The Oma’s Meadow zone at Sugar Mountain will sport a shiny Doppelmayr high speed quad next season. The upgrade from a double to quad will be Sugar Mountain’s fifth lift installation in seven years and ride time will improve from the current nine minutes to under three. The project caps off nearly $20 million in recent improvements. Last year Sugar Mountain and Doppelmayr partnered to install the Big Birch quad and the mountain’s two existing detachable lifts were built in 2015 and 2019. No other North Carolina ski resort operates even one detachable lift. “Not only is the speediness a welcome upgrade but the detachable feature of the chairs slowing upon entering the base and summit stations makes for an easy and gentle loading and unloading experience for all levels of skiers and riders,” said Sugar Mountain Resort owner Gunther Jochl.

The 2,225 foot long Oma’s express quad will carry 2,400 passengers per hour and increase the resort’s overall uphill capacity from 11,660 passengers per hour to 13,460.

Another new chairlift is coming to North Carolina’s largest ski area. Sugar Mountain Resort and Doppelmayr will partner to build a fixed grip quad this summer called Big Birch, replacing the Green triple. The new lift will transport 1,792 skiers per hour to mid-mountain, an increase of 22 percent.

“Building new ski lifts makes Sugar Mountain Resort happy,” notes a press release. “Moving people seamlessly, efficiently and comfortably from point-to-point is our goal and most importantly, it makes guests happy.” Other recent additions at Sugar Mountain include the Summit Express, Easy Street and Gunther’s Way lifts, all by Doppelmayr. The lift company and Sugar Mountain’s owner both hail from Austria, hence their strong partnership.

Note: Any news dated April 1st should be read with caution. However, I do not believe this is a joke. After all, Sugar announced the new Easy Street quad on April 1st, 2019!

Fifty years after its trusty beginner chairlift opened, Sugar Mountain says the Brown Hall double has carried its last skiers and snowboarders.  Next winter, a Doppelmayr detachable quad chair will run up the Easy Street slope, more than doubling uphill capacity to 2,400 people per hour.  The new lift, tentatively dubbed the Silver Bullet, will also improve ride time from more than six minutes to two and a half while making loading and unloading more comfortable.

“Replacing the original Easy Street lift is not just an upgrade, it is example of the continued commitment to offering our guests an exceptional mountain experience,” said Sugar Mountain Resort owner Gunther Jochl in a statement.  “The majority of our guests are beginners who go on to develop skiing and snowboarding as a life-long, family activity.  Generation after generation lays roots right here on our beginner terrain.  This hasn’t changed in Sugar’s fifty year history.”  Sugar Mountain launched its first high speed lift, the Summit Express six pack, in 2015.