Red Lodge relocated this Garaventa CTEC Stealth triple from Alta Ski Area for the 2023-24 season.Lift line running in a modified alignment from the previous Miami Beach double.The lift features a number of towers with combination assemblies.Side view of the lower station.Upper station along a ridge line.Tower 1.View down the lower part of the line.Rare detachable triple chair.Tall towers along the line.Upper lift line.View back at tower 10.Top terminal near another CTEC detachable rising out of the Palisades.Middle section of the lift line.View from the bottom terminal.All controls were replaced with a new SkyTrac system during the move.Drive train.View up the lower lift line.Loading area.Bottom operator cabin from Solitude, Utah.View from the summit. Not bad for a beginner lift.Top terminal with tensioning.Outside operator controls.Return station controls with large Skytrac touch screen.Unloading area.Stealth terminal dating back to 1999.The bottom terminal squeezed into a narrow base area.View riding up the line.Garaventa grip.View down at tower 12.The top terminal seen from the Triple Chair.Another view of the top station.The steepest part of the lift line at the bottom.
28 thoughts on “The Stache Express – Red Lodge Mountain, MT”
FaeryDecember 1, 2023 / 4:46 pm
It’s nice to see this live on! I wonder if you can get to the other detachables through this one, it seemed that in the past the only way was through the fixed triple
You should be able to get to Palisades when it opens (10,000 hours now!) Jeff the GM told me his next priority is snowmaking in Palisades. Between The Stache, Willow Creek, Palisades and Cole Creek, there are multiple ways not to ride the long/slow Triple Chair. It is on the list for replacement if another used CTEC detachable becomes available. The Triple might move up to replace Grizzly Peak.
Well with the rate at which Utah ski areas are swapping their old CTEC detachable quads for six packs, I’m sure that the time will come along soon enough. I think that Gadzoom at Snowbird would be a great candidate.
There are alot of second gen CTEC stealth detachables at Deer Valley/Park City that would work well replacing the triple. Particularly the silver lake express, its long, so they would be able to cover the full length of the triple and have parts to spare, and it looks to be pretty well maintained.
This is the proper way to do a reinstall, ie make a big lift smaller, Red Lodge should have a ton of spare parts after this relocate, something like 57 chairs and grips and 5 towers worth of line equipment, guess they won’t need to buy anything for a spell. The evac on this lift is unique as it is a hydrostat hookup for a snow cat. I believe that some more G-CTEC detachables will be coming available in the next few years some with high hours but most have been well maintained.
Silver Lake Express at Deer Valley comes to mind when considering a potential G-CTEC detachable replacement for the triple chair. Or perhaps Gadzoom at Snowbird would be a potential candidate. I’m sure there are others
Not very, Alta had this setup on this version of Sunnyside because of environmental regs in Little Cottonwood Canyon make having a barely used diesel engine cost prohibitive in their opinion. The lift Skytrac built at alta had an electric (battery powered) evacuation drive to avoid having a diesel or gas, I am not sure what sort of setup LPOA used.
I think this style drive may have been popular with some smaller midwest ski areas as it lowers the cost of a new lift.
Interesting. I am fairly certain that the CM hydrostats were (are?) true evac drives, for the worst case when the main electric and the backup 3208 were both down. I didn’t know there’d be a call to have it as the first backup.
Joe- REX had one; it was mounted on the gearbox across from the APU input shaft and that old green LMC that Bob and company had would be hooked up to it through the tiller hoses.
I am so glad that many detaches are being relocated instead of going to waste in scrapyards. No matter the age or the amount of hours on it, some part of it still has some life left.
I’d say 1800 pph, same as a fixed-grip. The formula for capacity is the same for both lifts. Since line speed is doubled, carrier spacing is also doubled.
Ive seen HSQs that are 2600-2800 pph, and the skimobile express at cranmore is 3000 pph, so could you up the capacity like that? or are those numbers not really achievable?
To accomplish that, you need a high line speed of 5 to 6 metres, tight chair spacing, and importantly, skilled and well-matched rider groups. Load and unload times are so short–5 or at most 6 seconds–that there is no margin for error. Everyone, even us (we?) alleged “experts”, are prone to error. If each group of three communicates well and moves into the load and out of the unload efficiently every single chair forever, then maybe. Forty plus years skiing experience, at least a few of those years actually paying attention to the world around us, says this is basically impossible. Each ski area and each lift is different, but I’ve never ridden a chair that has all three things necessary for maintaining elevated practical capacity. Regardless of the lift itself, someone always lags, or a careless parent forgets one of the kids, or a cocky expert pays too much attention to, I don’t know, the rails that need soaping to quiet down in the cold.
4.8 second intervals doesn’t sound realistic, my experience is 6 is fine for competent riders anything less requires total engagement of the rider to load, Timberline express at copper could run at 5.4 sec interval running at 1100 fpm only experts could competently load so we only ran it those speed in the early morning by 10:30 we dialed it back to 1000 fp
Quick math for load interval —> Interval in seconds = (3600 sec/hour * # of occupants to carrier)/ (Capacity People/ hour )
Interesting to see they tied dyed/painted each tower number. I don’t think I’ve seen that on another lift. Also it’s cool they’re running this lift weekends in the summer, which it didn’t get to do in its previous stint at Alta.
Lift Blog 
It’s nice to see this live on! I wonder if you can get to the other detachables through this one, it seemed that in the past the only way was through the fixed triple
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You should be able to get to Palisades when it opens (10,000 hours now!) Jeff the GM told me his next priority is snowmaking in Palisades. Between The Stache, Willow Creek, Palisades and Cole Creek, there are multiple ways not to ride the long/slow Triple Chair. It is on the list for replacement if another used CTEC detachable becomes available. The Triple might move up to replace Grizzly Peak.
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Well with the rate at which Utah ski areas are swapping their old CTEC detachable quads for six packs, I’m sure that the time will come along soon enough. I think that Gadzoom at Snowbird would be a great candidate.
LikeLike
There are alot of second gen CTEC stealth detachables at Deer Valley/Park City that would work well replacing the triple. Particularly the silver lake express, its long, so they would be able to cover the full length of the triple and have parts to spare, and it looks to be pretty well maintained.
LikeLike
This is the proper way to do a reinstall, ie make a big lift smaller, Red Lodge should have a ton of spare parts after this relocate, something like 57 chairs and grips and 5 towers worth of line equipment, guess they won’t need to buy anything for a spell. The evac on this lift is unique as it is a hydrostat hookup for a snow cat. I believe that some more G-CTEC detachables will be coming available in the next few years some with high hours but most have been well maintained.
LikeLike
Silver Lake Express at Deer Valley comes to mind when considering a potential G-CTEC detachable replacement for the triple chair. Or perhaps Gadzoom at Snowbird would be a potential candidate. I’m sure there are others
LikeLike
How common are snowcat hydrostatic evac drives? I feel like Crystal may have one or two. It’s been 20+ years since I had to know those things.
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Not very, Alta had this setup on this version of Sunnyside because of environmental regs in Little Cottonwood Canyon make having a barely used diesel engine cost prohibitive in their opinion. The lift Skytrac built at alta had an electric (battery powered) evacuation drive to avoid having a diesel or gas, I am not sure what sort of setup LPOA used.
I think this style drive may have been popular with some smaller midwest ski areas as it lowers the cost of a new lift.
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Interesting. I am fairly certain that the CM hydrostats were (are?) true evac drives, for the worst case when the main electric and the backup 3208 were both down. I didn’t know there’d be a call to have it as the first backup.
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Joe- REX had one; it was mounted on the gearbox across from the APU input shaft and that old green LMC that Bob and company had would be hooked up to it through the tiller hoses.
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Kenny (RIP) told me that Chinook had one as well.
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Is this quad gauge or did CTEC build a custom terminal?
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It’s triple line gauge.
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The terminal under skin looks a lot like those of newer Leitner Poma ones.
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LPA replaced it while it was at Alta.
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I am so glad that many detaches are being relocated instead of going to waste in scrapyards. No matter the age or the amount of hours on it, some part of it still has some life left.
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What’s the maximum theoretical capacity of a high speed triple?
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I’d say 1800 pph, same as a fixed-grip. The formula for capacity is the same for both lifts. Since line speed is doubled, carrier spacing is also doubled.
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Ive seen HSQs that are 2600-2800 pph, and the skimobile express at cranmore is 3000 pph, so could you up the capacity like that? or are those numbers not really achievable?
LikeLike
To accomplish that, you need a high line speed of 5 to 6 metres, tight chair spacing, and importantly, skilled and well-matched rider groups. Load and unload times are so short–5 or at most 6 seconds–that there is no margin for error. Everyone, even us (we?) alleged “experts”, are prone to error. If each group of three communicates well and moves into the load and out of the unload efficiently every single chair forever, then maybe. Forty plus years skiing experience, at least a few of those years actually paying attention to the world around us, says this is basically impossible. Each ski area and each lift is different, but I’ve never ridden a chair that has all three things necessary for maintaining elevated practical capacity. Regardless of the lift itself, someone always lags, or a careless parent forgets one of the kids, or a cocky expert pays too much attention to, I don’t know, the rails that need soaping to quiet down in the cold.
LikeLike
4.8 second intervals doesn’t sound realistic, my experience is 6 is fine for competent riders anything less requires total engagement of the rider to load, Timberline express at copper could run at 5.4 sec interval running at 1100 fpm only experts could competently load so we only ran it those speed in the early morning by 10:30 we dialed it back to 1000 fp
Quick math for load interval —> Interval in seconds = (3600 sec/hour * # of occupants to carrier)/ (Capacity People/ hour )
so (3600*4)/3000=4.8sec interval
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Interesting to see they tied dyed/painted each tower number. I don’t think I’ve seen that on another lift. Also it’s cool they’re running this lift weekends in the summer, which it didn’t get to do in its previous stint at Alta.
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I spy a few towers from Midway Express in the parking lot
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How much of Midway has been removed?
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Here’s a video of a doppelmayr 3CLD https://youtu.be/RIwzhj6Gdbo?si=rmXRzF0kX8PsiIyh
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Love this lift, it looks brand new!
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This lift looks way sharper than Ruthies at Aspen!
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I wonder how easy it would be to ask Doppelmayr or LPA for a detachable quad with triple chairs instead of quad chairs.
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