Bottom terminal.Top terminal from above.15-passenger cabin and work carrier.Looking down from the summit.Top sheaves and lift shack.Top dock.Another view of the summit station.Looking up the line.Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.
Tram is currently running on one cabin as there was an “incident”. From what I was told the tram failed to perform its docking sequence (Slow down and crawl speed into the terminals) and though ops hit an emergency stop the cabin entering the bottom terminal was damaged. I’ll get a picture the next time I am at BS, from what I understand the cabin is online but not being used due to the damage.
Yikes, one of the lowest capacity lifts in the US now is even lower capacity. I really hope they add a new lift soon. Even a simple t bar up liberty bowl would be a huge improvement
Both but it’s good to hear the incident was fixed quickly.
As to the question if a T-bar is enough capacity, it would add about 1200 to the existing 200 PPH capacity, a massive 600% increase. That still might not be enough but you can always add more lifts or upgrade. A T bar is ideal from a wind tolerance perspective but something like a HSQ from 9k feet to the summit would be sweet too.
FYI, the max Capacity T-Bars in Austria could haul up to 1440 Persons per hour. But that is mostly a theoretical value, as a lot of people can’t handle the speed and short times between the bars. Most T-Bars these days run much, much slower.
probably would be hell in storms I think a tram is fine. Plus you don’t really want to encourage people to take these runs you might end up with novices using it.
The easiest solution would be to have someone read off that the lift is expert only, just like Snowbasin does. Then you have a reason to expand the tram’s capacity without encouraging beginners to ride it.
Looking at how steep the tram currently is, it doesn’t look like a bubble chairlift would really work. The only type of lift that can work would be a tram or reversible gondola.
Yes, 200 pph isn’t ideal but a reversible gondola would most likely have even less capacity. This lift would be most likely too steep for any normal chairlift or gondola. I would think that the easiest solution would be to replace this lift with a higher capacity tram and have someone read off that the lift is expert only, just like they do at Snowbasin.
I think a lift from shed horn would be too steep, maybe from the top of dakota? I dont know the mountain too well im just judging by the trail map, looks like the terrain above Dakota isn’t terribly steep but I would be worried about wind exposure.
I’ve skied above Shedhorn and I think a chairlift there is doable. I don’t think it’s any steeper than Kachina Peak at Taos, NM (I’ve also skied there).
Really don’t understand a need for replacing this lift, given the unique terrain it services. I think what Big Sky has done to make it so going on the tram isn’t accidental with the new tickets is great for reducing lines. Who cares if its the one lift on the mountain with a line? Its better than having every route down a giant bump field. This lift does its job perfectly, anything new would be a negative change
It’s moved roughly a foot every year since it was built. It’s also rotating, which is why you can now see horizontal deflection sheaves on the stair side of the lower terminal now.
Technically you’re both right since it’s a rock glacier. Basically, a bunch of eroded (from wind or ice) rocks held together by the remnant of a glacier.
Even if the tram can cope just fine with the needed capacity, the bottom terminal is located on a rock glacier and is moving quite quickly. Deflection shives were added to the bottom terminal a few years ago and the tilt of the station is so bad you can actually feel it when standing on the loading deck (you also now step down into the lookers left cabin instead of level walk in) From what I’ve heard the tram has 5 years tops before it will no longer be able to operate. From this perspective, a replacement is needed urgently. Reducing the line would really only be a convenient byproduct.
I wonder what they will do with the old structure once to new tram is installed. There’s a lot of concrete at the top, so I suspect that they will leave the foundations for the old terminal. Maybe they can do something cool with the old building like making a restaurant.
Lift Blog 
How many beer can trams exist? I know Big sky and Snowbasin have them. Just curious if there any more in the world.
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What are those two tiny bullwheels at the top for?
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Evac. system.
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Tram is currently running on one cabin as there was an “incident”. From what I was told the tram failed to perform its docking sequence (Slow down and crawl speed into the terminals) and though ops hit an emergency stop the cabin entering the bottom terminal was damaged. I’ll get a picture the next time I am at BS, from what I understand the cabin is online but not being used due to the damage.
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Hey, another reason to replace the tram
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Yikes, one of the lowest capacity lifts in the US now is even lower capacity. I really hope they add a new lift soon. Even a simple t bar up liberty bowl would be a huge improvement
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That may be too little capacity for there and Big Sky I think already scrapped that idea.
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Do you mean the incident above? It was fixed by the end of February when I rode it. Or new COVID rules?
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Both but it’s good to hear the incident was fixed quickly.
As to the question if a T-bar is enough capacity, it would add about 1200 to the existing 200 PPH capacity, a massive 600% increase. That still might not be enough but you can always add more lifts or upgrade. A T bar is ideal from a wind tolerance perspective but something like a HSQ from 9k feet to the summit would be sweet too.
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@Nathan I think they scrapped the HSQ idea. But it would be amazing if they reconsidered it. I think a tbar might be too steep up that slope
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FYI, the max Capacity T-Bars in Austria could haul up to 1440 Persons per hour. But that is mostly a theoretical value, as a lot of people can’t handle the speed and short times between the bars. Most T-Bars these days run much, much slower.
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I skied Big Sky on February 16, 2020. Must have been a quick fix as both cabins were operating that day.
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REPLACE. THE. TRAM. 200 PPH is bad. reccomend getting gondola or bubble chairlift
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probably would be hell in storms I think a tram is fine. Plus you don’t really want to encourage people to take these runs you might end up with novices using it.
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Maybe something like the royal gorge tram would work here.
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The easiest solution would be to have someone read off that the lift is expert only, just like Snowbasin does. Then you have a reason to expand the tram’s capacity without encouraging beginners to ride it.
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this is arguably the dumbest idea i have read on this website
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Yea, that’s a hard no on replacing the tram with anything but maybe a bigger tram.
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A bigger tram might be a good investment too, because they can use it for branding like Jackson hole did
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Looking at how steep the tram currently is, it doesn’t look like a bubble chairlift would really work. The only type of lift that can work would be a tram or reversible gondola.
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They could add a bicable gondola.
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Yes, 200 pph isn’t ideal but a reversible gondola would most likely have even less capacity. This lift would be most likely too steep for any normal chairlift or gondola. I would think that the easiest solution would be to replace this lift with a higher capacity tram and have someone read off that the lift is expert only, just like they do at Snowbasin.
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The current alignment may be too steep but they could easily put a normal chairlift up from the top of Shedhorn.
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I think a lift from shed horn would be too steep, maybe from the top of dakota? I dont know the mountain too well im just judging by the trail map, looks like the terrain above Dakota isn’t terribly steep but I would be worried about wind exposure.
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I’ve skied above Shedhorn and I think a chairlift there is doable. I don’t think it’s any steeper than Kachina Peak at Taos, NM (I’ve also skied there).
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Really don’t understand a need for replacing this lift, given the unique terrain it services. I think what Big Sky has done to make it so going on the tram isn’t accidental with the new tickets is great for reducing lines. Who cares if its the one lift on the mountain with a line? Its better than having every route down a giant bump field. This lift does its job perfectly, anything new would be a negative change
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The tram is located on a glacier and has moved about 20’ down the mountain. It is about to move out of alignment. That is why a new tram is needed.
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Glacial moraine, and I doubt it’s moved much.
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It’s moved roughly a foot every year since it was built. It’s also rotating, which is why you can now see horizontal deflection sheaves on the stair side of the lower terminal now.
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Technically you’re both right since it’s a rock glacier. Basically, a bunch of eroded (from wind or ice) rocks held together by the remnant of a glacier.
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Even if the tram can cope just fine with the needed capacity, the bottom terminal is located on a rock glacier and is moving quite quickly. Deflection shives were added to the bottom terminal a few years ago and the tilt of the station is so bad you can actually feel it when standing on the loading deck (you also now step down into the lookers left cabin instead of level walk in) From what I’ve heard the tram has 5 years tops before it will no longer be able to operate. From this perspective, a replacement is needed urgently. Reducing the line would really only be a convenient byproduct.
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Seems like there are new plans!?
https://www.stormskiing.com/p/big-sky-to-build-new-lone-peak-tram?s=r
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I wonder what they will do with the old structure once to new tram is installed. There’s a lot of concrete at the top, so I suspect that they will leave the foundations for the old terminal. Maybe they can do something cool with the old building like making a restaurant.
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