This late model Riblet triple connects the main face of Boyne Highlands with the North Face.Loading area.Look closely and you’ll see where the counterweight pit is.Departing the bottom station.Tower 9.The lift travels down at one point.View back at the middle section.Upper lift line.Nearing the summit.Arriving at the drive terminal.Unloading ramp.Upper terminal and the lift line.View down near the summit.Upper lift line.Tower 1 and the return terminal.
This was a relocated lift, formerly the Little John chair, that ran up between North & South Challenger.
It was moved to its current location as a part of the North Peak expansion in either 1992 or 1993.
Lift is somewhere around ~4500 ft long, and it ride time is somewhere around 10-11 minutes. With stops due to misloads it can easily be a 14+ minute ride.
Long fixed grip by Midwest standards, but not unreasonable out east or west.
heard a very unofficial rumor that highlands has been scouting this lift out, meaning it could be next for replacement. I’m guessing the new lift would likely be either a carpet loaded triple or (probably relocated) high speed quad. Is there a plan for the Jordan HSQ yet? that lift could go here, or Crest if Boyne decides not to retire it.
My guess is that it would be a new fixed grip lift. My hope is that it would be the new home for the Heather Express when they decide to replace that lift. I don’t think the Highlands is going to get as much love as Mountain is getting which is unfortunate. Highlands is the better of the two ski areas but does not attract as many skiers.
Put Heather Express on Interconnect and Bring Mountain Express up from Mountain, when they replace it, for North Face. This area opens later in the season and is not open at night. The lifts would run a lot less and could last longer. At Big Sky they refurbished and reskinned Ramcharger and moved it. They could do that at Highlands. They do not need huge capacity at Interconnect but having a high speed lift there would attract more people to the North on busy days especially. Like Ramcharger just space the chairs out more. The longer length of the lift with wider chair spacing would still be fine.
I am quite sure Heather will get replaced with a new high speed lift due to it’s location and importance at the Main Lodge. Hope it is an identical 6 to the new Camelot 6 but who knows.
I think we will see a better aligned Challenger lift that is easier to ski into from the North but I don’t expect to see anything too exciting here or at Amy’s. Amy’s might see a used lift or might be the last Riblet to remain at the Highlands. It just isn’t that critical.
4 High Speed Lifts at Highlands would make Highlands certainly a top 5 in the Midwest overall.
There are survey markers on the lift line of Interconnect. No official announcement that a replacement is happening yet in Summer 2024 but something is replacing Interconnect in the near future.
Like Superbowl at the Mountain, Boyne apparently does not think this lift sees enough use to be a quad. Also, there appears to be some evidence that a triple has less mass and can run faster than a quad.
Lift Blog 
This was a relocated lift, formerly the Little John chair, that ran up between North & South Challenger.
It was moved to its current location as a part of the North Peak expansion in either 1992 or 1993.
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Did Riblet ever make a center-pole triple chair?
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did anyone? I don’t think a center pole 3 seater would balance well
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Doppelmayr did. A few still survive in Canada (Mont St. Bruno, QC, Harper Mountain, BC, Fortress Mountain, AB)
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31 towers? How long is this lift? Must take forever to ride.
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Lift is somewhere around ~4500 ft long, and it ride time is somewhere around 10-11 minutes. With stops due to misloads it can easily be a 14+ minute ride.
Long fixed grip by Midwest standards, but not unreasonable out east or west.
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heard a very unofficial rumor that highlands has been scouting this lift out, meaning it could be next for replacement. I’m guessing the new lift would likely be either a carpet loaded triple or (probably relocated) high speed quad. Is there a plan for the Jordan HSQ yet? that lift could go here, or Crest if Boyne decides not to retire it.
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My guess is that it would be a new fixed grip lift. My hope is that it would be the new home for the Heather Express when they decide to replace that lift. I don’t think the Highlands is going to get as much love as Mountain is getting which is unfortunate. Highlands is the better of the two ski areas but does not attract as many skiers.
Put Heather Express on Interconnect and Bring Mountain Express up from Mountain, when they replace it, for North Face. This area opens later in the season and is not open at night. The lifts would run a lot less and could last longer. At Big Sky they refurbished and reskinned Ramcharger and moved it. They could do that at Highlands. They do not need huge capacity at Interconnect but having a high speed lift there would attract more people to the North on busy days especially. Like Ramcharger just space the chairs out more. The longer length of the lift with wider chair spacing would still be fine.
I am quite sure Heather will get replaced with a new high speed lift due to it’s location and importance at the Main Lodge. Hope it is an identical 6 to the new Camelot 6 but who knows.
I think we will see a better aligned Challenger lift that is easier to ski into from the North but I don’t expect to see anything too exciting here or at Amy’s. Amy’s might see a used lift or might be the last Riblet to remain at the Highlands. It just isn’t that critical.
4 High Speed Lifts at Highlands would make Highlands certainly a top 5 in the Midwest overall.
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There are survey markers on the lift line of Interconnect. No official announcement that a replacement is happening yet in Summer 2024 but something is replacing Interconnect in the near future.
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Why replace a triple with a triple?
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Like Superbowl at the Mountain, Boyne apparently does not think this lift sees enough use to be a quad. Also, there appears to be some evidence that a triple has less mass and can run faster than a quad.
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