Monday, January 17, 2022, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
Catamount Quad
Ski season may be about half over, but three chairlift installations are still underway with the outside chance of being completed this year.
Magic Mountain's new quad chairlift was originally slated for a 2018 opening, however permitting issues delayed construction until 2019. Originally installed by Poma in Stratton's Snow Bowl in 1986, the lift was purchased to reduce reliance on the Red Chair.
A 2019-20 debut of the Black Line Quad was also missed due to construction issues and COVID-19 shut downs. Workers began to hang chairs in early December 2020, however the haul rope stretched more than expected. As a result, another splice took place in early January 2021. One month later, Magic reported that its engineer had called for modifying a cross arm and multiple sheave assemblies. Though this was slated to be completed during the 2021 off-season, manufacturing delays and unexpected Red Chair maintenance priorities further delayed work. The Red Chair has subsequently required two emergency repairs this winter, resulting in more delays. As of a recent e-mail, Pfister Mountain Services is slated to return to Magic in a few weeks to continue work on the lift.
Catamount Triple
Meanwhile, Catamount has been working on installing the Glades Triple for summit redundancy and the Catamount Quad for lower main mountain service. As of January 17, neither lifts have chairs hung, with the Catamount Quad only having towers in place. The Promenade Triple installation experienced similar delays in early 2019. Catamount issued a long letter today on its social media discussing two delayed lift projects, as well as snowmaking issues.
According to the statement, severe part delays have hampered installations. At present, Catamount still plans to complete the Poma triple chairlift, but the Garaventa-CTEC quad installation could potentially be delayed until next season.