Mount Rose Officially Retires Lakeview Chairlift
A closeup of Lakeview chair #93 during a ride up in December 2020, immediately after the lift was retrofitted with safety bars.
Background
Mount Rose’s Lakeview triple chair is retiring early, as reported on the resort’s website. The resort says that irremediable maintenance issues have forced the resort to shutter the lift for the remainder of the season. The lift will be replaced by a high-speed quad this summer, which will extend further up the mountain and provide easier access to certain underutilized terrain zones.
Having been constructed in 1980, Lakeview is the the oldest lift still standing at Mount Rose. The fixed-grip triple extends about two-thirds of the way up the main face of the mountain and chiefly services intermediate and low-advanced terrain.
Our Take
Mount Rose’s Lakeview triple has clearly been an old lift in need of a replacement, but its early retirement robs Mount Rose of a frontside helper lift until the replacement is installed next season. This should be okay on less busy weekdays, but during peak times when the Northwest Magnum six-pack gets plagued with crowds, the Lakeview lift has historically provided a welcome haven from the lines. Additionally, on the very windy days when the exposed Northwest Magnum six-pack is forced to close, Lakeview has played a pivotal role in transporting guests up the mountain. That being said, the slow ride up on these gusty days has never been the most comfortable.
We imagine the lift probably won’t be missed much until the days where it’s actually needed. Thankfully, any wind hold issues should be a short-term problem with Lakeview’s much-improved replacement slated to arrive in short order.
An aside—when we first rode Lakeview in December 2020, it was clear that the lift had been through quite a long tenure. The black-painted chairs were numbered very strangely, with the numbers flowing backwards and every fifth number getting skipped. We can’t think of any other lift at any resort with such obscure numbering.
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