This December will mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of Alpine Meadows. While we’re pretty certain that much of the attention will be focused on that shiny new box that goes over the hill, this story will focus on the lifts that have been getting us to where we want to go at Alpine Meadows for years. Roughly 30 different lifts have been a part of our favorite mountain since 1961. In this post we’re taking look at the progression of those lifts over time.
This piece is a work in progress, and we welcome your feedback. If you have corrections or additions, use the comment form at the bottom. We would love to add more photos to this post. While digital cameras weren’t a thing in the 70’s, you might have some photos in a photo album. Most modern cell phones are very good at taking a photo of a picture. If you have historical photos, email us.
The 1961-62 season opener included just three lifts: the Summit chair and two Poma lifts. Today we stand at 13 lifts, unless you’re including the shuttle bus to the other side. Each chairlift has a number, in addition to a name, and many of my friends still refer to the lifts only by number.
#1 – Summit
It wasn’t always known as Summit. The 1961 IPO for Alpine Meadows shareholders refers to the lift as “Grande”, but those that have skied here since the first day tell me that on the mountain, it was always called Summit.
The first installation of the Summit chairlift, in 1961, was a fixed grip double, manufactured by Riblet. Riblet manufactured most of the ski lifts in North America at the time, with more than 500 being installed. Those early lifts were slow and the ride to the top was cold and often very windy as you crested D8.
In 1975, the original lift was upgraded by Lift Engineering, a lift manufacturer based in Carson City, more commonly called YAN. They continued to supply many of the lifts for Alpine Meadows, and Squaw Valley, as both resorts grew. This would have been the first version of Summit that I rode, and I remember being pretty terrified at the time.
In March of 1982, the base structure surrounding the Summit chairlift was destroyed in the massive avalanche that also killed seven people, including several Alpine Meadows employees. Remarkably much of the lift itself survived the avalanche, and it was not replaced until 1989.
In 1989, the Summit lift was replaced with a YAN high speed quad chair, the first detachable lift at Alpine. They also renamed the lift “AM Express”, as it was much faster than the previous versions. That name didn’t totally stick, as people continued to just call it Summit or just plain #1.
Throughout the early 90’s a series of accidents occurred with YAN high speed quads, causing injuries and deaths at Sierra Ski Ranch and Whistler. In 1996, ski resorts on US Forest Service property were forced to replace all YAN detachable lifts. Fortunately, Alpine Meadows had no accidents with the AM Express lift, and they only had one lift to replace. Some resorts did not survive the financial impact of lift replacements.
The Summit chair became Summit Six in 1996, when the current Dopplemayer high speed detachable six person chairlift was installed. With the exception of it’s sensitivity to east winds, I would definitely place it in the top three of lifts in California, as it serves a vast amount of terrain for intermediate to expert skiers.
#2 – Roundhouse
Again this lift has not always been known as Roundhouse. The IPO refers to the lift as “Avante”, and some of us still call it that when we are are trying to be mysterious about where we are going. The lift was not built until Alpine Meadows’ second season. The first version was another Riblet double chair, like Summit.
At some point, the chair was named Roundhouse, as that was what Alpine Meadows founder John Reily had envisioned for the name of the restaurant he envisioned on the back side of KT-22. There was a time around 1978 to 1980 where the lift went by the name Victoria Station. The Victoria Station restaurant chain sponsored the US Ski Team at the time, and apparently the chair was renamed as a part of the promotion. The name reverted to Roundhouse when the chain went belly up.
In 1984, the Roundhouse chairlift was upgraded to a fixed triple, built by CTEC, which were built in Sacramento. (The Lakeview Chair was also built by CTEC at the same time).
In 1993, the Roundhouse lift was again upgraded, becoming Alpine Meadows second high speed detachable lift. The Doppelmayr detachable quad is still in place today. The Roundhouse lift serves an amazing variety of terrain for a “mid-mountain” lift with only 980 feet of vertical rise.
The CTEC fixed triple was moved to Sherwood after being removed at Roundhouse.
#3 – Treeline Cirque
This chair began life as the Weasel Pass chairlift and later became the inappropriately named Hot Wheels lift, as it was still quite slow. There’s also a variety of nicknames for this chair, with the older one being called “The Chair To Nowhere” and the new one being referred to here frequently as Hotter Wheels, TurboWeasel and Chair 3.25.
Besides having a lot of different names, Chair #3 has also seen a variety of configurations.
The Weasel Pass lift was first installed as a Riblet fixed double for the 1964 season. It originally only went as far as the current mid-station at Weasel Pass. It also included a mid-station near the Chalet, which allowed skiers to get on the lift without going all of the way to the base area along the Trail Of Tears.
In 1966, the Weasel Pass lift was extended to allow for easier access to the Sherwood and Scott Meadow area. If you know where to look, you can still find one of the final towers for that section. It took a very long time time to take the whole ride from the base area to the Sherwood side. As a teen, I often wore the then fashionable combo of jeans and gaiters. I can remember totally freezing on some of those trips!
Modifications were made on the Weasel chair sometime around 1993, according to CEQA records, possibly upgrading the emergency brake. But in 1998, the original double chair was replaced by the Garaventa CTEC fixed triple known as Hot Wheels. This new incarnation, once again, only went as far as Weasel Pass (the current mid-station).
Around 2011, the mid-station near the bottom of Yellow was removed. It had not been used for many years. The short tower there were replace by a taller tower.
In 2019, the old triple chair was replaced by a Leitner-Poma high speed quad named Treeline Cirque. The reason for the name change is that the chair was extended to the top of Sherwood, ending near the top of an area known as Treeline Cirque on the patrol maps. It actually ends closer to Hidden Knolls, which are no longer hidden. An angled mid-station is at Weasel Pass.
The Treeline Cirque lift is somewhat unique in construction in regards to the angled mid-station. The haul rope (or cable) is in two separate sections, upper and lower. There is a stacked double bullwheel in the mid-station. The motor drives only the bottom cable, turning the bull wheel which then drives the upper cable. For this reason, it’s not possible to run just the lower section on a windy day. Fortunately, the careful placement of the upper station means the upper section is pretty well protected from winds.
The new lift has been controversial, as it made it much easier to access some prime terrain that previously was more difficult to access. Looking at the positive side, it allows traffic to spread out across the mountain much more quickly on busy days. The mid station at Weasel Pass still allows lower level skiers and riders a much faster ride to lower intermediate terrain, certainly a great thing for instructors and ski team coaches.
#4 – Sherwood
Plans for a huge development on the Sherwood side were considered in the early 60’s. There were plans for a gondola from the shoreline of Lake Tahoe all of the way into Ward Canyon, as well as a hotel, ski lodge and vacation homes. Several lifts were planned, including one to Ward peak and another to Twin Peaks. Fortunately the beginning of the environmental movement shut down the plans for the four lane freeway along the west shore and any major development in the Ward Creek drainage. Only the Sherwood lift was built, along with the Alpine Peaks subdivision.
An old version of the Alpine Meadows National Ski Patrol website claims the Sherwood lift was originally called “Down-Ward”, which is an interesting play on words. But nobody I have talked to remembers this name, instead remembering that this lift was previously referred to as the Sherwood Forest lift. This makes sense, with ski runs named Robin Hood, Maid Marian and Friar Tucks to complete the theme.
The Sherwood Forest chairlift began as a Riblet double fixed grip in 1965. It was not easy to get over to Sherwood, and the lift was a slow ride. Back then there was rarely a crowd, nor a line at Sherwood. This was the longest lived Riblet at Alpine Meadows, serving until 1993.
In 1993, Sherwood was replaced with a CTEC fixed triple lift. As we said above, the lift was likely moved from Roundhouse. The motor and carriers (chairs) were updated in 1998, which supports that the lift was not new in 1993. This was likely done while Garaventa CTEC was also installing the new Hot Wheels lift. Looking back, that triple lift was still a slow ride on a stormy day!
In 2005, Alpine Meadows installed its third high speed lift, replacing Sherwood with a Dopplemayr CTEC detachable quad chairlift. Although the new lift greatly increased the uphill capacity on the Sherwood side of the mountain, it also attracts a larger number of skiers. Consequently, we spend less time on the chair and more time standing in line.
#5 – Alpine Bowl
If you talk to people who have only visited Alpine Meadows once or twice, it’s the Alpine Bowl lift that many seem to picture in their heads. The top terminal ending in a European style snowshed, or “the barn”, gives the impression that this is a serious ski area. During the ’10-’11 and ’16-’17, seasons, we saw that barn nearly buried. It’s a cool experience to come off of Alpine Bowl on a big pow day and have to climb uphill to get out of the barn!
Alpine Bowl was originally a Riblet double fixed grip, installed in 1966. In 1980, it was replaced by a YAN fixed double, which still runs today.
In big snow years, the Alpine Bowl Chair can be severely impacted by the deep snowpack. During the 1981-82 season, the snow pack was so deep, crews hand dug a trench near tower 11. The following season was also a deep year. One brave cat operator discovered they could plow a trench for the chair line, as long as the chairs were pulled to the side. Andy Wertheim supplied this more recent photo of the upper station nearly completely buried in snow.
For a few years, mountain management seemed to only run Alpine Bowl when east winds put the Summit lift on windhold, or when lift lines at Summit were too long. Fortunately, the current management has chosen to run the Alpine Bowl chair just about every day. Besides offering excellent access to High Traverse and Keyhole, it also allows you to stay on the upper mountain, away from the more crowded base area. Hallelujah!
#6 Meadow
Before the Meadow chairlift was built, the Little Poma was in this area on a slightly different alignment. It was there from 1961 until 1970.
The Meadow lift was originally listed on the IPO as “Debutante”. The Meadow chairlift is another YAN fixed grip double. Several sites show that it was put in for the 1971 season, but it does appear on the 1970 map (or the map I saw was actually a 1971 map). The Meadow lift still retains it’s original high motor room and older style YAN chairs that were typical of YAN lifts built at that time.
The beginner terrain served by the chair is also not so ideal, having a “double fall line” that can lead skiers toward the creek. The master plan for Alpine Meadows mentions the possibility of grading this area to make it a better teaching area. It’s also mentioned in the 2015 Master Plan to replace Subway and Meadow with one lift.
The Meadow lift is oldest lift at Alpine Meadows, beating Yellow by one year.
#7 – Yellow
The Yellow chair is yet another YAN double fixed grip, installed in 1972. At the time, Roundhouse and Summit were still fixed doubles. It made sense to add another route to the mid-mountain area, allowing skiers to get to Alpine Bowl chair or the runs off of Roundhouse. It also offered another route up the mountain when high winds closed upper lifts. These days, it still serves as a good alternative when the base area lifts are too busy.
The Yellow chair originally had the same high motor room as Meadow, with a side loading station. Eventually the bottom station was replaced with the lower motor room and bullwheel loading to make room for the new Hot Wheels lift.
The only talk of upgrading this lift seems to be the idea of replacing Yellow and ABC with a high speed quad, with a mid station located where the top terminal of Yellow currently sits.
#8 – Scott
The Scott chair was also a YAN fixed grip double, installed in 1973. Previous to the chair being installed, access to Scott Chute, Gentian Gully and the Promised Land would have been from the Scott T-Bar in Scott Meadow. Taking a full lap would have been quite the ordeal!
The chair was replaced with a Garaventa CTEC fixed triple at the same time that Hot Wheels was installed in 1998. The original towers were used, with CTEC heads added to accommodate the triple chairs. Many people have suggested that upgrading Scott to a high speed quad should be a priority at Alpine Meadows. As it stands now, there is not enough room to accommodate the larger upper terminal that would require. It would be a very large project.
#9 – Kangaroo
The original name for the Kangaroo lift was Dilettante in the Alpine Meadows IPO. What was installed instead was Big Poma, a platter pull surface lift put in for the 1961 season. People who rode that lift say that it was somewhat akin to a rocket takeoff, lifting small children off the snow. While this was before my time at Alpine Meadows, I’ve ridden the twin to this lift at the Johnsville Ski Bowl and it also provided a rocket takeoff.
In the early years, skiers often took the route into the “Kangaroo kicker” in what is now called Kangaroo Gully. Whether or not this pre-dates the kangaroo kicker at Squaw Valley is a matter of debate.
Nonetheless, when the Big Poma was replaced by yet another YAN fixed grip double chair in 1975, it took on the name Kangaroo. This was the first chairlift at Alpine Meadows with a bullwheel loading station. The Kangaroo chair survived the 1982 avalanche and continues to operate today.
Over the years it has served as a NASTAR course, race training area, a freestyle park with a halfpipe and even was set up for night skiing. There were also proposals in the 1980’s to seed the Kangaroo slope with grass and add grass skiing and an alpine slide for summer recreation.
#10 – Subway
The Subway lift was called “Sub-Debutante” on the original Alpine Meadows IPO. This is the only logical explanation I have heard for the eventual Subway name. The Subway lift came to life as a platter pull surface lift in 1968, using one of the platter pulls removed from Scott Meadow.
In 1979, Subway was replaced with a fixed grip double chair. Yes, it was also a YAN. It has remained mostly unchanged over the years. This YAN includes the newer style of YAN double chairs. In 2010 it was upgraded to include the Magnestick safety system, which allowed children wearing a safety vest to be magnetically attached to the chairback. When KSL purchased Alpine Meadows in 2011, the system was removed in favor of safety bars being added to all lifts.
Subway serves several important purposes. Primarily it serves beginner terrain and as a home base for the Achieve Tahoe program. But it’s also a vital connection for those parking in the Subway lot or returning from Gentian Gully.
#11 – Lakeview
The Lakeview chair was added in 1984 (one person whom worked on the project says it did not open until 1985) as a fixed triple, built by CTEC. Technically it didn’t really add much in the way of new terrain. It essentially replaced the Scott T-Bar in Scott Meadow. The chairline is farther south than the T-bar line and a few new runs were cut, essentially everything from Mountain View southward.
Besides having that great lake view from the top, there’s a few unique things about the lift. The counterweight system that applies the tension for the haul rope is clearly visible at the bottom of the lift, which is something many people never think about. It also happens to be the loudest lift I have ridden on anywhere, and it’s been like that as long as I can remember.
Because of the way the haul rope is aligned with storm winds, the chairs can take a beating on Lakeview. The original chairs were pretty beat up and were replaced by the old Hot Wheels chairs in 2020.
#12 and 13 – Little and Big Carpets
“Magic carpet” surface lifts are relatively new to the ski world. According to the 2015 Alpine Meadows Master Plan, the Big Carpet was put in in 2008 and the Little Carpet in 2010. I am not absolutely positive, but I believe the larger carpet was originally purchased during the JMA ownership, to serve a tubing area that was put in on lower Tiegel. It was then moved for a year to the Lower 40 area, also for tubing. When KSL purchased Alpine Meadows all tubing was moved to Squaw Valley. The Big Carpet then was moved to the current location for ski teaching.
Lifts That Are Now Gone…
There’s a number of lifts that used to exist at Alpine Meadows that are no longer in existence. Some we have mentioned because they were replace by chairlifts. Some are a bit more mysterious.
Scott T-Bar
The Scott T-Bar definitely did not go up Scott Chute. It was located at the bottom of Scott Meadow, fairly close to the bottom of Mountain View run. It was made by Hall and ran from 1966 until the Lakeview lift was installed in 1984. The endpoint would have been on Leisure Lane, just to the north of Scott Peak. There was a mid-station near the Summer Road, and that was my normal exit point when I first started skiing Alpine Meadows. Hanging on until you reached the top was definitely a feat for 12 year old me.
Plateau T-Bar
The Plateau T-Bar was a short lived lift that served the upper part of the Weasel terrain. It was made by Hall and ran only from 1968 until 1972. It started near the exit of Hot Wheels Gully and up the area now labelled as a maintenance road. It ended at Contemplation Point, which is that flat area which is looker’s right of the TLC mid-station. Why someone thought that was a need? Who knows?
The lift created a lot of traffic issues, as skiers coming from the Weasel 1 and 2, as well as Loop Road, were forced to cross through the moving T-Bar line to access the Weasel area. This likely led to the removal of the lift.
The Subway Platter Lift
The Subway platter pull lift, which was not a Poma brand, ran from 1968 until 1979. I skied Alpine Meadows a few times as a teen during this period and was completely unaware that it existed.
Lower 40 Platter Lift
The Lower 40 lift was always referred to as a Poma, even though it was not a Poma brand lift. The lift ran from 1968 until sometime around 1990 (the last map that it appears on). You can still find the old top shack if you veer off to the right exiting out of Gentian Gully. It reportedly was the place to hang out for liftees that didn’t want to see anyone.
Big Poma
The Big Poma platter pull was installed in 1961 at the current location of Kangaroo and remained there until 1975.
Tiegel Poma
The Tiegel Poma was built sometime between 1961 and 1968. It was built by a company in Belmont, California that shares the same name. There’s a couple of lifts built by Tiegel at Homewood that are no longer in use. It was located where the current Tiegel terrain park is located.
I sure played around on Tiegel Poma a lot with the freestyle team when the mini-parks were first being built there! The poma was removed in 2010 when someone thought that would be a good location for a tubing area.
Little Scott Beginner Poma
Before the Scott T-Bar was installed, there was a Poma style lift in the area of Scott Meadows, offering some good beginner terrain in the early years. This Poma probably was eventually re-used for either the Subway or Lower 40 Poma.
“Whistle Shuffle” Shuttle Poma
The Whistle Shuffle Poma style lift was installed for a very short time in the area of Shuttle Cornice. Shuttle Cornice is the area to skier’s right of Expert Shortcut. The purpose of the lift was to give skiers access to Sherwood from Scott Meadow.
At any rate, said lift was removed after the Weasel Pass chair was extended toward Sherwood in 1966. That allowed a route to Sherwood through the Powerline area. This Poma, like the Scott Meadow Poma, likely was re-used for either the Subway Poma or Lower 40 Poma.
F Tree/High Yellow Lift
Around the same time Sherwood was built, there apparently was a plan to install a short surface lift from the top of Sherwood up to the area near F-Tree and the top of High Yellow. The lift was never completed. You can find some foundation work that was done and at one time there seemed to be a pretty clear lift line cut. As the story goes, the construction began on the lift, with a road cut and foundations started. Then there was an early snowstorm that paused the project, and the company building the lift never returned.
So there you have it, a solid start of a history of lifts at Alpine Meadows. This piece is a work in progress, and we welcome your feedback. If you have corrections or additions, use the comment form at the bottom. If you have historical photos, email us.
Sources
- An archived version of of the Alpine Meadows National Ski Patrol website
- SkiMap.org
- LiftBlog.com
- SkiLifts.org
- Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows: Tales From Two Valleys by Eddy Starr Ancinas
- Special thanks to Andy , Rick, Bob, Larry, Gene, and Gary for their personal recollections
Nice article, thank you.
My father, Fred Coolidge, drew up plans for the Roundhouse Restaurant, which was loosely based on the roundhouse restaurant at Sun Valley.
There used to be a wonderful artist’s depiction of it, hanging over the stairway in the original lodge!!
The early days of Alpine were not money-making years, so this restaurant was never built.
Too bad, it was nice and would have helped alleviate crowds at the base lodge.
Wish I had the picture….
Thanks again,
Mary
Mark,
Great article, lots of research went into this. And it’s so fun to reminisce about the Alpine Meadows of old. My dad and I began skiing there in 1965. I remember taking a Tucker snow cat ride with a couple of sales guys one spring day circa 1970-71 (?) from the Sherwood chair out into what would become the Alpine Peaks development. Dad was stoked, bought lots and put in a cabin for skiing and retirement in 1974. In the process he be-friended John Riley and the Badami family. I recall during construction, staying at John Riley’s cabin near the Sherwood chair loading station (his the first built in Alpine Peaks), Sadly dad passed in 1981 and mom sold our cabin on Gstaad. Thanks again for sharing this great story on the history of Alpine Meadows.
Hi Mark, great read! Although I’m a South Sider, we try and make the drive to AM a couple times a year. I love reading about the old days (probably b/c I’m old) and I go back to the days when Vern and Bobby owned The Ranch just off Hwy 50.
Powder “days” would last for a week and “bumps” would continue to grow until the next big snow.
Keep up the good work!
Good stuff Mark! Probably a solid reference point for next years golden egg hunt. 😎
The Scott Meadow T-Bar was definitely tightly sprung. I recall being picked-up and spun-around more than once.
Those who didn’t ski at AM before the replacement of Summit Chair with the 6-pack and converting Roundhouse to a triple don’t appreciate how much these changed skiing here. During the 1970s, lift lines on those chairs were 45 minutes to an hour on a busy weekend.
Hi Joel,
That’s funny, b/c when I was a wee lad and skiing at Sierra, I had the same experience on their poma lift. It was a detachable lift and the “poma’s” gathered at the bottom of the lift. You would slide down a short “take off” and the attendant would push a lever which would attached the poma to the cable. It then went up a pretty steep incline and if you didn’t weigh a certain amount, you went for a ride!
Yep, I remember the 45-min weekend lift lines and the perils of Scott T-Bar. If you rode the T-bar with a partner, almost invariably someone’s edge would catch and one or both of you would go down. Or if you went single, it was always off balance and tugging you off track. Someone taught me to twist the bar so it was perpendicular to the ground then stick it between your legs, so that you were riding it more like a poma lift. It wasn’t pretty, but it made for a more predictable ride.
I was told by other patrollers that there was T-bar between Standard and Mountain Run. There is definitely a narrow cleared path that is referred to as “Old T-bar” by patrollers.
Yes, that was the top part of the Scott T-Bar. There’s a little sign looking down that line from Leisure Lane…Victor’s Line.
I’ve always wondered who “Victor” is/was. Any idea? I’ve asked a couple of the old-timers and nobody seems to know.
Bobble said that Victor Pacheco was the lift op on that T-Bar in the 1970’s, so it’s likely that Victor’s Line was named for him.
Awesome. Thanks. I’ve hiked by that sign many times in the summer.
Super interesting! Thanks for the write-up.
Regarding your Sherwood line comment, do remember that high speed chairs generally have the same uphill capacity as fixed-grip chairs of the same seat count. However, the high speed chairs have fewer chairs in the air at a time with the wider spacing along the rope, resulting in a line of people on the ground that would be sitting on a chair in the air with a fixed-grip chair.
Hi Mark, this is a great article, and certainly brings back a lot of memories of the “good old days”! One thing I seem to remember is that after the “ Big Wednesday” avalanche in ‘82, the double chairs on Summit were replaced by YAN triple chairs until the whole lift was replaced in 1988. Not sure if that is correct, but I do have foggy memories of that, I think! I definitely remember the long lift lines 30 minutes + and long chair rides 12+ minutes (brutal on storm days). You were lucky to get one run per hour, but at least the slopes themselves weren’t crowded even on busy days!
As always, I appreciate the carefully written information that doesn’t disclose too much information about where we like to ski! Thanks!
Unlikely the shiny new box will be up and running this coming season. The contractors are running into a lot of snags, partially due to unforeseen issues and partly due to poor planning by Alterra.
I see that LifBlog.com now has it listed as a 2022 completion date.
I am curious if anyone has any ideas on how to address the east wind issue on the summit chair. Do they need a heavier chair? Perhaps an eight passenger chair with limited capacity (e.g. 2400 PPH – same as current six pack)? or should it be realigned somehow?
Thanks for a great compellation of Alpine history. Having first skied at Alpine in ’61 when our Edelweiss (no longer in existence) junior team competed in a FWSIA race there. Continue to teach from ’67 to the present. Watched my daughter compete with other members of the next generation Alpine junior team to get the greatest “air” at the Big Poma launch (loading) ramp. Then, trying to stay on the Scott T-bar at the steep incline before they occasionally reached the unloading station. Ahh!, the good old days.
Well it’s quite an honor to have Chip Lambert checking in at UA 🙂
Viva Big Poma!
I skied Alpine meadows annually from 1967 until about 1980. I was the youngest of my family and skied with my older siblings, usually at top speed with just short of reckless abandon. (I just turned 60 and still ski that way to the extent possible.) One of my siblings introduced me to Big Poma.
Big Poma was set up so that the platters were stacked (lined up) at the bottom while the bullwheel ran at about double the speed of the chairlifts and other pomas. (There were no high-speed chairlifts then at Alpine Meadows.) To access the lift you’d ski down a short, snow-covered ramp to gain speed. The lift operator would pull down on a triangle-shaped handle connected to a chain that would cause a platter to connect to the moving cable. The idea was that you’d ski down the ramp, grab the pole, stick the platter between your legs, and hold on while the lift hurtled you forward. As kids, we thought this was great fun.
The key was timing. If the lift operator pulled the chain late, you’d slow down almost to a stop at the bottom of the ramp, and the platter would forcefully yank you forward after it connected. I clearly recall being picked up and flung as a small kid when the operator got the timing wrong. That experience did nothing to diminish my love of Big Poma, however. One of my brothers and I figured out that a certain lift operator had excellent timing. When he was on shift, you’d ski down the ramp and in one fluid motion would have the platter between your legs and would be speeding up the track.
Big Poma served a short ski run, and as kids we’d bomb down the hill form the top to the bottom without stopping. The thing I loved most was that the ride up was almost as fun as the ride down. I’ve skied at a good number of resorts over the years, but Big Poma stands out as my hands-down favorite lift. I’d give anything to have that experience again.
Thanks for this article, especially the bit about the weasel.. I spent one season as a liftie and spent most of my time in the weasel. Bumping chairs at the upper loading station was pretty sporty. The bottom guy was supposed to load every other chair when that station was in use, so that there would be empty chairs for folks up there. Skiers didn’t always cooperate though. Some times they didn’t leave empties for you or the customers weren’t paying attention and just skied out in front of an already occupied chairs so we had to push ‘em back or else hit the stop button (fail). Some people mistook it for the exit ramp and tried to get off there, which always ended in a splat. Great memories.
When the current Summit six was installed, I recall it being a big deal that it was the first six-pack lift in California. As a kid at the time, that seemed pretty special!
My father bought stock in Alpine in 63. The dividend was in the form of scripts which were used for lift tickets. That lasted for 25 years till 87. I grew up at Alpine. I especially like Alpine bowl lift. You would exit the house and traverse and climb as far as you could to the side then shoot down a really steep section. Also on summit you would ski non stop mostly right under neath the chair including some fast turns down the face where if you stayed to the side to avoid the large bumps you could really go fast. There was a jump at the bottom of the face. The rest of the run was pretty much straight down. Loved it. The old lodge had a great fireplace. Remember in mid 80’s? a snow cat must have crashed underneath Alpine bowl chair.
I grew up skiing at AM and always had a fascination for where everything was, and I was told something about the patrollers map a long time ago. The patrollers map is mentioned in the article. I have the Squaw Valley map, but is there a way to access the map in digital form, or not?
Not that I can distribute…sorry
While ski bumming around Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass after failing out of the Engineer School at the University of Colorado in Boulder, I worked on the first USA Poma Lift at Alpine Meadows assembling the structural steel to contain the operational equipment. The towers had already been erected when I arrived there. They were in the process of laying the cable up the hill. I was basically a nuts and bolt wrench turner for the angled steel members at the bottom of the hill. Clear skies and cold winds made the job difficult. I was also hired to assist skiers departing the lift at the top. Forgetting to grease a noisy cable pulley got me fired. My next job was to help reopen Soda Springs Lodge on top of Donner Pass. The motel at Power Bowl was still in operation adjacent to the stream coming from Lake Tahoe. That where I stayed between jobs. The owners were very generous. Getting tired of the continuous snow shoveling at Soda Springs, I worked at the Pfeifer restaurant down the road from Lake Tahoe. Now at 85, I am including these ventures in my ‘Life Story” currently being written for my children and two grandchildren. Sadly, I have no photos of that period.
Great article, was wondering if there was an explanation for why the weasel pass chair was extending toward sherwood, but then when it was replaced by hot wheels, why didn’t they have hot wheels go over weasel pass and terminate at the same spot to allow access to Sherwood? Can’t think of any good reason except that the chair took a long time to get there, as you noted, but if it was a bit faster with Hot wheels upgrade that doesn’t seem to make sense. Thanks again for all your work in explaining AM history!
2005 After being fired at northstar (the first of many times fired at northstar) I went over to the mountain my dad took me to once as a little kid! I remember it was just a mountain to ride and a chalet -that’s it, I LOVED that. So I got a job and became a ticket checker on the newly built high speed Sherwood lift. Funny fact, Our ticket scanners signal couldn’t reach so they were always ‘offline’. This is my favorite mountain I’ve rode. Bachelor and June are very cool and had that similar ‘ski area’ vibe, before the vails of the world bought them up. For the record back then Alpine was most underrated park in Tahoe. The parks team and groomers did a phenomenal job. You would always catch pros/ really badass dudes throwing down and always saying how siiick of a job they did. The booters would whip you up at other resorts but Alpine’s were proper sending you up and out in the correct balance. One of the coolest things I at Alpine was a lift mechanic ride his bride to be up the mountain on a snowmobile middle of the day -bluebird day if I’m not mistaken. A cat followed them packed with friends and family. Dude worked there forever and that’s where they decided to get married. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about Alpine Meadows. Thank you for a great lesson in history of a place that I hold near and dear. Also Thank you Jess and Leah @alpine what a cool place to work, to ride, and to be a part of!
Great story and I remember all the lifts you mention. In 1966, I was 5 and I would literally ride Tiegel Poma every day for a week on vacation. Scott T-bar and Big Poma bring back some memories and I recall being thrown about while trying to hang on a get up the mountain. It used to be a traffic jam with Weasel loading near Tiegel and Roundhouse loading back where the shiny boxes load now. I think we had to side step in line for Weisel back in the day. I also certainly recall the 45 minute lift lines of the early 70’s on Roundhouse, glad those are a thing of the past. Thanks again for letting us relive history with this article.
Great read!! Thank you! Hey…..who here remembers “The Tunnel” in Alpine Bowl’s terminus?! Yup, it was a big “culvert” that was rarely opened that went left where the main exit went right. The ski patrol, when conditions rarely permitted, would dig a snow tunnel from a big culvert to help people that wanted to take a short cut to the “High Traverse” to ski over from Alpine Bowl to the Sherwood side of the mountain. I too, remember sitting at the Mid Mountain Chalet and watching (there was an entertainment factor there) people not paying attention while loading every other chair on Weasel. Rarely, some would even attempt to unload there…..sometimes receiving cheers from the patio of The Chalet. Great memories!!