Village Express – Northstar, CA

This is the only “merger-era” detachable at Northstar and the only one with DT grips, Uni-GS terminals and Garaventa chairs.
Loading area and turnaround.
Top station and operator house.
Uni-GS terminal.
View down the lift line.
Tower 4.
Lift overview.
Another look up the line.
T3.
Bottom terminal next to the Big Springs Gondola.
Arriving at the top terminal.
View back down the very gradual pitch lift line.
Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.

7 thoughts on “Village Express – Northstar, CA

  1. Donald M. Reif March 8, 2019 / 6:33 am

    This lift and Martis Camp are the only high speed quads on the mountain with footrests.

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  2. Tad February 4, 2021 / 7:07 pm

    Is the top the drive station?

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    • Utah Powder Skier February 4, 2021 / 7:47 pm

      It is listed as a top drive in the lift database for Northstar.

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  3. skitheeast February 4, 2021 / 8:23 pm

    Reading the Doppelmayr Worldbook entry: How on earth did Echo, the fixed-grip triple this replaced in the same alignment, have 43 towers? Village Express only has 15, and it is not as though they are spaced absurdly far apart. I could see a lift here having around 20, perhaps 25 max, but 43 is insane.

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    • nvskier February 4, 2021 / 11:15 pm

      Judging by this pic, they were pretty tightly spaced

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    • Michael February 5, 2021 / 9:07 am

      Echo was a Riblet triple. Because Riblet built low tension lifts and the largest sheave assembly they made at the time was a 4 sheave it required more towers to support the load over the length of the lift. Hope this helps.

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      • Ben Eminger July 9, 2021 / 8:08 pm

        The triple actually lives on at Marquette Mountain in Upper Peninsula of Michigan as the Snowfield triple, went from 41 towers to 17, and I’m not sure how many chairs, monster lift from a certain point of view to a much smaller lift.

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