Two New Lifts Installed, Inspected and Ready To Go for the 2018-19 Ski Season at Beech Mountain

Top of the mountain – Chair Lift # 6

By Nathan Ham

Two brand new quad ski lifts have been installed and inspected and are ready to haul skiers and snowboarders to the top of Beech Mountain this winter.

One of the lifts replaces another quad lift that was a state-of-the-art detachable quad lift during its time at Beech Mountain when it was installed years ago. The other lift was a two-seat lift that was upgraded to a quad lift.

Chair Lift # 5 loading area

“We got the opportunity to replace lift five and lift six so we put in two new quad lifts that more than doubled our capacity,” said Talia Freeman, the Director of Marketing at Beech Mountain.

According to Freeman, the new quad lift on lift five has 144 chairs and will be able to accommodate 2,400 skiers per hour and also has a loading conveyor with it.

“That helps speed up the loading process and insures safer boarding on the chairs,” Freeman said. “Essentially the person will step onto the loading conveyor and it moves them forward as the chair comes around.

A loading conveyor is designed to help skiers move quicker to the load point. This makes for fewer stops of the chair, more safety in the loading process and more efficiency getting people on the lift.

The new lifts have upholstered seating and back support, making the ride up the mountain more comfortable.

The new quad lift at lift six will accommodate 2,000 people per hour, according to Freeman.

Doppelmayr, a company based out of Austria, constructed both of the new lifts at Beech Mountain.

“It was incredible to watch them, just how quickly they were able to do this this summer and we were able to stay open for mountain biking. It was a good summer watching it all come together. They’ve successfully been inspected and we’re ready to go now,” Freeman said.

The new chairlifts will make things easier for both the consumer and for maintenance, according to Freeman.

In addition to the new lifts, Beech Mountain has been busy adding on to their resort to make the customer experience even better. There is a new top terminal station on lift one as well as four new Super Puma Snow Machines and 2,500 feet of snowmaking line. There are also 115 new LED slope lights.

As the new ski season approaches, there will be several incentives for those that purchase season passes as well as special Ladies Night on Thursday and Men’s Night on Wednesday where you can ski for $15. The annual Winter Music Series lineup is sure to be another popular slate of musical performances in the High Country.

The tentative opening date for Beech Mountain is November 17.

Chair Lift # 6 on the left – Chair Lift # 5 on the right