The long-awaited, new Gad 2 chair lift at Snowbird officially opens to skiers and snowboarders on Thursday, December 12. This new version of the beloved Gad 2 chair is a high-speed, detachable quad that replaces an old two-seater. Personally, I always think it’s a shame when a classic double-chair is retired for a quad, but progress is progress, and now some of the best terrain at the ‘Bird will be accessed faster than ever before.
The Gad 2 quad is the only new chairlift built in Utah this season, and to kick it off, there will be a short ribbon-cutting ceremony and speech from Snowbird President Bob Bonar at the base of the new lift.
According to Snowbird, the old Gad 2 was an original double chairlift at Snowbird, built in 1971. The new lift is a high-speed detachable quad, and cuts travel time in half, from about 10 minutes to four minutes. The new chairlift is located on the footprint of the old Gad 2 chairlift, and was built by Doppelmayr, a European company with its North American headquarters in Salt Lake City.
This is the second new high-speed detachable quad chairlift Snowbird has built in as many years, as Little Cloud chairlift was replaced last season.
In addition to the lift, Snowbird made other improvements by re-grading the hill at the top of the new lift to make it easier for skiers and snowboarders to hop off the chair. They also re-graded the bottom of the Bananas trail for better traffic flow.
So if you want to make history and be one of the first skiers or snowboarders to ride the new Gad 2 detachable quad, get to the bottom of the lift at 11 a.m. and enjoy the ride!
For more information, visit Snowbird online at snowbird.com