The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Sugarloaf Building Chairlift to Replace One that Derailed

February 27, 2011 - Carrabasset Valley - Sugarloaf Mountain Resort announced Wednesday that it will build a $3 million chairlift this summer to replace the Spillway East lift, which derailed in December, and the Spillway West lift, which runs alongside it.

The new four-person lift, still unnamed, will be faster and more wind-resistant than the two-person Spillway lifts, said Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin. That means it will carry more people up the mountain and will stay open in windier weather.

Replacing the Spillway lifts was identified as a high priority last summer when Sugarloaf announced a 10-year development plan that also includes opening 650 acres of terrain on Burnt Mountain.

Spillway East derailed on Dec. 28. Five chairs fell to the ground and eight people were injured. About 150 people were evacuated from the lift with ropes and pulleys.

This month, CNL Lifestyle Properties, the real estate investment company that owns Sugarloaf, approved spending $4.3 million on capital projects at the resort this year, including building the new lift, opening 135 acres on Burnt Mountain and upgrading the SuperQuad's electrical systems, Austin said.

He said the derailment of the 35-year-old Spillway East, which reopened Monday, did not speed up the process of replacing it.

"This summer was the goal. We were hesitant to say it was scheduled, because it was subject to CNL's approval process," he said.

Skiers at Sugarloaf on Wednesday had mixed reactions to the announcement about the new lift. While the higher-capacity lift will shorten lines at other lifts, they said, it will make the trails on the east side of the mountain more crowded.

Rene Nickerson of Belgrade said she's not looking forward to having the new lift "dump more people on the mountain."

"I'm kind of a snob like that," said Nickerson, who has been skiing at Sugarloaf since the 1980s.

But Lynne Palmer of Scarborough said a new quad lift will be "awesome." She said she has been going to Sugarloaf with her 11-year-old son since he could ski, but he refused to go on Spillway East because "it creeped him out."

"It's a double-edged sword," said Chris Kalil of Middletown, R.I. "I think you'd rather deal with the lines than the crowd."

The Spillway lifts will be removed in May and construction of the new lift should be finished in November, a written statement from Sugarloaf said.

The new lift will follow the same path as Spillway East, but the chairs will be lower and closer to the treeline, reducing exposure to the wind, Sugarloaf The quad chairs will be heavier than Spillway's double chairs, so they will be less likely to swing.said.

The new lift, made by Dopplemayr, will run at 500 feet per minute. The Spillway lifts run at 400 feet per minute, Austin said.

He said he doesn't know how many people per hour the new lift will be able to carry up the mountain.

The new chairlift will be the only lift at Sugarloaf with a conveyor loading system, in which an automated gate opens to let skiers step onto a conveyor belt that keeps them moving forward as they get on the chair.

Austin said the system makes it easier to get on the lift, so there should be fewer stops caused by loading problems.

Austin said Sugarloaf decided that this week is a good time to announce the replacement of the lift because most schools are on vacation and many people are at the mountain. "We knew people were anxious to hear about it," he said.

Wednesday was the second full day that Spillway East was open, after repairs and extensive testing.

Doug Cundy of Belgrade said didn't hesitate to get back on Spillway East. "It's probably the safest lift in the state of Maine right now," he said.

Leslie Bridgers, Morning Sentinel, February 2011


Lakes:
Regions: Rangeley


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News