Modified CTEC top terminal.This lift came from Mt. Hood Meadows via Mt. Ashland.View down the upper part of the line.CTEC bail chairs with no safety bars.Middle lift line.View down into Sunrise Basin.Looking up from the base.Side view of the bottom terminal.This was height-adjustable when it was at Mt. Hood Meadows.Another view up the line.Loading area and operator house.View riding up the line.Three of the tower heads on this lift are Doppelmayr rather than CTEC.The second of the Doppelmayr towers.View back down the line.Breakover towers.
I didn’t connect the dots that this could have been the expansion chairlift. I am on the fence on most expansions, leaning toward supporting, but Mt A’s wouldn’t have been smart. This would have been pretty disruptive to a drainage that already gets heavy recreation use in the summer. Ashland Creek is the city of Ashland’s water supply, as well. Most importantly, any wetland that high (my estimate is around 6 grand) in the Siskiyous is rare and irreplaceable. Skiing just isn’t as important as the land itself.
It was painful due to it being fixed grip (relatively slow), and the wind screamed down the line, head on, due to shooting stars alignment on the mountain. Sounds like the motor is still loud as hell.
Was there a specific reason the machinery was so loud? I can’t imagine how awful a ride this must have been when it was at Meadows. I’ve probably spent more time lapping Shooting Star than I have anywhere else on any other mountain and on windy days it can still be miserable. The days when they’ve required 4 people to a chair because of the wind speed / direction are especially memorable (not in a good way).
I agree, I think this lift would be the next candidate for a detachable, considering the length of it, how much terrain it serves by itself, and how much additional development they have planned in the Sunrise Basin, in addition to what is already there, which is a small base and a parking lot which weren’t originally there when the lift was built.
I wonder if the towers coule be reused if it ever is replaced with a detachable chairlift. Or if the lift still has enough life in it to be recycled and used elsewhere. If it is able to be reused, I think a great application would be using it to replace their existing beginner chairlift. Keep the 12 second chair spacing, turn the speed down, add safety bars, and it would be a great beginner lift compared to what is currently there. The current beginner lift lacks safety bars, has pretty tight (by today’s standards) chair spacing for a beginner lift, and a quad with large 12 second chair spacing could match its hourly capacity. CTEC quad chairs are very roomy and comfy as well, and can fit the whole family, or an instructor and a few beginners!
Nope. I rode that lift many, many times in the 1980s and 1990s when it was Shooting Star at Mt Hood Meadows. Until the resort installed its first high-speed quad (Cascade Express) in 1994, none of Meadows’ lifts had comfort bars. Not even Buttercup, the beginner chair, had them back then. All the detachable quads that went in in the mid/late 1990s came with comfort bars & footrests. In the 2000s, the resort added comfort bars to some of their fixed-grip double chairs (Buttercup, Easy Rider and Daisy) that serve beginner & low intermediate terrain.
The main drive motor on Sunrise died a few days ago. Sounds like they had installed a new drive motor when it was relocated from MHM back in 2006. They’re saying they not only replaced it with a brand new motor, but also built a second new motor to have on hand as a back up.
As nice as it would be to have a HSQ back here, the crowds and terrain don’t seem to justify it. I honestly can’t imagine any other high speed lifts are in the budget for 49 anytime in the next 10+ years. Even if there were, the next one would need to be Silver Lode. It seems like their second backup motor is clearly the alternative to spending money on a detachable here. The only way I could see a HSQ back here down the road is if they built out a whole second base area here with condos and everything, but there just doesn’t seem to be the money in this region to justify that and 49 just isn’t a destination mountain.
As I am riding this comment while I am typing this, does anyone have an idea of why there are those bars in the middle of each chair? I haven’t seen any other ctec quad chairs with it and they really only seem to cause issues.
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Looks like the old shooting star lift. Painful to ride. Wonder if it’s machinery is as loud as it used to be?!
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Between Mt. Hood Meadows and 49 North, it sat at Mt. Ashland for awhile.
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Sat, as in never installed?
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Correct. It sat at Lithia Motors for several years over environmentalist saying it would harm wet lands.
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I didn’t connect the dots that this could have been the expansion chairlift. I am on the fence on most expansions, leaning toward supporting, but Mt A’s wouldn’t have been smart. This would have been pretty disruptive to a drainage that already gets heavy recreation use in the summer. Ashland Creek is the city of Ashland’s water supply, as well. Most importantly, any wetland that high (my estimate is around 6 grand) in the Siskiyous is rare and irreplaceable. Skiing just isn’t as important as the land itself.
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Ride is smooth as glass and quiet as heck, the motor is noisy as a sports stadium but the ride is nice, smooth, & quiet.
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It was painful due to it being fixed grip (relatively slow), and the wind screamed down the line, head on, due to shooting stars alignment on the mountain. Sounds like the motor is still loud as hell.
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Yep, loudest motor on the mountain by far, you can hear it from quite a ways down the line.
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As Shooting Star, it had a lot of side hill.
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Was there a specific reason the machinery was so loud? I can’t imagine how awful a ride this must have been when it was at Meadows. I’ve probably spent more time lapping Shooting Star than I have anywhere else on any other mountain and on windy days it can still be miserable. The days when they’ve required 4 people to a chair because of the wind speed / direction are especially memorable (not in a good way).
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High HP motor and the design of the drive station has a lot to do with motor noise.
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300HP running at 500 FPM on a fixed grip motor it would scream.
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This is a lift I could see going detachable in the next decade depending on what the Bonanza upgrade does to visitor numbers.
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I agree, I think this lift would be the next candidate for a detachable, considering the length of it, how much terrain it serves by itself, and how much additional development they have planned in the Sunrise Basin, in addition to what is already there, which is a small base and a parking lot which weren’t originally there when the lift was built.
I wonder if the towers coule be reused if it ever is replaced with a detachable chairlift. Or if the lift still has enough life in it to be recycled and used elsewhere. If it is able to be reused, I think a great application would be using it to replace their existing beginner chairlift. Keep the 12 second chair spacing, turn the speed down, add safety bars, and it would be a great beginner lift compared to what is currently there. The current beginner lift lacks safety bars, has pretty tight (by today’s standards) chair spacing for a beginner lift, and a quad with large 12 second chair spacing could match its hourly capacity. CTEC quad chairs are very roomy and comfy as well, and can fit the whole family, or an instructor and a few beginners!
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Did this lift have safety bars at Mt. Hood Meadows?
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Nope. I rode that lift many, many times in the 1980s and 1990s when it was Shooting Star at Mt Hood Meadows. Until the resort installed its first high-speed quad (Cascade Express) in 1994, none of Meadows’ lifts had comfort bars. Not even Buttercup, the beginner chair, had them back then. All the detachable quads that went in in the mid/late 1990s came with comfort bars & footrests. In the 2000s, the resort added comfort bars to some of their fixed-grip double chairs (Buttercup, Easy Rider and Daisy) that serve beginner & low intermediate terrain.
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I think the only fixed grips without safety bars at MHM are Heather Canyon and Blue.
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Video:
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The main drive motor on Sunrise died a few days ago. Sounds like they had installed a new drive motor when it was relocated from MHM back in 2006. They’re saying they not only replaced it with a brand new motor, but also built a second new motor to have on hand as a back up.
As nice as it would be to have a HSQ back here, the crowds and terrain don’t seem to justify it. I honestly can’t imagine any other high speed lifts are in the budget for 49 anytime in the next 10+ years. Even if there were, the next one would need to be Silver Lode. It seems like their second backup motor is clearly the alternative to spending money on a detachable here. The only way I could see a HSQ back here down the road is if they built out a whole second base area here with condos and everything, but there just doesn’t seem to be the money in this region to justify that and 49 just isn’t a destination mountain.
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As I am riding this comment while I am typing this, does anyone have an idea of why there are those bars in the middle of each chair? I haven’t seen any other ctec quad chairs with it and they really only seem to cause issues.
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