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.
I wouldn’t be surprised the the swift current barn has a heated roof. A lot of resort building, even those with sloping roofs have heating to prevent snow from falling on guests. look closely for the iconic zig-zag cables on the edge. You can even see them on the upper edge of the flyer barn.
Are you guys calling the BOB an eyesore? (I’m kidding, sort of)
As for carrier storage barns, they’re enormous. Thus they cost a fair amount to build, so there’s rarely money left over to make them pretty. Case in point, I’m sitting in the BOB right now looking at unfinished drywall while taking a break from rebuilding a grip on the platform we had to design and build in-house, a season later, because the original budget did not include it.
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.
My educated guess is that the charging rails are wired through the master safeties relay, and thus turn off whenever a stop is hit, to avoid what you’re talking about.
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.
The lift itself is fine, never been a big fan of D-Line compared to Uni-G. The problem comes at the top terminal and the chair parking facility. It is super ugly, gives me hospital vibes. I am surprised that it even made it through everyone. It’s such an eyesore and makes the scenery look bad. I much prefer a more rustic wooden building or lodge style, it maintains the mountain/ski chalet vibe and fits in around the mountain better.
This lift stops frequently. This has hindered the uphill capacity greatly. There is a last second 90 degree turn at the offload. The person on the inside of the arc has to shuffle their feet to line up on the ramp. The person on the outside of the arc has to hop off with haste to avoid being hit in the rear and thrown into the person to their inside as the chair immediately makes the turn to head back down. This lift serves beginner/low intermediate terrain so there are a lot of newbies on this lift. This enhances the effect of the offload design flaw. I hope they re-engineer the offload this summer. Anyone have any knowledge on the situation?
I actually realy like 90 degree unloading, especially on a bubble chair. It allows time for the bubble to open automatically, which can be useful if the wind makes it difficult to open manually. I think it’s also great for beginners because it gives them more time to unload after the deceleration, and directs traffic in one direction, preventing groups on a large chair like this from needing to cross paths as they unload.
Totally agree! In the case of Swifty it doesn’t work as there is too sudden of a turn back down. If you ever go to BS you should watch the skiers getting off the lift. A real s**t show.
As a former Lift supervisor I would suggest that they need to shorten the deck and move the breakover (the transition from flat to ramp) toward the barn 1.5-2 ft to resolve the chair turn issue. They should also move the Trail map and info signage farther away from the lift because I have noticed that on busy days it causes people who have already unloaded to congregate in the ski away, this makes it hard for novice riders to unload as they run into a pileup of bodies.
It’s also absolutely terrifying when it does. When I was there last season, I swear to god it felt like the lifty stopping the chair was pressing the e-stop instead of the slow-stop. So many quick stops and lots of bouncing.
This lift is interesting in that it has longer lines than its predecessor despite a 25% increase in capacity. They are still shorter than peer resorts, but Big Sky is definitely more popular than it used to be.
The fast speed is also useful on this long lift. It is very noticeable how quick the ride is compared to the old lift, and riding the comparably long Six Shooter gives a good comparison.
Just spent a week at BS. Rode this lift 20+ times. It stopped at least once every ride but one time. Once it stopped for 4 minutes with no explanation. It is fast when moving but doesn’t move the whole time you ascend so subtract the stop times from the speed to get the average speed over the distance.
Also, the efficiency of the load (getting 6 people on each chair) is not great and varies widely depending on the crew that manages the skiers: 1.) forming up, 2.) passing through the ticket scanners (which operate poorly compared to other resorts), 3.) reforming up when one of the 6 don’t make it through the poorly functioning scanners, and 4.) guiding the final process of getting all 6 bellying up to the gates. Unfortunately, with rare exception, the lift crews are very young seasonal employees who spend more time talking with their friends or chatting up the girl in the crew. There is never a senior crew member keeping the young crew focused. They are left on their own to operate this multimillion dollar main lift for the resort.
The delivery of maximum skier load to the top is reduced because of the above and results in the line being longer than it would otherwise.
I imagine if you went during a not-as-busy week, you’d probably get different results insofar as lift stops go. (And the 4 minute stop was probably the result of a bad misload or something.)
From my time skiing this lift, your experience with stoppages is probably closer to the exception rather than the norm. A 4 minute stop is irregular, and I would say the probability of the lift stopping each ride is closer to 50% instead of 95%. It’s a long lift used by many low-intermediates, so stoppages are really to be expected and the tech here definitely reduces the stoppage rate.
As for loading efficiency, that is more of an east vs west cultural difference. Like lowering the safety bar, western skiers and resorts don’t usually focus on loading each chair to capacity (unless lines get insanely long).
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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I wouldn’t be surprised the the swift current barn has a heated roof. A lot of resort building, even those with sloping roofs have heating to prevent snow from falling on guests. look closely for the iconic zig-zag cables on the edge. You can even see them on the upper edge of the flyer barn.
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Are you guys calling the BOB an eyesore? (I’m kidding, sort of)
As for carrier storage barns, they’re enormous. Thus they cost a fair amount to build, so there’s rarely money left over to make them pretty. Case in point, I’m sitting in the BOB right now looking at unfinished drywall while taking a break from rebuilding a grip on the platform we had to design and build in-house, a season later, because the original budget did not include it.
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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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My educated guess is that the charging rails are wired through the master safeties relay, and thus turn off whenever a stop is hit, to avoid what you’re talking about.
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Here’s some video of the D-Line grips on Kancamagus 8 showing the contact rails for the heaters.
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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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It’s really just more of a resistor in the seats as opposed to capacitor, it creates the heat not really storing anything.
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Copy that. Makes more sense now that i think about it.
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The lift itself is fine, never been a big fan of D-Line compared to Uni-G. The problem comes at the top terminal and the chair parking facility. It is super ugly, gives me hospital vibes. I am surprised that it even made it through everyone. It’s such an eyesore and makes the scenery look bad. I much prefer a more rustic wooden building or lodge style, it maintains the mountain/ski chalet vibe and fits in around the mountain better.
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This lift stops frequently. This has hindered the uphill capacity greatly. There is a last second 90 degree turn at the offload. The person on the inside of the arc has to shuffle their feet to line up on the ramp. The person on the outside of the arc has to hop off with haste to avoid being hit in the rear and thrown into the person to their inside as the chair immediately makes the turn to head back down. This lift serves beginner/low intermediate terrain so there are a lot of newbies on this lift. This enhances the effect of the offload design flaw. I hope they re-engineer the offload this summer. Anyone have any knowledge on the situation?
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I actually realy like 90 degree unloading, especially on a bubble chair. It allows time for the bubble to open automatically, which can be useful if the wind makes it difficult to open manually. I think it’s also great for beginners because it gives them more time to unload after the deceleration, and directs traffic in one direction, preventing groups on a large chair like this from needing to cross paths as they unload.
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Totally agree! In the case of Swifty it doesn’t work as there is too sudden of a turn back down. If you ever go to BS you should watch the skiers getting off the lift. A real s**t show.
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As a former Lift supervisor I would suggest that they need to shorten the deck and move the breakover (the transition from flat to ramp) toward the barn 1.5-2 ft to resolve the chair turn issue. They should also move the Trail map and info signage farther away from the lift because I have noticed that on busy days it causes people who have already unloaded to congregate in the ski away, this makes it hard for novice riders to unload as they run into a pileup of bodies.
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The ramp is being re-engineered this summer to address these issues, the signs also will be moved farther away to make more room for unloading.
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> This lift stops frequently.
It’s also absolutely terrifying when it does. When I was there last season, I swear to god it felt like the lifty stopping the chair was pressing the e-stop instead of the slow-stop. So many quick stops and lots of bouncing.
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I’m an intermediate skier and I’m terrified of disembarking at the top of Swift Current
My husband was on the outside left seat and was thrown to the right and nearly brought everyone down.
I myself was thrown to the right another time in the same seat.
I next went on the far right seat and there is no space to disembark unless you want to hit two poles on the right. I fell
I next went in the middle and got squeezed out by the person on the far left seat being pushed to the left and nearly fell again
I’m now too frightened to go on this lift so will not be able to get over to Madison Base or do any of the runs from the top.
So I’m confined to Ramcharger or Explorer for the rest of the week. So disappointing
perhaps they should not have anyone sit in that right hand seat?
Certainly not ideal
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Ok, I guess it’s this lift.
This is a reel about the chairs swinging after a stop ; is it often happening at Big Sky ?
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Learning curve for Doppelmayr on the direct drive.
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Galloping Gertie. Tacoma Narrrows bridge–remember?
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This lift operates at about 8 mph
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This lift is interesting in that it has longer lines than its predecessor despite a 25% increase in capacity. They are still shorter than peer resorts, but Big Sky is definitely more popular than it used to be.
The fast speed is also useful on this long lift. It is very noticeable how quick the ride is compared to the old lift, and riding the comparably long Six Shooter gives a good comparison.
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It definitely shows, especially when Six Shooter’s also showing its age.
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Just spent a week at BS. Rode this lift 20+ times. It stopped at least once every ride but one time. Once it stopped for 4 minutes with no explanation. It is fast when moving but doesn’t move the whole time you ascend so subtract the stop times from the speed to get the average speed over the distance.
Also, the efficiency of the load (getting 6 people on each chair) is not great and varies widely depending on the crew that manages the skiers: 1.) forming up, 2.) passing through the ticket scanners (which operate poorly compared to other resorts), 3.) reforming up when one of the 6 don’t make it through the poorly functioning scanners, and 4.) guiding the final process of getting all 6 bellying up to the gates. Unfortunately, with rare exception, the lift crews are very young seasonal employees who spend more time talking with their friends or chatting up the girl in the crew. There is never a senior crew member keeping the young crew focused. They are left on their own to operate this multimillion dollar main lift for the resort.
The delivery of maximum skier load to the top is reduced because of the above and results in the line being longer than it would otherwise.
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I imagine if you went during a not-as-busy week, you’d probably get different results insofar as lift stops go. (And the 4 minute stop was probably the result of a bad misload or something.)
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From my time skiing this lift, your experience with stoppages is probably closer to the exception rather than the norm. A 4 minute stop is irregular, and I would say the probability of the lift stopping each ride is closer to 50% instead of 95%. It’s a long lift used by many low-intermediates, so stoppages are really to be expected and the tech here definitely reduces the stoppage rate.
As for loading efficiency, that is more of an east vs west cultural difference. Like lowering the safety bar, western skiers and resorts don’t usually focus on loading each chair to capacity (unless lines get insanely long).
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