Sunday River to add another fast lift, upgrade snowmaking
Courtesy / Sunday River
This rendering shows a fast six-person lift to be installed this summer.
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Sunday River Resort announced a new “fastest” chairlift in North America will be built this summer, just two months after the Newry ski area revved up the fastest chairlift of its kind in North America.
In December, it added an eight-person Jordan 8 with heated seats began transporting guests from the base of Jordan Bowl to the summit in just 4.5 minutes, with the capacity to move approximately 3,200 riders per hour.
The new, six-person Barker 6 will feature six ergonomically heated seats enclosed by a signature Sunday River Red bubble.
Skiers and snowboarders will travel up the mountain in just over four and a half minutes, which reduces the current ride time by 30%. Sixty-three chairs, weighing in at nearly one ton each, will transport an average of 3,250 skiers per hour. Barker 6 will achieve the status as one of the fastest six-person aerial lifts in North America, Boyne Resorts said.
Both the Jordan 8 and the Barker 6 lifts are manufactured by Doppelmayr, an Austrian company with a U.S. subsidiary in Salt Lake City.
Boyne Resorts, which is based in Petoskey, Mich., owns ski areas from British Columbia to Maine. In northern New England, it owns Sunday River in Newry; Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley; Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton; and Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H.
Sugarloaf recently started a $104 million expansion of the West Mountain, which will also include the addition of a high-speed chairlift.
Other Sunday River upgrades
At Sunday River, plans also call for major infrastructure investments for the Barker 6 and Merrill Hill lifts, as well as continuing a long-term commitment to expand the resort’s snowmaking system.
“The recent opening of the Jordan 8, the announcement of Barker 6, coupled with dramatic snowmaking system investments and the addition of a second Merrill Hill lift, all represent big next steps in Sunday River’s 2030 Plan,” Sunday River President Dana Bullen said in a news release.
The Merrill Hill Triple will offer ski-in, ski-out access to future home sites and will provide new trails with views of the Mahoosuc Mountains.
On the snowmaking improvement front, enhancements across Aurora, Oz, Jordan and South Ridge will allow the resort to localize its full snowmaking ability to any point throughout its eight peaks.
New pipe to the top of Jordan will triple the snowmaking capacity in the area, allowing for all snow guns in the Jordan Bowl to operate simultaneously. New fully automated, high-efficiency fan guns will be added to trails around the South Ridge base area. This automation will expand terrain faster for early-season skiing.
Lift installations and snowmaking system upgrades will begin at the conclusion of the ski season.
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