Big Sky Resort’s next replacement will cut ride time to eight minutes on the north side
EBS STAFF
Big Sky Resort’s Six Shooter chairlift will be replaced by an eight-person, heated-seat bubble chairlift after this winter season. The upgrade is expected to be the world’s longest eight-seat chairlift.
The new chairlift will be Big Sky Resort’s second eight-seat, and third Doppelmayr D-line chairlift, and is expected to open for the 2024-25 winter season, according to a Dec. 28 press release from Big Sky Resort. The resort’s first D-line chairlift was Ramcharger 8, which opened in 2018, followed by Swift Current 6 in 2021.
The Six Shooter replacement is a surprise addition to Big Sky Resort’s 2025 Vision, which will include a new Explorer Gondola by the following winter of 2025-26, among other facility and infrastructure upgrades.
Six Shooter is a high-speed six-seat detachable chairlift first constructed by Moonlight Basin Ski Area in 2003. Its successor will “effectively double” uphill capacity to 2,745 skiers per hour, and travel at 13 miles per hour, reducing ride time by 30%. Construction will begin in summer 2024.
“Replacing Six Shooter has long been an ask of our guests,” Troy Nedved, resort GM, stated in the release. “The lift replacement doubles the uphill capacity at one of our last remaining pinch points, and will enhance what is one of the resort’s coldest lift rides with bubbles and heated seats.”
The lift will feature an automatic lowering and locking safety bar system.
It will also include North America’s first Fatzer Performa-DT rope “which will deliver the smoothest and quietest lift ride possible,” the release stated. Construction will include chair storage buildings similar to those seen at the top of Ramcharger and Swift Current.
Nedved stated that Lone Mountain Land Company collaborated to accelerate the timing of the replacement.
“This new lift also connects our Moonlight Basin community and guests of One&Only Moonlight Basin [hotel], scheduled to open in winter 2025, with a greatly elevated lift experience, on par with the rest of Big Sky Resort’s modern lift system and expansive terrain,” stated Matt Kidd, managing director of Lone Mountain Land Company.
This will be the seventh chairlift upgrade in seven years, according to the release. The bottom terminal will be moved about 40 feet uphill, but otherwise the lift will closely follow six shooter’s current route.
