Iconic chairlifts in North America, how many of the 9 have you ridden? Or on your wish list?

[marzNC]

Check out this list of chairlifts in North America, mostly in the U.S. How many of the 9 have you ridden? What's on your wish list?

March 2023

The 9 Most Iconic Chairlifts in North America

According to the Twitterverse, these are the must-ride chairs. Do you agree?

www.skimag.com

 

[santacruz skier]

This is fun.... I'll play...

1. KT-22 at Palisades - several times
2. Peak chair at Whistler - BEFORE it was a high speed quad - scary
3. Chair 23 at Mammoth - think my second run at Mammoth thanks to @WaterGirl .
4. Wildcat at Alta - it's been years
5. The Plunge at Telluride - it was STEEP

 

[RachelV]

If I could only ski one chair for the rest of my life, it would be Palli at A-Basin. Long season, playful terrain, good vibe.

 

[TiffAlt]

I see that I have lots to put on my bucket list...

 

[AJM]

Only one -
Peak Chair at Whistler .... I may or may not have kept my eyes closed the first time

 

[ski diva]

Glad to see two from Vermont on the list: the single chair at Mad River Glen and the Superstar lift at Killington. Of course, I've ridden them both.

 

[marzNC]

The list includes lifts that have been upgraded in recent years. Per usual, I like to re-arrange the list geographically.

KT-22 quad, Palisades Tahoe, CA, 1958 (upgraded from double 1995)
Chair 23 triple, Mammoth, CA, 1982
Wildcat double, Alta, UT, 1980
Pallavicini double, Arapahoe Basin, CO, 1978 (updated 2020)
Lift 9 aka The Plunge, Telluride, CO, 1985 (upgraded 2023 from triple to hi-speed quad)

Single chair, Mad River Glen, VT, 1948 (updated 2007)
Superstar Express, Killington, VT, 1987 (upgraded 1997, 2004)

Peak Chair quad, Whistler Blackcomb, BC, Canada, 1986 (updated 1998)
Red double, RED Mountain, BC, Canada, 1947 (updated 1973)

 

[marzNC]

Mad River Glen did the most unusual upgrade because the Co-op spent a lot of money completely refurbishing the Single Chair instead of replacing it with a more modern double chair. It cost $1.7 million that was paid for by donations to a major fundraising campaign, which was a more than a replacement would've cost. That will remain an iconic lift forever.

I had a chance to check out the MRG Single Chair in March 2015. Got really lucky and it was soon after a snowstorm. I did a ski safari on the way to Boston to pick up my daughter for her prep school spring break. I forgot it has a mid-station. I remember watching a few skiers doing the bumps underneath towards the top. Back then I wasn't about to try that run.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Superstar, Palli and Wildcat. And I most definitely remember when ALL of the chairs at Alta were of the Wildcat vintage.

 

[VickiK]

I'm surprised the Lone Peak lift at Big Sky isn't on the list.

 

[marzNC]

I'm surprised the Lone Peak lift at Big Sky isn't on the list.

I would guess because the focus of the article is on chairlifts. The Lone Peak lift is a called a tram, although it's a small one and completely different from the trams at Jackson Hole and Snowbird. Soon it will be replaced with a tram that has a capacity of 75, although during the winter the thinking is that it won't be loaded to capacity. Also the Lone Peak tram was built in 1995. The chairlifts on the list were all built before 1990.