So how many chairs are on the Lookout chairlift? Steve Edwards was quick with the answer that there are 206 chairs! Obviously like myself, Steve found ways of passing the time while riding Lookout during the Quad outage by watching the chair numbers go by!
We’re so spoiled by today’s high-speed lifts that Lookout seems so slow! I didn’t time it, but one fellow said it was 14 minutes. But when it was installed for the 1979-80 season, Lookout was state-of-the-art. It joined the 1940 single chair and the 1960 double on the Mansfield side. Other than on those 3-and-4-blanket cold days I don’t remember thinking about how slow those lifts were.
However I do remember how slow the lines were to get on those lifts on busy days! Forty minutes to an hour was not uncommon. I have written previously about the sometimes contentious lift line tactics people used to try and shorten their wait!
The ForeRunner Quad was the first high-speed detachable for Stowe and was installed for the 1986-87 season. It was replaced with the FourRunner Quad in 2011. Am I the only one who didn’t realize that involved a name change? I just thought it had always been “Four” rather than “Fore.”
High-speed lifts have made significant impacts on skiing. Their increased capacity and speed have shortened the waits on busy days. Yes, we probably still complain, but when was the last time you waited in an hour lift line? And on less busy days you can log more runs and vertical than we ever dreamed of when that Lookout lift was added. I know I can now get a full day of skiing in four hours and go home for lunch!
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