Construction has already begun on Sun Peaks Resort’s third new chairlift in six years, the West Bowl Express. The CA$12 million Doppelmayr detachable quad will replace the retired West Bowl T-Bar in a much longer alignment and open in late 2024. West Bowl Express will service approximately 1,000 vertical feet with nearly a mile of slope length in the high alpine. “Sun Peaks continues to evolve and this significant new lift infrastructure will diversify the experience in an important pod of terrain in the resort,” noted Darcy Alexander, Sun Peaks Resort Vice President and General Manager. “Guests will have additional trails and vertical to explore with the convenience and efficiency of detachable lift technology.”

Preliminary site work is already finalized and foundations will follow this summer with steel installation commencing in 2024. When the project is complete next November, Sun Peaks will operate a 100 percent Doppelmayr fleet with eight quad chairlifts and two surface platters.

An eighth Doppelmayr quad chairlift may soon join the Sun Peaks Resort lift fleet. The resort recently applied with the Province of British Columbia for right of way to build a mile long high speed quad in West Bowl, currently home to a disused T-Bar. Sun Peaks retired the West Bowl T-Bar in 2020, leaving the terrain hike-in only. The 1965 Hall was the last remaining non-Doppelmayr lift at Sun Peaks.

Now Sun Peaks plans a much longer detachable quad with an approximately 1,000 foot vertical rise. With a lower bottom terminal and higher top station, the West Bowl Express would significantly improve access to a large variety of underutilized terrain. The province is soliciting public comments on the project through June 24th. If approved, the new lift would be constructed in 2023 and 2024, opening for the 2024-25 ski season.