Bad News--Silver Fir getting new chair

Just read that today...is anyone else bummed about that or am I just crazy?

From the Summit:

Breaking News!

Love the smell of a new chairlift in the morning? Us too, so get ready to inhale and read on for the full scoop.

Ever visited Silver Fir? If you have, you know of its awesome terrain including tree-lined runs, long cruisers, secret stashes of powder and the true feeling of escape that it provides. Why am I bringing up this area (the natural intersection of Summits Central and East)? Drumroll please....

We are adding another high-speed quad to our resort...at Silver Fir! The current triple chair will be replaced this summer, meaning come winter it will make your ride to the top over twice as fast! It will be in the same spot as the current chair, but your trip will be much more efficient...think Central and Armstrong Express-esque. The ride time is shortening from over ten minutes to just above four, allowing you more time to enjoy this treasure trove of gladed runs, cruisers and powder stashes.
 
Construction has begun on this and several other summer improvement projects. Be sure to check out our website periodically this summer and fall for progression photos and video of the new chair going in...including some helicopter action. Want more details and a glimpse of other things you can look forward to next season? Check out this web page.

Technical details of the new lift are below if you're curious.


Name: Silver Fir Express
Type: Poma-Leitner Detachable Quad
Lift Vertical: 1030'
Horizontal Distance: 3840'
Top Elevation: 3865'
Bottom Elevation: 2835'
People Per Hour: 2,400
Cost: $4.5 Million


Eager to make your virgin voyage on the new Silver Fir Express? Us too. Make sure you've got your ducks in a row before next season, and by that I mean your Big S Pass! And speaking of high-speed quads...want to dine on top of Crystal Mountain? Our sister resort has some amazing summer adventure opportunities where you'll ride a quad up, see some breathtaking Rainier scenery and experience some delicious eats.

-HL

www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/info/winter/summer_improvements.asp

I suppose one positive aspect of this is that they are upgrading an old chair instead of adding a new chair which would allow lift-skiers to overrun previously "backcountry" areas, unlike their proposed "Chikamin" quad that will domesticate the old "nordic pass" route.

I wonder how much they will bump season's pass and day ticket prices -- and will the new chair be lighted  for night skiing ?

Just read that today...is anyone else bummed about that or am I just crazy?

Respectfully put me in the "you're crazy" category.

I just don't see how this can be a bad thing. Peak weekend crowds have really swelled the last few years, may as well move those skiers faster.

I have really fond memories of Silver Fir when my brothers and I would freeski after our ski lessons. At the time, it seemed to have it all, and it did seem to have smaller lines than the other chairs. My guess is that lines have been long lately.

I'm not sure how I feel... Silver Fir rarely ever gets crowded, compared to the rest of Summit. Whether that's because it's not directly accessible/visible from the lodges, or because the lifts were too slow, I don't know. If the lift justs lets me ski more in a given day, then I'm all for it. If it draws enough people to mogul up what normally holds powder much longer than the rest of Summit (except for a few stashes I'm holding secret! ) then it's really a Bad Thing.

All in all, I'm happy as long as nobody's building lifts into great hike-to or bc terrain, like Breck did a while back.

well, I don't like it so much.  The Silver Fir parking area has always been kind of a quiet sanctuary and the staff they have in the little mini-lodge there have always been friendly and responsive.  I wonder if they're going to put in another overpriced, chaotic base lodge selling 9 dollar grease burgers and 2.50 cups of hot tea.  Bus parking for high volumes of school groups, etc?  Hopefully they won't see fit to "grade" some of the bumpy terrain over there that usually takes a few extra weeks to get good coverage.  I like to access the XC system via Silver Fir rather than Hyak...they've honored the XC lift tickets over there in the past and sometimes I've even scored a freebie off the lifties.  Oh well...even less pressure on triple 60.

Color me bummed. Never any lines, nice quiet freshie stashes, and far away from all the other Summit madness. The nice, slow chair had its charms. Hopefully they won't put in lights- always a perfect place for headlamp tours.