SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
Crews at Squaw Valley had a busy summer replacing the Siberia Express chairlift located on the front side of the mountain. The former quad chair was upgraded to a Leitner-Poma sixpack spanning 3,735 feet and rising 923 vertical feet. The lift was designed with 425 hp DC drive but comes supplied with 500 hp. There are also backup and auxiliary drives. The new lift, which can now carry 2,400 people per hour, will offer guests a smoother ride. This installation project is similar to the one Squaw preformed in 2012 to upgrade the adjacent Big Blue Express. The Siberia Express is located on the upper portion of the mountain and rises to the summit, serving a good mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails, including the nearby Mainline terrain park and Siberia Bowl.


LUTSEN MOUNTAINS, MINNESOTA
It took 31 helicopter loads, some as heavy as 8,000 pounds, for crews to airlift the towers for Lutsen Mountain’s new $7 million eight-passenger gondola. The project is one phase of a 10-year, $25-million upgrade that includes expanding the Summit Chalet and adding more observation decks and hiking trails.

The new 4,854-foot-long Doppelmayr lift will depart from the base area of Ullr Mountain, drop into the Poplar River Valley and then ascend to the summit of Moose Mountain. The vertical rise between the two stations is 308 feet. While there are ski trails located between the two mountains, some of the areas are difficult for novice riders and younger children. Thanks to the new gondola, guests can easily move between the two mountains, and the additional capacity will help eliminate liftline wait times for guests as they transfer between mountains.

As for the gondola’s technical specs, it has a 500 hp motor and an AC VFD drive. The gondola will travel 1,000 feet per minute, compared to the old lift’s 620 fpm. The gondola has an initial carrying capacity of 1,000 pph, but is designed to carry up to 2,400 pph—allowing for future growth. The previous gondola only had a capacity of 300 pph. Included in the upgrade are CWA eight-passenger cabins. The vintage cars from the old gondola were sold at an auction ranging from $500 to $1,000 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to a local charity.

Looking toward summer, Lutsen officials plan to add canopy tours, a ropes course and zip lines in future years.


PURGATORY, COLORADO, and ARIZONA SNOWBOWL
The largest ski area conglomerate in the Southwest will see $10 million worth of multi-resort improvements this winter. Purgatory Resort, Arizona Snowbowl and Sipapu Resort are all getting new quad chairs. Meanwhile, Pajarito Mountain expanded its weir system, allowing the ski area to collect more water for snowmaking.

Arizona Snowbowl’s Skytrac quad chair is set to open in mid-December. Spanning over a half-mile and rising 775 feet, the Humphreys Peak Lift is the resort’s first new chairlift in 30 years. The resort also purchased five SMI fan guns and installed 5,000 feet of snowmaking infrastructure on the Ridge.

Meanwhile, Purgatory’s 30-year old Legends Lift 8 was replaced with a new high-speed Leitner-Poma detachable quad. Running almost a mile and covering 1,500 vertical feet, the 600 hp chair will transport guests to the summit in under five minutes. Purgatory also has three new trails: two advanced runs off of Ray’s Ridge, and one intermediate trail creating an easier route to the bottom terminal of the new lift.

Additional snowmaking infrastructure has also been put in place, allowing the new lift to open earlier in the season. One mile of pipe was extended from the bottom of the Hermosa Park Express Lift 3 over to the new Legends Express Lift 8 and includes six fan guns to cover the designated area near the bottom of Lift 8.


SUGARBUSH, VERMONT
In October, crews at Sugarbush flew in concrete for the new Valley House Quad and installed new lift towers. The new fixed-grip Doppelmayr quad will replace the old Valley House Double, which was dismantled and auctioned off this summer. The upgrade will increase the lift capacity from 748 pph to 1,800 pph and cut the ride time to eight minutes. The lift has a length of 3,530 feet over a 1,245 foot vertical and features a loading conveyor that allows the area to increase the lift speed and still make loading easier. The top terminal was moved slightly lower, to eliminate congestion on the Valley House Traverse, and the portion of the trail above the lift has been widened.

“The Valley House Lift project will really take the pressure off the base area on busy days by significantly increasing our uphill capacity. Also, the re-positioning of the lift will make it more accessible to our guests,” said Sugarbush Resort president Win Smith. The estimated cost of the new quad is $3 million.

Sixteen new condos will also come online in 2016 as part of Sugarbush’s Gadd Brook slopeside development project.


HERMITAGE CLUB, VERMONT
Construction of Hermitage Club’s Barnstormer sixpack heated bubble chair began in October, as new towers were flown in and the bottom terminal machinery was installed. The $7.5 million Doppelmayr chair stretches 5,293 feet on a 1,180 foot vertical and has 88 carriers. The 700 hp lift has an AC drive.

Mike Quinn, Hermitage’s VP/general operations manager, says the new lift will be a game changer. “Previously, we only had a fixed grip lift system. Our base to summit travel time was 13 minutes with an uphill capacity of 1,600 pph. This new lift will reduce that travel time to 5.5 (minutes) and nearly double the uphill capacity, not to mention the comfort and style of the bubble cover with heated seats.”

Riders on the new chair will also whisk by a new mid-mountain log cabin at the top of the Hay Fever lift. The cabin has a three-sided wraparound porch with views down the valley and across to the Witches, an area of the resort known for its steeper trails. Over at the Club House, there’s a new sushi venue located upstairs in the mezzanine of the Great Room.

The resort has also added 14 duplex townhomes. Construction of a new Hotel Hermitage is scheduled to begin in April 2016, with a projected Thanksgiving 2017 completion date.