Needles #6 – Purgatory, CO

With a six-pack running right next to it, Needles rarely operates anymore.
Lower station and lift line.
The first part of the line.
Poma Delta drive station.
Drive bullwheel, motor room and unloading ramp.
Last tower before the sumit.
Upper part of the line.
Middle line.
Lower line.

26 thoughts on “Needles #6 – Purgatory, CO

  1. AllertorSiren05's avatar AllertorSiren05 February 5, 2018 / 5:40 pm

    Fail in picture 6. The sign says raise bar when the lift doesn’t have one

    Liked by 2 people

    • snowbasin local's avatar theskiman50 November 7, 2020 / 4:19 pm

      the old wildcat at snowbasin had raise bar sign when there was no bar. maybe the bar is invisible, and it automatically raises once u pass the last tower :shrug:

      Liked by 1 person

      • Carson's avatar Carson November 7, 2020 / 5:21 pm

        Link at solitude had the same thing pretty funny

        Like

      • Utah Powder Skier's avatar Utah Powder Skier April 7, 2021 / 12:36 pm

        Wildcat did get bars on a few of the chairs at some point. There’s a good shot of the bars at 0:35. I don’t think they were ever used after the film was made.

        Like

    • Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif December 26, 2020 / 7:21 pm

      Big Sky lifts are guilty of this a lot.

      Like

    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech February 27, 2022 / 5:40 pm

      Sometimes you need to buys signs in bulk, and since they have lifts with bars they probably bought those figuring they could use them anywhere.

      Liked by 2 people

  2. Collin's avatar Collin February 6, 2018 / 9:36 am

    They should just take this lift out and relocate it. It looks like it hardly ever runs from these pictures. I don’t know if they have any future expansions planned but this lift could open up one or two of them.

    Like

    • Utah Lost Ski Area Project's avatar Utah Powder Skier March 4, 2021 / 8:23 pm

      I’m not seeing the reasoning behind this. Ski Santa Fe looks to be doing just fine with their current lifts. Lifts for terrain parks usually get enough skiers to warrant the lift being in place. Removing backup lifts that aren’t too old isn’t a good idea either, you never know when you need a backup lift.

      Like

      • Ben Eminger's avatar Ben Eminger March 4, 2021 / 8:33 pm

        It’s come in handy a few times this season, the HSS seems to be having a tough year.

        Like

      • Chairlift World's avatar Chairlift World December 30, 2022 / 5:20 pm

        He meant for an extra backup for Tesuque Peak or Millennium in case they both go down. This could use a hsq replacement.

        Like

        • Chairlift World's avatar Chairlift World December 30, 2022 / 5:22 pm

          Yes, I meant what Porter was saying. Utah Powder Skier, this is what he meant.

          Like

    • Quiksilver The Fox's avatar chairliftworld November 12, 2024 / 12:16 pm

      I can see it replace Sierra. It’s a super slow Riblet double

      Like

  3. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif December 7, 2020 / 6:32 am

    The lift was modified in 2017 through the addition of a mid-load station, making this the lift for lapping the Paradise terrain park.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif January 8, 2022 / 5:56 pm

    I think the midstation on this was built using parts from the Legends triple.

    Like

  5. pbropetech's avatar pbropetech February 27, 2022 / 5:42 pm

    They could have used this lift yesterday. Lines on 1 were way out of the back of the maze and yet 6 sat idle. I kinda thought they used it like we did old chair 4 at Baker, as relief for 5, but I guess not.

    Like

  6. Joshua Redman's avatar Joshua Redman July 23, 2022 / 9:54 am

    They mostly use it for mid-loading only. The only times they run it from the bottom is when Lift 1 is closed.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Quiksilver The Fox's avatar chairliftworld October 29, 2024 / 12:32 pm

      Actually, I was way off. I found a video of this place in 1989 with shots of this lift, the Spud double, and the Legends triple. I’ll post the link later

      Like

  7. Chairlift World's avatar Chairlift World February 8, 2023 / 4:50 pm

    I looked on the webcam today and they ran it for about half an hour to an hour at the least! It was cool to see!!

    Like

  8. Quiksilver The Fox's avatar chairliftworld October 29, 2024 / 12:34 pm

    Fun fact about this lift, did you know this lift’s drive bullwheel (picture 5) is actually a return bullwheel flipped upside down? I looked at some mid-late 80s Poma triples and quads, and I noticed the cone shape that can be seen there at the top, unlike this lift, where the cone is at the bottom

    Like

    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech July 17, 2025 / 5:56 pm

      It is not. It’s a drive bullwheel. The returns of this vintage were much lighter and did not have a braking surface. The cone is a rope catcher in the event of a bullwheel deropement and is placed opposite the support structure for the bullwheel, wherever that may be.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Quiksilver The Fox's avatar chairliftworld November 12, 2024 / 11:00 am

    I’ve been told this lift will be running on peak days by Purgatory’s Facebook page. I asked if they planned to run this lift more often this year, and they responded with what I said above (it’ll run on peak days to get more people out of the base)

    Like

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