Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park is excited to open their first triple chairlift for the 2018-2019 season. As soon as Mother Nature brings enough snowfall to open this season, skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy 7 additional runs covering 279 acres of terrain serviced by a new triple chairlift. This is the largest chairlift Skytrac Services, Inc. has designed, fabricated and installed to date. It has a total of 17 towers spanning 4,600 horizontal feet and 1,438 vertical feet. This is the park's 6th chairlift and first completely hot-dip galvanized triple chairlift. The chairlift will be officially named this season. The other chairlifts are a combination of painted towers and galvanized carriers. The resort has 52 designated runs with 1,704 acres of skiable terrain and 2,000 skiable vertical feet.

This new expansion, with a price tag of $4.1 million, has been a long time in the making with the application originally submitted back in 2003. Nearly 15 years later, after legal battles brought about due to opposition from environmental and other special interests groups, coupled with many negotiations and compromises, it is finally becoming a reality for the new season.

The resort operates within Mt. Spokane State Park, which is one of Washington’s largest State Parks, with 13,919 acres. The park is located about 25 miles from Spokane, WA and has been in operation since 1932. The park’s last major expansion was in 1977 and this new triple chairlift brings the total number of lifts at Mt. Spokane to eight. The 7 new additional runs accessible from this lift are located on the northwest side of the mountain. This new northward facing terrain will help aid in better snow retention. The park receives an average snowfall of 300” a year of mostly dry snow which is ideal for powdery conditions for skiers and snowboarders to enjoy. 

Some of the difficulties encountered with the installation of the project were typical for Skytrac, but a new experience for the Mt. Spokane crew. A helicopter flew the towers from the parking lot of Lodge 2 to each tower location. The crews experienced 100 mph prop wash while trying to position and install each of the 17 towers consisting of 10,000 lbs. of hot-dip galvanized steel. With some of the towers being over 50’ tall, hot-dip galvanizing was chosen for superior corrosion resistance, longevity, and decades of maintenance-free service compared to other coating systems.