Beaver Mountain creates new ski lift
A helicopter flew in 18 steel towers to Beaver Mountain Ski Resort on Thursday as part of the completion for its newest ski lift, Marge’s Triple.
The lift, a triple seater, is the first at Beaver Mountain to be accessed by another lift. Marge’s Triple will possibly be open for the 2002-03 ski season.
Travis Seeholzer, Beaver Mountain operator, said, “It’s a definite possibility that we will still be finishing the installation on the lift when the resort opens.”
Marge Seeholzer, part-owner of the resort, said, “We’re a family-owned business, so it’s hard to grow as fast as the other resorts.”
The lift opened an additional 200 acres of terrain for five new intermediate-level runs, he said. It holds 1,600 to 1,800 people and loads three people every 6.4 seconds.
Some of the new runs include Ted’s Rock, Wapiti, High Traverse, Sour Grapes and Tunnel of Love.
“Hopefully the lift will spread people out a little more and relieve crowding on the other lifts. It’s been 30 years since we’ve had a new lift, so the time has come, and hopefully it will pay off. We are really excited about it,” Travis said.
Ted Seeholzer, part-owner of the resort, said, “This [lift] will permit people who would like to participate in skiing in powder snow.”
Sam Dahly, from Hyrum and a Beaver Mountain skier, said, “This is a nice improvement. It’ll be nice to see it happen.”
The towers were transported by a helicopter from Central Copters Inc. of Bozeman, Mont. The heaviest tower weighs 4,900 pounds and is 54 feet tall. Concrete was laid earlier as a foundation for each of the towers.
The top of Marge’s Triple is 8,600 feet in elevation. The towers at the top were installed first. At the bottom of the lift, a 63,000-pound drive terminal, housing the two miles of high-voltage power, was installed by a crane. The lift is 4,225 feet long and 1,100 feet in elevation.
Mark Duffy, pilot for Central Copters Inc., said the helicopter, a Bell 214 B-1, can transport up to 8,000 pounds at sea level.
Preparation for the lift included cutting trails, building roads, hiring more employees and cleaning areas of rocks and trees.
Travis said, “[The lift is in] a whole other canyon. I don’t think a lot of people realize what a big area it really is.”
The new lift has been in the master plans of the resort for 20 years, but work on the lift began last year. Installation of the lift was delayed for two months because of complications with transporting the towers.
Beaver Mountain has been a family-owned and operated ski resort since 1939. The resort will open early December for the 2002-03 season and is open every day except Christmas Day. Operations continue through March, according to the Beaver Mountain brochure.
Beaver Mountain is located 27 miles east of Logan on Highway 89.
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Helicopter pilot Mark Duffy leans out in a bubble on his chopper to position himself over columns he is lifting for Beaver Mountain Ski Resort. The resort hired Duffy and his crew from Central Copters Inc., based in Bozeman, Mont., to haul the columns for a new ski run up the mountain.
David Eames and Troy Torgrimson work as a ground crew connecting the helicopter to ski lift support columns by a cable that hangs from the chopper.
Wayne Miller and David Eames watch as a helicopter takes off from the Beaver Mountain parking lot Thursday afternoon. (Photos by Zak Larsen)
Troy Torgrimson, David Eames and Wayne Miller connect a cable, hanging from a helicopter, to one of 18 support columns that will be placed along a new ski run at Beaver Mountain Ski Resort.