If you’ve been skiing at Solitude for a while, you’ve no doubt witnessed some changes in lifts and lift configurations. Older lifts get upgraded and routes get reconfigured, providing skiers and riders faster access to trails, and sometimes additional terrain. The current Summit Express was installed in 2015, replacing a fixed grip double that followed a slightly different route. Honeycomb Return did not appear on the scene until 2002. Most recently, Solitude upgraded the Eagle Express chairlift, the first high-speed quad in Utah, with a high-speed six-pack.
With new chairlifts comes the rare opportunity to own a chair of your own. Soon, local skiers will have an opportunity to claim their own piece of Solitude’s 2005-2008 Moonbeam chairlift before it was shortened and moved to its current location as Powderhorn II. Starting September 17, online bidding will open. 29 chairs from the retired lift will be up for auction, with all proceeds going to the Solitude Fund. During last summer’s Eagle Express auction, $148,792 was raised for the Solitude Fund, an average of almost $2,000 per chair.
Bidding will occur here: https://us.givergy.com/solitudemountain/?controller=home
Where did these chairs come from?
Browse through some old maps (https://skimap.org/skiareas/view/225), and you’ll see an interesting game of musical chairs played. One round that might surprise you is when the old Moonbeam lift became the current Powderhorn II. In 2009, Solitude removed the original Powderhorn after 22 years of service. This fixed grip double manufactured by Thiokol transported riders from Solitude Village, up through Powderhorn Cirque.
Replacing Powderhorn was an older version of Moonbeam that was taken out of service in 2008 — a Doppelmayr fixed grip quad that first started spinning in 2005. Labeled on maps as simply “Moonbeam”, this was actually the third version of the Moonbeam lift, having replaced a triple (Moonbeam II, 1977 – 1955) and a double (the first Moonbeam, 1961 – 1977).
The 2005-2008 version of Moonbeam had approximately 150 chairs and traveled much slower than today’s lift. Skiers and riders were stoked in 2008 when Moonbeam Express was installed, a high-speed quad that provided a faster ride and an easier loading experience.
After spending a year in storage, the previous Moonbeam was repurposed to become Powderhorn II. The original Powderhorn lift started from Solitude Village. That route was abandoned in favor of the current route, offering skiers and riders convenient access to Wanderer Bowl terrain without requiring a trip to the base area to make additional laps. Powderhorn II is slightly shorter than the previous Moonbeam alignment, and only 94 chairs were used on the new Powderhorn. The increased spacing of the chairs allowed lift operators to improve the loading and unloading experience.
What happened to the extra chairs? Amazingly, Solitude still has some of them — and we’d love for you to have one too. If you couldn’t snag one of the retired Eagle Express chairs last summer, you’ve got another chance starting September 17.
More from the Solitude Mountain Blog