This lift was the second D-Line and fourth bubble chair built at Big Sky Resort.The alignment is quite long and at the time of opening, Swifty was the longest D-Line chairlift in the world.View up the lift line.Riding out of the base area.All of the towers are conical and came from Wolfurt.Arriving at the top terminal.Upper station with 90 degree unloading.Side view of the top station.Upper part of the lift line.View down at tower 19.Middle part of the line.Much of the lift line has a park underneath it.Travelling over a large ravine.Return terminal with tensioning.The rear end of the bottom terminal houses a large LED display.Six place chair with heated seats.Riding up with a view of Lone Peak.Custom chair with blue throughout.Chairs with the Spanish Peaks in the background.Support tower.Looking up the line.Upper part of the line seen from Andesite Mountain.Loading area with gates and conveyor.Lower station overview.Direct drive located in the top terminal.View inside the top terminal.View from the top.Dedicated bike carriers.Automated parking rails.Chairs parked inside the storage barn.Unloading area.Upper station overview.Flat lower part of the line.The chair parking building up top.Most of the lift line seen from sister lift Ramcharger 8.The bottom station seen from above.This lift was originally slated to go in for 2020 but was postponed a year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.Breakover towers 23 and 24.View of Andesite from the summit.Another view of the top two towers.The top station seen from below.Lift line overview.There are 126 chairs total.View toward the village.Hold down tower.Another section of the line.A two section splice tower.Lower station and tower 1.
Considering the profile, part of me was kinda expecting this to be the first D-Line at a ski resort to have combi towers on it. But alas, that didn’t happen.
I will say that the realignment of the lift line does make the profile a little less roller coaster-esque near the top. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Should’ve clarified, “in the context of North American installations, the only D-Line with combis at this point is the Disney Skyliner. Jordan Bowl 8 and Silverlode 8 might have them given their profiles.”
Really wish something could be done with the chair barn. Pretty ugly eye sore… *cough* *cough* roof top bar please. I suppose it wasn’t built with that in mind so one can only dream
I agree. I’ll take the Swift Current barn over the American Flyer barn. It isn’t my style, but I think the Doppelmayr one looks much more elegant. Curious about the flat roof though. I bet that thing holds a ton of snow, although the roof structure looks pretty beefy.
How do heated seats on these things work? Is there power transmission through the haul rope or is there some sort of capacitor that gets charged in each chair while in a terminal?
Vail’s Gondola One is an LPOA installation, but a similar setup. If you ride through the station, you can really feel the seat get toasty. It makes sense though. Heater keeps the snow off, and then once you are sitting there, your butt keeps it warm after that.
You can’t run power through the haul rope. There are two electrodes attached to the grip that run in tracks parallel to the main grip transport rails. From what I’ve heard from folks who have these systems they can be a right pain. They do charge a capacitor (as far as I know) so you’re correct on that guess.
Lift Blog 
Are the grips the same size as the grips on Ramcharger 8?
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Considering the profile, part of me was kinda expecting this to be the first D-Line at a ski resort to have combi towers on it. But alas, that didn’t happen.
I will say that the realignment of the lift line does make the profile a little less roller coaster-esque near the top. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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There are plenty of D-Line lifts with combi assemblies, including the very first public D-Line installation: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tcd10-kirchenkar-i-doppelmayr-5958.html
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Should’ve clarified, “in the context of North American installations, the only D-Line with combis at this point is the Disney Skyliner. Jordan Bowl 8 and Silverlode 8 might have them given their profiles.”
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Really wish something could be done with the chair barn. Pretty ugly eye sore… *cough* *cough* roof top bar please. I suppose it wasn’t built with that in mind so one can only dream
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Honestly, it’s a bit more egregious of an eyesore even when compared with similar eyesores like, say, the barn at the top of the American Flyer.
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I mean, at least Doppelmayor made a modern slim building than a straight-up large barn.
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I agree. I’ll take the Swift Current barn over the American Flyer barn. It isn’t my style, but I think the Doppelmayr one looks much more elegant. Curious about the flat roof though. I bet that thing holds a ton of snow, although the roof structure looks pretty beefy.
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Swift Current’s barn looks like one where they could do something useful and maybe put an observation deck on top (like the Arizona Gondola has).
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Video of the lift:
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How do heated seats on these things work? Is there power transmission through the haul rope or is there some sort of capacitor that gets charged in each chair while in a terminal?
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I googled it: https://www.doppelmayr.com/components/seat-heating/
I guess heating happens only in the bottom station, and then the seats are residually warm for the duration.
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Vail’s Gondola One is an LPOA installation, but a similar setup. If you ride through the station, you can really feel the seat get toasty. It makes sense though. Heater keeps the snow off, and then once you are sitting there, your butt keeps it warm after that.
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Heating on these happens in both terminals generally.
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What happens if the lift stops? Do the heaters turn off too? I assume they would because that might damage the chairs in the terminal.
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You can’t run power through the haul rope. There are two electrodes attached to the grip that run in tracks parallel to the main grip transport rails. From what I’ve heard from folks who have these systems they can be a right pain. They do charge a capacitor (as far as I know) so you’re correct on that guess.
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