New lifts taking shape on Schweitzer

SANDPOINT — Schweitzer Mountain Resort is pulling back the curtain on its progress in installing two new chairlifts in the Outback Bowl.

Towers for the new lifts are scheduled to be dropped in via helicopter today and the projects are tracking toward being completed on opening day.

“All things have been going great so far, so we’ve just got to keep our fingers crossed,” said Dig Chrismer, the resort’s marketing manager.

The two new lifts — a Leitner-Poma detachable quad and a Skytrac triple — will replace Snow Ghost, a lift that was installed during a 1971 expansion effort.

The quad, which is named the Cedar Park Express, and the triple, dubbed the Colburn Triple, will function much like the Basin Express and the Lakeview Triple in Schweitzer Bowl. The two-lift configuration allows the quads to run if adverse weather dims out operation of the summit lifts.

“If there’s bad weather on the summit we can still run the Cedar Park Express and still have people accessing that north-facing terrain off of that lift, which is fantastic,” Chrismer said.

The Cedar Park Express will carry riders from the top of Cedar Park to the former midway offload station for Snow Ghost. From there, skiers and riders will make a brief downslope commute to below the Bluegrass trail, where they will load onto the Colburn Triple, which will carry them to roughly the same spot on the summit where Snow Ghost used to deposit riders.

Installation of the new lifts will increase capacity and shorten lift lines. The project also afforded the opportunity to add seven new named trails to the resort’s mix of 92 runs.

“All of that north-facing terrain near Have Fun and No Joke is going to be amazing. It’s snow-sure and has fun pitches. That’s what’s been logged and opened up a bit as well,” said Chrismer.

The Cedar Park Express boasts a capacity of 2,400 people per hour and will rise 1,447 feet in just over five minutes. The Colburn Triple’s capacity is 1,800 people per hour and will rise 1,360 feet in eight minutes.

The retirement of Snow Ghost, also known as Chair 6, is not without a touch of heartache. Despite a 13-minute ride, Snow Ghost was one of the resort’s most beloved lifts.

“We are so excited and I know there are a lot of people who are really attached to Snow Ghost and so change is scary, but I really do believe the change has been so positive back there and that people are going be thrilled,” Chrismer said.

The spirit of Snow Ghost, however, will endure here and elsewhere. The resort is retaining some parts of the Riblet Tramway Co. lift for use on the Sunnnyside lift, which has the same manufacturer. Other parts were spun off to other resorts with Riblet lifts, according to Chrismer.

The resort also purchased an Advanced Forestry Equipment skid-steer mulching mower.

“It can chomp through trees, stumps and alder, which is going to make a lot of Schweitzer fans happy. We’re getting serious on brush cutting,” said Chrismer.

As of this month, approximately 50 acres of terrain on Little Blue Ridge Run, Vagabond, Snowghost, Have Fun, Zipdown, Cathedral Aisle, Springboard and Stella’s Run had been mowed with more possible, weather depending, this fall. In addition to the mower, Schweitzer purchased a Prinoth Bison winch snow cat and a new Techno-Alpin T8 snowmaking machine.

Down in the village, meanwhile, initial construction is underway on a new hotel, which is slated for completion by the winter of 2020.

Seating is being also being expanded at the Outback and the Lakeview Lodge.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.