This flagship Doppelmayr detachable anchors a reimagined Sundance Resort as of 2021.The lower part of the line is quite flat while the second half is extremely steep.There is a half mid-station with unloading only.Side view of the mid.View up below the middle station.Lift line below the mid.This lift has a wide variety of Doppelmayr tower styles from American to Canadian and European.View up the line around tower 6.Towers 1 and 2.Side view of the return terminal.Upper lift line.View arriving at the summit.Drive station.Looking down from the top.Lift line overview.Side view of the ridgetop drive station.Another view of the top breakover towers.Tower 15.Tower 14.Unloading area at the middle station.Half tower.Another view of the tunnel mid.The base station and tower 1.Loading area.Beginner offload.Side view of the middle terminal.The split tower.Looking up the line.The lower half of the lift has lights for night skiing.Combo assemblies.Title.View riding up the line.The chairs on this lift for the 2021-22 season are used from Big Sky Resort due to supply chain delays.Approaching the mid-station.Arriving up top.View back down.Turnaround up top.View from the summit.Drive station uphill end.Another view of towers 16 and 17.Uni-G drive station in two tone red and gray.The top seen from Red’s lift.New lift sisters.Another view of the return station.Riding through the intermediate station.Upper station seen from the old Ray’s top station.The old Ray’s lift line can be seen to the left of the new alignment.Later in the opening season the lift got its originally intended chairs with puck style footrests.Updated chair 33.
It has to do with the loads that these towers are carrying. Look at last year’s Broadway at Sun Valley, which uses the beefier lifting frames on steeper portions, and has a similar breakover to Outlaw’s.
It’s longer. There’s a back room that houses most of the drive electronics, which are normally perpendicular to the lift line. The larger the lift, the larger that equipment is, which means more length (width of the cabinets) is required.
Utah Lost Ski Area ProjectJanuary 7, 2022 / 9:05 am
Mandan wasn’t a huge loss for the resort when Ray’s allowed Sundance to offer hiking and zip lining from the top of Arrowhead. Most of Mandan’s terrain could be served from Arrowhead along with Mandan being one of the only a few Hjorth lifts ever built. Mandan had a deropement early on in its operation and it was most likely scrapped.
In my book, split towers are towers where the uphill and downhill sides are at different elevations. Half-towers are towers that only support the rope going in one direction. Tower 10 is a split tower because the downhill line is not even with the uphill line. Towers 11 and 12 are half-towers, as the downhill line skips them.
Assuming the old down towers after the mid station are indeed numbered 11 and 12 that’s how I would call them as well.
Mid-unloads on chairlifts always looks strange to me. The only one I every rode was Christie at Steamboat, but I can’t think of a single in Europe. Unlike mid-loads of which there are/were quite a few.
The “Canadian style” towers (found on a decent number of Quebecois installations and on the gondolas at Silver Star and Steamboat) are, if I’m not mistaken, a Doppelmayr France / Etudes de Transport design. You’ll find them on almost any UNI-G install in France and Andorra. Newer D-line installations there use standard European tower heads instead.
I’m assuming when the new chairs arrive next year, they’re going to have the puck footrests that Stairway has (and the puck footrests seem to be Doppelmayr’s default these days; considering that the majority of their new installations for 2021 have them; even Beaver Creek went with this type of footrest for their McCoy Park chairlifts).
Lift Blog 
Outlaw Express has a fantastic color scheme! What would be the reason(s) for all of the different tower styles?
LikeLike
It has to do with the loads that these towers are carrying. Look at last year’s Broadway at Sun Valley, which uses the beefier lifting frames on steeper portions, and has a similar breakover to Outlaw’s.
LikeLike
Will this lift get new chairs eventually or will it stick with the used ones? Still a beautiful lift with the old chairs!
LikeLike
The new chairs will come next season. The current chairs will then be sold off to Sugarloaf.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is it just me or does the dopp operator house look longer than “normal”? Could just be the angles
LikeLike
It’s longer. There’s a back room that houses most of the drive electronics, which are normally perpendicular to the lift line. The larger the lift, the larger that equipment is, which means more length (width of the cabinets) is required.
LikeLike
Thanks! I didn’t realize there were more than two sizes.
LikeLike
This is the second lift to run on this lift line, the first being the Mandan double, which was replaced (along with Navajo) by Ray’s in 1995.
LikeLike
If you’re being technical, Mandan replaced a homemade single chair from the Stewart era of Sundance.
LikeLike
Why did Sundance decide to replace Mandan with a lift that didn’t run to the summit?
LikeLike
Mandan wasn’t a huge loss for the resort when Ray’s allowed Sundance to offer hiking and zip lining from the top of Arrowhead. Most of Mandan’s terrain could be served from Arrowhead along with Mandan being one of the only a few Hjorth lifts ever built. Mandan had a deropement early on in its operation and it was most likely scrapped.
LikeLike
I think it’s rare to see these Doppelmayr midstations in a color other than dull gray. Certainly rare to see one in this bright vibrant red.
LikeLike
I would call tower 10 a split tower, not a half tower. Or is the terminology in English so much different from the German one?
LikeLike
In my book, split towers are towers where the uphill and downhill sides are at different elevations. Half-towers are towers that only support the rope going in one direction. Tower 10 is a split tower because the downhill line is not even with the uphill line. Towers 11 and 12 are half-towers, as the downhill line skips them.
LikeLike
Assuming the old down towers after the mid station are indeed numbered 11 and 12 that’s how I would call them as well.
Mid-unloads on chairlifts always looks strange to me. The only one I every rode was Christie at Steamboat, but I can’t think of a single in Europe. Unlike mid-loads of which there are/were quite a few.
LikeLike
The “Canadian style” towers (found on a decent number of Quebecois installations and on the gondolas at Silver Star and Steamboat) are, if I’m not mistaken, a Doppelmayr France / Etudes de Transport design. You’ll find them on almost any UNI-G install in France and Andorra. Newer D-line installations there use standard European tower heads instead.
A good look at them (French installation) at 3:14 and 4:28 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDTfWwcaTWc&t=26s
LikeLike
I’m assuming when the new chairs arrive next year, they’re going to have the puck footrests that Stairway has (and the puck footrests seem to be Doppelmayr’s default these days; considering that the majority of their new installations for 2021 have them; even Beaver Creek went with this type of footrest for their McCoy Park chairlifts).
LikeLike
I rode this lift on Monday 2/21/22 and can confirm that the new chairs are on the lift. They seem to match the style of the stairway lift.
LikeLike
That’s a pretty fast turnaround for getting new chairs swapped in mid-season.
LikeLike
Video with the new chairs in place:
LikeLike
I just now noticed that this lift has no comm line, is it underground?
LikeLike
why is the a small bump in the return terminal
LikeLike
Looks like they’ve also converted the lift to in-line loading.
LikeLike