Schweitzer Lift To Get Overhaul Austrian Firm To Rebuild Great Escape, Shut Down In February

Schweitzer Mountain Resort will announce today a plan to have its most essential ski lift rebuilt by an Austrian manufacturer.

Doppelmayr, a well-known lift builder, will overhaul the Great Escape detachable “quad” that is the primary people-mover for the ski area, said Schweitzer spokesman Bill Mullane.

Schweitzer shut down the lift in February after inspections found small cracks in a few of the grip mechanisms that keep the chairs on the lift cable.

The manufacturer, Lift Engineering Ltd. of Carson City, Nev., ordered the inspections of all its Yan-series lifts in February. An accident last December on a Yan lift built by Lift Engineering at Whistler Mountain in British Columbia killed one person.

Schweitzer officials hope to have the work mostly completed by the beginning of ski season in November, Mullane said. Mechanics estimate the lift will be running at 80 percent of capacity by the crucial Christmas holiday, he said.

Doppelmayr will rebuild the terminals at each end of the lift, Mullane said. The company will replace the grip mechanisms that keep the chairs on the cable and change much of the equipment that runs the complex lift.

“What we hear is that the Doppelmayr lifts are far more reliable,” Mullane said. “The Yan lifts were known for being finicky lifts. The good news is that this will mean much less down time for the quad.”

Ski magazines have noted Schweitzer’s short lift lines as one of its most appealing points, Mullane said. While skiers can gain access to all of the resort’s terrain through other ski lifts, the quad “really gobbles them up,” Mullane said. “People get used to that.”

Schweitzer discounted its lift tickets after it shut down the Great Escape in February.

A local ski industry source said the cost of the Doppelmayr “fix” for the lift would be close to $1 million.

Schweitzer bought the Great Escape quad for $2.2 million in 1990, using it as the first big step in the ski area’s $100 million master development plan.

Schweitzer, like all other Inland Northwest ski resorts, saw poor weather translate into a lousy financial year. This latest expense will not help Schweitzer’s bottom line.

Schweitzer’s management admits to having some cash flow problems.

The resort mailed notices March 15 of this year to creditors asking them to be patient while the resort solved its “temporary liquidity problems which has made it difficult for us to make timely payments on a number of our obligations.”

Schweitzer management has said it may seek a financial partner to help run the resort, but does not believe parent company Pack River Management will sell Schweitzer.

Mullane said more details of the quad repair plan would be announced today.

Other ski resorts with Lift Engineering-built quads, such as Sun Valley, also have turned to Doppelmayr.

Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort in Lake Tahoe decided this spring to rip out its three Yan quad chair lifts in favor of Doppelmayr lifts, said Ted Austin, marketing director for the ski resort.

“We found they just didn’t withstand the test of time,” Austin said. The three new lifts will be open for Sierra-at-Tahoe’s opening day this fall, he said.

Getting Schweitzer’s lift back up and running will take time primarily because Doppelmayr has a large backlog of orders to fix or replace other Lift Engineering quads, Mullane said.

Detachable lifts, compared with more common fixed grip lifts, have some advantages. Detachable quads slow the chairs at the top and bottom of the lift, making loading and unloading easier.

While detached lifts are faster than fixed ones, they are also far costlier to maintain.

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