For the 2024-25 season Sugarbush replaced the Heaven’s Gate triple with a Doppelmayr quad.Tristar drive station.The lift features a Chairkit loading conveyor.View riding up the line on the upper reaches of Lincoln Peak.Upper lift line kept low to resist wind.Arriving at the summit.Tower 14.View back from the summit.Unloading area.View down the steep lift line.Upper station seen from below.Chairs withe slatted back rests for wind resistance.Upper lift line.View down the middle part of the line.Tower 8 with combination assemblies on both sides.Tower 7.Lower lift line.View up the line.The first few towers.Drive bullwheel.Closeup of two combination assemblies.Doppelmayr EJ chair.View back down the line on a powder day.The big breakover.Summit station.Loading area.
It absolutely could have fit with a short top terminal, carefully placed breakover towers, and some regrading. Plus, the new Doppelmayr detachable lifts have incredibly heavy chairs and do pretty well in the wind.
It came down to cost and how Sugarbush & Alterra view the Heaven’s Gate pod. They view it as an expert-only area a notch below Castlerock, despite Jester being a very nice and scenic blue trail that more intermediate skiers should use. However, even if it were expert only, it is ridiculous to have a resort with $200 lift tickets have no high-speed access to any of its four summits.
Not to mention there is a good argument that the lift should have been extended downhill to the base of Castlerock to improve skier flow and access…
Good points. But with NRX’s longstanding reliability issues, Bravo’s high number of operating hours, and the inadequacy of Allyn’s Lodge for most revenue generating activities, I’m not the least bit surprised that Alterra is preserving the scarce capital that it’s willing to invest in Sugarbush for future projects.
Alterra has thus far been relatively hesitant to invest in any of its east coast resorts. Tremblant’s Timber expansion was announced and then never built, L-Hill Express at Blue Mountain has been rumored since Alterra’s founding without any progress, Sugarbush has arguably had the most operational issues of any of their resorts (which are admittedly mostly well run), the Western Territory terrain expansion at Snowshoe has not materialized, and Stratton has now spent seven years debating where to build a new lodge (Sun Bowl, Mid Mountain, or Summit) while the seating capacity issue worsens every year. If Vail was not an absolute mess, this would be a more prevalent topic of conversation among east coast skiers.
Meanwhile, all of their western resorts have quite ambitious (and expensive) plans, showing a willingness to invest.
After one season of operation, most of the chair number decals have peeled off the carriers. That’s kind of surprising. It’s a nice upgrade from the old triple though.
Lift Blog 
rime ice is so pretty!
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It really is!
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In my opinion, very shortsighted to put a slow lift with so much vertical feet in such a main part of the ski area.
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Too windy and no room at the top for a detachable terminal.
It would be shortsighted to shoehorn a detachable in and for it to never be able to operate.
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It absolutely could have fit with a short top terminal, carefully placed breakover towers, and some regrading. Plus, the new Doppelmayr detachable lifts have incredibly heavy chairs and do pretty well in the wind.
It came down to cost and how Sugarbush & Alterra view the Heaven’s Gate pod. They view it as an expert-only area a notch below Castlerock, despite Jester being a very nice and scenic blue trail that more intermediate skiers should use. However, even if it were expert only, it is ridiculous to have a resort with $200 lift tickets have no high-speed access to any of its four summits.
Not to mention there is a good argument that the lift should have been extended downhill to the base of Castlerock to improve skier flow and access…
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Good points. But with NRX’s longstanding reliability issues, Bravo’s high number of operating hours, and the inadequacy of Allyn’s Lodge for most revenue generating activities, I’m not the least bit surprised that Alterra is preserving the scarce capital that it’s willing to invest in Sugarbush for future projects.
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Alterra has thus far been relatively hesitant to invest in any of its east coast resorts. Tremblant’s Timber expansion was announced and then never built, L-Hill Express at Blue Mountain has been rumored since Alterra’s founding without any progress, Sugarbush has arguably had the most operational issues of any of their resorts (which are admittedly mostly well run), the Western Territory terrain expansion at Snowshoe has not materialized, and Stratton has now spent seven years debating where to build a new lodge (Sun Bowl, Mid Mountain, or Summit) while the seating capacity issue worsens every year. If Vail was not an absolute mess, this would be a more prevalent topic of conversation among east coast skiers.
Meanwhile, all of their western resorts have quite ambitious (and expensive) plans, showing a willingness to invest.
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Is there a such thing as a Fixed-Grip bubble lift?
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I would hope not…
The unloading would be awful, and the mis-unloads…….
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Old F lift at Copper was one.
Operating, there are two pulse bubble quads at Yellowstone Club.
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After one season of operation, most of the chair number decals have peeled off the carriers. That’s kind of surprising. It’s a nice upgrade from the old triple though.
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