Poma Alpha drive terminal at the base.Bottom terminal.Loading area.Riding up the line.Middle part of the lift line.Upper lift line.Arriving at the top.Fixed bullwheel up top.Breakover towers.View down from the summit.Upper part of the line.Tower 6 with combo assemblies.Another view of the drive.Lift line overview.
IMO this should have gone detachable. This is the only lift you can access from the top of Black Mountain Expense which creates a big bottleneck as people come from the detachable quad to a fixed triple.
yes, it can be busy. they should move this lift to Pallavicini and put a detachable in the place of Lenawee, especially as the terrain is so good at Lenawee.
Pallavicini is already getting a double chair replacement this summer so that would not happen. I could see a basin potentially upgrading lenawee to a low capacity detachable in the future.
New England Chairlifts & SkiingMay 28, 2020 / 11:00 am
A Basin blew a nice opportunity to make this lift a detachable, and this would’ve been a perfect Pali replacement. I’ve never skied here, but i can imagine it gets long lines.
I also think that this lift should be detachable, but I am not sure if A-Basin was ready for a detachable lift when this was installed in 2001. A swap with Pali would have been nice. I guess we will have to wait ten years or so when a replacement can be justified.
They could of just moved this lift to beavers when it was being built. Is it a quad because or marketing or capacity issues or length? This lift imo needs a detachable replacement.
In 2001 when it was replaced, A-Basin (and Colorado skiing in general) was a far less busy experience.
The pass wars hadn’t begun, the Front-Range crowd was a fraction of the size it was, and A-Basin was a lot sleepier than was.
It really wasn’t until Colorado’s population exploded in the mid/late 2000s combined with the Epic Pass that A-Basin got busy.
Even then, the busy was still primarily peak winter Saturdays and peak spring skiing periods in April and early-May.
I am okay with it staying fixed-grip if it keeps the crowds down and lets the powder on the West Wall and lower East Wall last longer.
Probably eventually will go HSQ, but they aren’t in a hurry to do so and I’m just fine with that.
You want HSQ, go to Breck, Keystone, WP, or Copper.
I have heard rumor that when they replace it, they will swap it out with a 6 chair with a very similar capacity. It is pretty windy at the top, so that is their justification. Also I have heard the 6 chair would have larger chair spacing on the line, which could help reduce the amount mis loads. On some Saturdays, it can take 20+ minutes to get to the top of the lift due to all the stops. The lift might have quad gauge towers due to the amount of wind on the upper part of the lift.
Poma does not make a distinction between fixed-grip and detachable line gear, except to bump the sheaves to a wider liner for the bigger ropes on sixpacks and gondolas. Otherwise all of their assemblies are the same design.
I don’t get why so many comments are complaining it isn’t detachable. When this was built in 2001, and for 9 more years, A-Basin had no detachable lifts. It was fed by another triple chair. I think it is great, and keeps all the gapers on the lower half of the mountain. If someone wants a bunch of detachables, try Keystone right next door. Plenty of people enjoy the long ride up to the east wall. It’s part of the character of the basin.
Except, moving people around efficiently is more important than protecting powder junkies’ stashes. Lenawee is the main route to the top of the lift-serviced area from the base (as the other route is Pallavicini to Beavers, which takes longer and is a bit more indirect).
“If someone wants a bunch of detachables, try Keystone right next door. Plenty of people enjoy the long ride up to the east wall. ” You don’t speak for everyone who goes to A-Basin. Not to mention, it wouldn’t eliminate the hike for most people. In fact, this sort of project would be ideal for A-Basin to compete with Keystone once Keystone builds their high speed quad in Bergman Bowl. (https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=59357).
Donald R.’s comment is incorrect. The Wideload, a Leitner six seat fixed grip at Snow Valley in Barrie Ontario is the only fixed grip, six seater in North America.
I disagree with some of the comments as that if you follow a lot of the comments out of Al (COO) and the atmosphere and culture they have attempted to maintain at A-Basin that they aren’t all about just having maximum lift capacity / skiers on the mountain.
Hence why Pali was replaced with a FGD at the same capacity. Hence part of the reason they broke away from Vail Resorts.
A-Basin’s capacity limitation is actually more or less driven by parking capacity, not so much lift capacity.
Lenawee will probably get a HSQ by the end of the decade, but I highly doubt they would go all the way to a HSS.
I personally wish they had kept and/or replaced Norway, but I get why they were ready to replace an aging Yan lift that was only used on peak weekends.
The only reason why we are stating a HSS is because of wind issues. 6 pack chairs tend to have heavier chairs and give longer loading times. Also this 6 pack we are hypothesizing would be built with the same capacity as a HSQ. I agree with you on Lenawee will likely go HSQ.
Agreed, AFSKI. Y’all can comment and speculate on capacity and efficiency all you want, but the Basin wants to retain their somewhat old-school image and culture. They don’t need to compete with Keystone as their relative markets only overlap to a certain degree. If anything, we’re more competition than Keystone in the local market as we continue to expand our high alpine terrain- except that, again, we’re not exactly gunning for the same market. I think the Basin will do just fine without adding another detachable.
They still don’t compete for the same people. Those who want to strictly ski gnarly terrain or enjoy a more laid-back vibe will still primarily ski the Basin. Bergman becoming lift-served will be a nice addition for folks who were already going to ski Keystone. I don’t see Bergman being enough to convince dedicated A-Basin skiers to switch.
Donald, there is little any other mountain can do to get A-Basin skiers to switch. It’s one of the premier expert mountains, and nearly all of those mountains maintain a devoted following, with plenty of skier visits. We certainly are not the majority of skier dollars, hence why Vail, Breck, Keystone etc. draw large crowds and get bigger investments, but the die hards will keep a place running. You can’t change the terrain at a ski area, and the last expansion that took a mountain into the cult status was Deep Temerity in 2005. Bergman is not Temerity.
Yeah no a couple blue groomers arn’t going to attract people, Keystone is my least favorite place to ski in the front range why would I ski there when I can ski East Wall, Zuma Bowl, Steep Gullies, and Pali. I’ll save Keystone for a day with my girlfriend, or my mom.
I spoke to a manager at A-Basin today, and he said they’re planning on replacing this with a 6-pack rather than a quad. He didn’t say anything about capacity though.
I was talking to a Lift Maintenance Supervisor, and he said that 8 resorts offered to buy, it but Sunlight ended up getting it. Even then, I wonder what lift it will replace at Sunlight.
Utah Lost Ski Area ProjectMarch 16, 2022 / 8:45 pm
It’s probably for Sunlight’s East Ridge expansion. They said that the cost of buying a new fixed grip was too high so it makes sense that they’re going used for East Ridge.
The Lenawee Triple would be great for the East Ridge expansion. The last update I saw from Sunlight was that the expansion was on pause because of costs a new lift so this could move up the timeline. I am also curious if Sunlight is still considering a high-speed quad to replace Primo as they posted about that as well, it is a really long lift for a fixed grip and can’t be accessed from the base currently…
Sunlight already stated the east ridge is on indefinite hold and they (thankfully) came to the realization that everyone else already knew…. Segundo and primo desperately need to be replaced before they spend millions on an east wall lift.
It’s going to replace Segundo per the local paper in Glenwood. Primo will be next up and East Ridge is on indefinite hold until the other lifts are replaced.
Either Looking Glass or Primo. Both were installed in 1966. Last I had heard, Winter Park had kept the old Sunnyside lift when it was replaced, with plans to replace Looking Glass, but that was a few years ago, and the replacement hasn’t happened yet.
Utah Lost Ski Area ProjectOctober 5, 2021 / 1:23 pm
Doesn’t Winter Park still have the old Sunnyside triple? I thought the original plan was to replace Looking Glass with the old Sunnyside rather than buying a used lift. Even if they wanted a newer lift, they could get Hot Wheels from Alpine Meadows. It’s three years older than this lift and the only cost would be moving it to Winter Park.
I’m sure A-basin could find a use for this lift themselves. Possibly a lift serving the terrain below Beavers in the Gullies?
That might be more practical. It’s not like LPA designs have changed much in 20 years. Hell, the terminal design on fixed grips hasn’t changed since the 1980s.
Would a relocated Lenawee with a liftline from the bottom of Steep Gully 1 to the top of one of the blacks skiers left of Loafer be practical. I don’t think you can really run a lift straight up the steep gullies.
The only parts remaining from sunnyside at the resort is a drive building that has been stripped of all its part including motors in the Kendrick storage lot.
A-Basin isn’t putting a lift in the Steep Gullies area for a variety of reasons.
The terrain is low-density, low traffic, quasi-out of bounds terrain. It can’t handle the skier pressure of lift serviced terrain.
Also putting a lift in there probably causes more skiers to venture in there that are beyond their ability.
Putting a lift up toward Loafer / Beavers areas is pointless, as the main access points are actually off of the Pali terrain.
You would still have to then ride up the Beavers lift to get back to the Steep Gullies area.
Other than the Bald Spot area, its better accessed from Pali lift.
As of summer 2022, Lenawee Express construction began as LPOA built a new high-speed six. It opened mid-December, setting the ride time to about 3 min, 40 secs.
Lift Blog 
This lift will be providing skiing on July 4th of this year. Awesome winter we had!
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/arapahoe-basin-will-be-open-for-fourth-of-july-skiing-in-colorado
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IMO this should have gone detachable. This is the only lift you can access from the top of Black Mountain Expense which creates a big bottleneck as people come from the detachable quad to a fixed triple.
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yes, it can be busy. they should move this lift to Pallavicini and put a detachable in the place of Lenawee, especially as the terrain is so good at Lenawee.
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Pallavicini is already getting a double chair replacement this summer so that would not happen. I could see a basin potentially upgrading lenawee to a low capacity detachable in the future.
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Upgrade Lenawee to a detach pls it’s so slow and long but has such good terrain off it.
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A Basin blew a nice opportunity to make this lift a detachable, and this would’ve been a perfect Pali replacement. I’ve never skied here, but i can imagine it gets long lines.
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I also think that this lift should be detachable, but I am not sure if A-Basin was ready for a detachable lift when this was installed in 2001. A swap with Pali would have been nice. I guess we will have to wait ten years or so when a replacement can be justified.
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They could of just moved this lift to beavers when it was being built. Is it a quad because or marketing or capacity issues or length? This lift imo needs a detachable replacement.
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In 2001 when it was replaced, A-Basin (and Colorado skiing in general) was a far less busy experience.
The pass wars hadn’t begun, the Front-Range crowd was a fraction of the size it was, and A-Basin was a lot sleepier than was.
It really wasn’t until Colorado’s population exploded in the mid/late 2000s combined with the Epic Pass that A-Basin got busy.
Even then, the busy was still primarily peak winter Saturdays and peak spring skiing periods in April and early-May.
I am okay with it staying fixed-grip if it keeps the crowds down and lets the powder on the West Wall and lower East Wall last longer.
Probably eventually will go HSQ, but they aren’t in a hurry to do so and I’m just fine with that.
You want HSQ, go to Breck, Keystone, WP, or Copper.
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Fast forward to 2021, and you’re 100% wrong.
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About what?
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I think they should have made pali higher capacity to deal with larger frontside crowds, hopefully reducing lines on lenawee and black mountain
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I noticed that this lift has quad gauge towers and detachable grade line gear, so it could probably be converted to a high speed quad easily.
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I have heard rumor that when they replace it, they will swap it out with a 6 chair with a very similar capacity. It is pretty windy at the top, so that is their justification. Also I have heard the 6 chair would have larger chair spacing on the line, which could help reduce the amount mis loads. On some Saturdays, it can take 20+ minutes to get to the top of the lift due to all the stops. The lift might have quad gauge towers due to the amount of wind on the upper part of the lift.
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Winter Park built Sunnyside as a six pack instead of a quad for this very reason.
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Poma does not make a distinction between fixed-grip and detachable line gear, except to bump the sheaves to a wider liner for the bigger ropes on sixpacks and gondolas. Otherwise all of their assemblies are the same design.
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I don’t get why so many comments are complaining it isn’t detachable. When this was built in 2001, and for 9 more years, A-Basin had no detachable lifts. It was fed by another triple chair. I think it is great, and keeps all the gapers on the lower half of the mountain. If someone wants a bunch of detachables, try Keystone right next door. Plenty of people enjoy the long ride up to the east wall. It’s part of the character of the basin.
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Except, moving people around efficiently is more important than protecting powder junkies’ stashes. Lenawee is the main route to the top of the lift-serviced area from the base (as the other route is Pallavicini to Beavers, which takes longer and is a bit more indirect).
“If someone wants a bunch of detachables, try Keystone right next door. Plenty of people enjoy the long ride up to the east wall. ” You don’t speak for everyone who goes to A-Basin. Not to mention, it wouldn’t eliminate the hike for most people. In fact, this sort of project would be ideal for A-Basin to compete with Keystone once Keystone builds their high speed quad in Bergman Bowl. (https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=59357).
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If capacity is needed, but A Basin wants it to stay fixed grip, there’s always fixed grip six packs. Apparently they’re capable of 3600 pph.
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There aren’t any of those in America. Above a certain capacity, it makes logical sense to just go detachable.
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The only one I know of is in Canada
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Donald R.’s comment is incorrect. The Wideload, a Leitner six seat fixed grip at Snow Valley in Barrie Ontario is the only fixed grip, six seater in North America.
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There are no fixed grip 6s in the United States. And I’m guessing it’s because the market for them is quite a niche.
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I imagine a fixed grip 6 would be really hard work for the lifties who have to bump the chairs too.
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I believe all fixed grip six packs have loading carpets for easier loading/
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I disagree with some of the comments as that if you follow a lot of the comments out of Al (COO) and the atmosphere and culture they have attempted to maintain at A-Basin that they aren’t all about just having maximum lift capacity / skiers on the mountain.
Hence why Pali was replaced with a FGD at the same capacity. Hence part of the reason they broke away from Vail Resorts.
A-Basin’s capacity limitation is actually more or less driven by parking capacity, not so much lift capacity.
Lenawee will probably get a HSQ by the end of the decade, but I highly doubt they would go all the way to a HSS.
I personally wish they had kept and/or replaced Norway, but I get why they were ready to replace an aging Yan lift that was only used on peak weekends.
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The only reason why we are stating a HSS is because of wind issues. 6 pack chairs tend to have heavier chairs and give longer loading times. Also this 6 pack we are hypothesizing would be built with the same capacity as a HSQ. I agree with you on Lenawee will likely go HSQ.
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Six packs are capable of 2000 pph, only 200 pph higher than the current lift. 200 pph isn’t enough to cause run crowding.
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Agreed, AFSKI. Y’all can comment and speculate on capacity and efficiency all you want, but the Basin wants to retain their somewhat old-school image and culture. They don’t need to compete with Keystone as their relative markets only overlap to a certain degree. If anything, we’re more competition than Keystone in the local market as we continue to expand our high alpine terrain- except that, again, we’re not exactly gunning for the same market. I think the Basin will do just fine without adding another detachable.
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Until Keystone brings lift service to Bergman Bowl, that is.
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They still don’t compete for the same people. Those who want to strictly ski gnarly terrain or enjoy a more laid-back vibe will still primarily ski the Basin. Bergman becoming lift-served will be a nice addition for folks who were already going to ski Keystone. I don’t see Bergman being enough to convince dedicated A-Basin skiers to switch.
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Donald, there is little any other mountain can do to get A-Basin skiers to switch. It’s one of the premier expert mountains, and nearly all of those mountains maintain a devoted following, with plenty of skier visits. We certainly are not the majority of skier dollars, hence why Vail, Breck, Keystone etc. draw large crowds and get bigger investments, but the die hards will keep a place running. You can’t change the terrain at a ski area, and the last expansion that took a mountain into the cult status was Deep Temerity in 2005. Bergman is not Temerity.
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Yeah no a couple blue groomers arn’t going to attract people, Keystone is my least favorite place to ski in the front range why would I ski there when I can ski East Wall, Zuma Bowl, Steep Gullies, and Pali. I’ll save Keystone for a day with my girlfriend, or my mom.
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I spoke to a manager at A-Basin today, and he said they’re planning on replacing this with a 6-pack rather than a quad. He didn’t say anything about capacity though.
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That makes it sound like ‘they want the heavier chairs for wind resistance’.
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I wonder where the triple will go once the six pack is installed. I think it could find a home at another mountain.
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Maybe if Winter Park were to buy it, it could replace Looking Glass.
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I was talking to a Lift Maintenance Supervisor, and he said that 8 resorts offered to buy, it but Sunlight ended up getting it. Even then, I wonder what lift it will replace at Sunlight.
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It’s probably for Sunlight’s East Ridge expansion. They said that the cost of buying a new fixed grip was too high so it makes sense that they’re going used for East Ridge.
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The Lenawee Triple would be great for the East Ridge expansion. The last update I saw from Sunlight was that the expansion was on pause because of costs a new lift so this could move up the timeline. I am also curious if Sunlight is still considering a high-speed quad to replace Primo as they posted about that as well, it is a really long lift for a fixed grip and can’t be accessed from the base currently…
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I could see Primo probably being less than a few years away from replacement.
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Sunlight already stated the east ridge is on indefinite hold and they (thankfully) came to the realization that everyone else already knew…. Segundo and primo desperately need to be replaced before they spend millions on an east wall lift.
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It’s going to replace Segundo per the local paper in Glenwood. Primo will be next up and East Ridge is on indefinite hold until the other lifts are replaced.
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After Segundo gets replaced, would that make Looking Glass at Winter Park the longest operating lift in Colorado?
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What about the Estes Park Tramway from the 1950s?
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Either Looking Glass or Primo. Both were installed in 1966. Last I had heard, Winter Park had kept the old Sunnyside lift when it was replaced, with plans to replace Looking Glass, but that was a few years ago, and the replacement hasn’t happened yet.
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Doesn’t Winter Park still have the old Sunnyside triple? I thought the original plan was to replace Looking Glass with the old Sunnyside rather than buying a used lift. Even if they wanted a newer lift, they could get Hot Wheels from Alpine Meadows. It’s three years older than this lift and the only cost would be moving it to Winter Park.
I’m sure A-basin could find a use for this lift themselves. Possibly a lift serving the terrain below Beavers in the Gullies?
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That might be more practical. It’s not like LPA designs have changed much in 20 years. Hell, the terminal design on fixed grips hasn’t changed since the 1980s.
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Would a relocated Lenawee with a liftline from the bottom of Steep Gully 1 to the top of one of the blacks skiers left of Loafer be practical. I don’t think you can really run a lift straight up the steep gullies.
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The only parts remaining from sunnyside at the resort is a drive building that has been stripped of all its part including motors in the Kendrick storage lot.
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A-Basin isn’t putting a lift in the Steep Gullies area for a variety of reasons.
The terrain is low-density, low traffic, quasi-out of bounds terrain. It can’t handle the skier pressure of lift serviced terrain.
Also putting a lift in there probably causes more skiers to venture in there that are beyond their ability.
Putting a lift up toward Loafer / Beavers areas is pointless, as the main access points are actually off of the Pali terrain.
You would still have to then ride up the Beavers lift to get back to the Steep Gullies area.
Other than the Bald Spot area, its better accessed from Pali lift.
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As of summer 2022, Lenawee Express construction began as LPOA built a new high-speed six. It opened mid-December, setting the ride time to about 3 min, 40 secs.
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