The Leitner-Poma lift is the first 2016 chairlift installation announced in New England.
Friday, July 1, 2016, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
Woodstock Inn & Resort announced it will be installing a new Leitner-Poma fixed grip quad chairlift at its Suicide Six ski area this year, making it the first new chairlift project to be announced in New England.
The new lift project was prompted by back to back closures of its 1975 summit Borvig double chairlift. Following the Sugarloaf, Maine King Pine accident in 2015, Suicide Six had to upgrade the rollback device on the lift. After the Timberline, West Virginia Thunderstruck accident in 2016, Suicide Six had to close its lift when cracks were found in an inspection of the towers. As a result of the February lift closure and lack of snowpack, the area only had its novice J-Bar lift open to the public, while snowcats were used to transport racers.
According to the press release, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Fund will be funding the $1.5 million installation. Rockefeller purchased Suicide Six in 1961 and later spun the ski area and inn into The Woodstock Foundation, Inc.
The 1975 Borvig, also known as the "2,000 Foot Double Chair" and "Chair #1" was listed as 1,946 feet long by 610 vertical feet.
The shuttered Suicide Six Borvig Double, February 27, 2016
