We had a good experience at Blacktail this winter. I try to get to any ski areas I'm near, no matter their size. I'm rarely disappointed in this philosophy.
It was, admittedly, a poor snow year, but I still had a great time and was impressed with the staff and the vibe. Plus it was $30 to buy a day ticket. (Sale one day we were there) The food was good and parking directly next to the lift was fun.
I'm thrilled to hear about Chair 1 eventually becoming a detachable chairlift! As much as I love Riblets, a center-pole Riblet double chairlift serving as the main egress lift out of the base while simultaneously being the main terrain park and beginner chairlift (especially since beginners who are learning at Mission Ridge are quite literally graduating from flat base area rope tows) isn't really the best situation at hand. But Mission Ridge has proven they're on to something with the Wenatchee Express - Europe has countless ski resorts and thus countless lifts of all types. Instead of buying a modern detachable chairlift with as few frills as possible and breaking the bank, Mission Ridge secured themselves a used lift from Europe with almost all the bells and whistles, sure it's the oldest detachable chairlift in Washington yet it is unequivocally the fanciest and has the most bells and whistles, with leather seats, bubbles and a safety bar both of which automatically raise at the top and close for the trip down to keep the seats dry, loading gate with a loading carpet, beautiful terminals and tapered towers, it's a lift that's uncharacteristically beautiful and fancy for an Indy Pass resort that can't just buy whatever they want. And Eaglecrest in Alaska is doing the same thing, with a used pulse gondola coming from Europe. I think smaller, independent ski areas on a budget will start looking to Europe more to get secondhand lifts. Doppelmayr lifts hold up and stand the test of time very well too.
We had a good experience at Blacktail this winter. I try to get to any ski areas I'm near, no matter their size. I'm rarely disappointed in this philosophy.
It was, admittedly, a poor snow year, but I still had a great time and was impressed with the staff and the vibe. Plus it was $30 to buy a day ticket. (Sale one day we were there) The food was good and parking directly next to the lift was fun.
I'm thrilled to hear about Chair 1 eventually becoming a detachable chairlift! As much as I love Riblets, a center-pole Riblet double chairlift serving as the main egress lift out of the base while simultaneously being the main terrain park and beginner chairlift (especially since beginners who are learning at Mission Ridge are quite literally graduating from flat base area rope tows) isn't really the best situation at hand. But Mission Ridge has proven they're on to something with the Wenatchee Express - Europe has countless ski resorts and thus countless lifts of all types. Instead of buying a modern detachable chairlift with as few frills as possible and breaking the bank, Mission Ridge secured themselves a used lift from Europe with almost all the bells and whistles, sure it's the oldest detachable chairlift in Washington yet it is unequivocally the fanciest and has the most bells and whistles, with leather seats, bubbles and a safety bar both of which automatically raise at the top and close for the trip down to keep the seats dry, loading gate with a loading carpet, beautiful terminals and tapered towers, it's a lift that's uncharacteristically beautiful and fancy for an Indy Pass resort that can't just buy whatever they want. And Eaglecrest in Alaska is doing the same thing, with a used pulse gondola coming from Europe. I think smaller, independent ski areas on a budget will start looking to Europe more to get secondhand lifts. Doppelmayr lifts hold up and stand the test of time very well too.