Snowboarding World News and Events

Solitude Expert skiers and riders listen up. You can do laps on the upper mountain this winter because Solitude is installing a quad lift to serve your favorite black diamond, white knuckle terrain. You don’t have to ski beginner lower mountain runs any more to get to the lift. Celebrate!

The new Powderhorn II quad lift will serve upper mountain tough terrain only. It starts mid-mountain at the base of Sunshine Bowl, and its top terminal will be in the same spot at the old Powderhorn lift’s top terminal. However, the top terminal location is the only similarity between old Powderhorn and the new Powderhorn II lifts.

The old Powderhorn lift is gone. Torn out. The old, slow two-seater lift left over from the 70s is history. Lay bets with your friends and count how many skiers and riders wind up looking for the old lift at the base of the mountain.

The new Powderhorn II lift comes with a $1.5 million price tag. Last year, Solitude invested $7 million in two high-speed detachable lifts: the Apex and Moonbeam Express.

The new, upper mountain Powderhorn II lift will cut lift ride time nearly in half, to just 7 minutes. It will give access to some of the state’s steepest groomed runs and to wild and wooly Honeycomb Canyon. Solitude is a family-friendly resort with a lot of beginner and intermediate terrain on the lower part of the mountain. The new lift is expected to keep advanced and expert skier and riders entertained higher on the mountain thus easing traffic in prime areas enjoyed by less experienced skiers and riders