5’s old chairs to Lift E for the 2023-2024 season.
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Here’s a video of the lift with its “new” chairs from Lift 5:
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