Orange Bubble Express directly replaced Golden Eagle, but it also arguably replaced a few more. Tomahawk was installed in 1968, as a Riblet double. It served intermediate and advanced terrain in Silverado Bowl, and provided access to other lifts at The Canyons (Then known as Park West, I believe). Just two years later, in 1970, another lift was added going up Lookout Ridge, known as Slaughterhouse. It was a Hall double, and it provided better access to the steep trails on the north side of Lookout Ridge, where one wouldn't have to ski a long runout to the bottom of Tomahawk. Sometime in the late 80's, early 90's, Slaughterhouse was realigned to follow the Lookout Ridge trail more. Before then, it was renamed to Golden Eagle. In 1997, Raptor was upgraded to a quad, a Garaventa CTEC which came from the Saddleback lift. While Raptor was around, Golden Eagle was demoted to a backup lift, making Raptor the main lift on Lookout Ridge. Golden Eagle also wasn't very necessary, either, with the Flight of the Canyons Gondola starting in the same location. In 2000, Raptor was removed, and Golden Eagle became the primary lift to Lookout Ridge once again. Likely, the alternate route, which was Flight of the Canyons and Lookout was the main reason to remove Raptor, as ASC may have decided they already had enough lifts going up to Lookout Ridge. In 2010, Golden Eagle was replaced with a high speed lift, one with bubbles, which made it unique, as there were not any public resorts with bubble lifts at the time. Aptly named Orange Bubble Express, the lift was realigned to start at the base of the old Flight of the Canyons Gondola, which was realigned with a mid-station, and renamed Red Pine Gondola. This new alignment had it start at the actual base, and a rope tow called Rip Cord was added to bring people up high enough in the Willow Draw to be able to traverse back to the lift without having to walk, as was the case previously.
Orange Bubble Express is a Doppelmayr CTEC high speed quad with bubbles. Although still Doppelmayr CTEC, the lift uses all Doppelmayr parts, DT-104 grips with charging pads attached for charging the heated seats battery, European imported bubble chairs, and uni-g terminals. It also has a fully complete automated parking and storage facility at the top station, completed after this lift operated its first season. Unlike the old Golden Eagle lift, this lift goes all the way to a point just below Sun Peak Express, with a half mid station for those who want to ski terrain in Silverado Bowl, or the north side of Lookout Ridge. This midstation does not require riders to raise the safety bar, or the bubble, as they stay high enough above the unload ramp. The lift also runs over a massive snowmaking lake, which may have been a reason why this lift has bubbles in the first place, so people would want to use the safety bar. This lift was the first currently standing lift to have bubbles in the US. I believe a few places in Colorado had older Doppelmayr bubble lifts, but the bubbles or the lifts entirely have been removed, leaving Orange Bubble Express the oldest bubble lift at a public ski resort in the US.
Recorded on February 18th, 2021
12 сен 2024
