Mt. Hood Meadows Starts Work On New Chairlift

Dec 26, 2023

By Ian Wood June 9, 2023 12:41 pm

By Ian Wood | June 9, 2023 12:41 pm ET

This offseason, Mt. Hood Meadows is getting a major chairlift replacement.

The Mt. Hood Express is being replaced by a detachable high-speed six-pack chairlift, which is being supplied by Leitner-Poma. The new chairlift base terminal will start at the same location, but its top terminal will be slightly closer to the Blue lift, allowing riders more room to unload on both sides of the new chairlift. The chairlift will have the same speed and ride time (1000 feet per minute and 5.5 minutes respectively) but it will also have a capacity increase from around 2600 riders to 3600.

Closing day on the old Mt. Hood Express.

During this deconstruction process, Mt. Hood Meadows has been releasing construction update videos showcasing the work that's been completed so far. The first video update features the Leitner-Poma and Mt. Hood Meadows crew beginning to deconstruct the chairlift. In the video, they take off the chairs, the haul rope, components, and parts of the bottom terminal.

The second video update shows the helicopter crews taking away the lift towers. This removal was a collaboration between Mt. Hood Meadows, Leitner-Poma, and Timberline Helicopters employees. It's promising to see them get started on the removal of the old lift in spite of the remaining snowpack. In addition, they demolished the lower lift terminal this week.

The first and second video updates from Mt. Hood Meadows are down below.

Image/Video Credits: Mt. Hood Meadows/Ben Mitchell

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