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Plake, Dumont, Hall, McConkey Fill Us In: What's Your Favorite Chairlift?

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What is your favorite chairlift?  Perhaps it's difficult to narrow it down to one, but any mountain addict has strong opinions on these beautiful hunks of cable and steel.  Why?  Because chairlifts hold special memories of time and place, and even if a chairlift can't love you in return, it does not stop us from loving them.  The Ski Channel asked a cornucopia of ski and snowboard stars to name their favorite chairlift.  We even took a tour with Shane McConkey aboard "the mothership", aka KT-22 at Squaw Valley (video below).  

Now that Tanner Hall, JP Auclair, Sammy Carlson, Bobby Brown, Scot Schmidt, Jeremy Jones, JJ Thomas, Nick Martini, Mike Douglas, Casey Puckett, Chris Davenport, Gretchen Bleiler, Simon Dumont, Lynsey Dyer and Glen Plake have had their say, it's time for you to wax poetic.  What is YOUR favorite chairlift and why?

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Tell us your favorite Chairlift
Matt from Diamond Bar @ Friday, Jun 26, 2009 @ 16:06:19 PM
Chair 23 at Mammoth!!!!
Steve Jones @ Friday, Jun 26, 2009 @ 16:06:52 PM
Mad River Glen's Chair #1, The Single. Super cool, single-person chairlift.
Reggie Catman @ Friday, Jun 26, 2009 @ 16:06:18 PM
No question, the tram at Jackson Hole is the best ride on any mountain anywhere.
Bel Rhine @ Friday, Jun 26, 2009 @ 17:06:48 PM
Jackson is great, if you like 400ft cliffs and 200 ft long runs. If you really want a great day of skiing, then run laps on the tram at Snowbird. That is where it is at. PS. Bring your fatties, because you are basically a hovercraft.
Jin @ Monday, Jun 29, 2009 @ 13:06:36 PM
I would go with Mt. Baldy No beginner lift.
mountain goat @ Monday, Jun 29, 2009 @ 13:06:38 PM
Great video! You have to go ride the new tram at Telluride, it rocks!!!!
Kayla Anderson @ Monday, Jun 29, 2009 @ 15:06:09 PM
Crystal Express at Diamond Peak, beautiful views of the lake and it leads right to the terrain park.
Rob @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 14:06:08 PM
TRAMS ARE THE WORST. = 100 + people slashing up great terrain in less time. They smell like BO, not the great outdoors. Your face is usually tickled by a beard of a guy who hasn't showered in 4 days. Someone's binding or pole is stabbing you in the back. WORST of all.. you can't pick out your line riding a tram and you can't improve your skiing. TRAMS are the worst thing that ever happened to skiing. period. RIDE LIFTS = breathe fresh air, pick your line, ski harder, get more freshies all day, and enjoy being a skier.. cause gapers ride trams.
Rob @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 14:06:13 PM
Oh and my favorite lift is The Spear Mtn. Triple at Ragged Mtn. in New Hampshire. This lift was purchased from King Ridge resort(where I learned to ski). It's amazing because when it snowes, the terrain there is half decent. So I can ride the same nice slow old school triple chair that I rode when I was 7 and still be challenged 17 years later. I haven't been there in a few years but if I make it back to New England soon, I will definately ride this lift... and the view is phenomenal.
Jonas @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 14:06:16 PM
Chuter chair at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe is the best because it gives you time to take a breather after skiing "The Chutes". Now thats STEEP.
SkiDreamer @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 15:06:52 PM
the one I just rode!
RandoRandu @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 15:06:22 PM
Favorite chairlift??? It's gotta be an A-Star B-2 heli!! Best chairlift ever invented. But if you have to pick a terrestrial chair....I'd go with Chair 23 at Mammoth for a bunch of reasons...steep, rocky ridge during the second half of the ride, sick views, can be sketchy when it's windy (which is often), glass wind-tunnel exit and access to some pretty good terrain on all sides of the mountain.
Ted Belty @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 16:06:53 PM
Chair 3 at Mammoth Mountain services some of the best terrain of any lift in the US. Hard to get to as you have to go to the chair 1 and then chair 2, but it is worth it.
Bernhard Franz @ Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 @ 23:06:43 PM
Rindertitlis Engelberg, as it is only red but drops 650 verts and has just 3 or 4 turns while doing that, so effectivly it is the fastest pist I know.Ski guide said I had 180 km/h and so I would describe it to go as smooth as the facial skin of an unshared 13 year old Asian Virgin.
A-Team @ Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009 @ 11:07:39 AM
Chair 4 at Toas Ski Valley offers the best runs from one chair - naywher in North America. You can ski to Stoufenburg or Kachina, you can hike the west ridge or hike up to Kachina Paek. The New Mexico snow and the lack of people put Taos on the podium and we beat Vail and other Summit county resorts hands down. Telluride, Copper, Crested Butte and Alta are all great mountains. Chair 4 at Taos is the best.
A Rod @ Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 @ 06:07:41 AM
Tram at Snowbird
jamie @ Saturday, Jul 04, 2009 @ 14:07:38 PM
Marte chair at Las Leñas, in a league of it's own!
wootwoot @ Tuesday, Jul 07, 2009 @ 14:07:42 PM
marte. enough said.
jhroac02 @ Wednesday, Jul 08, 2009 @ 21:07:52 PM
i would take summit 6 over kt22 any day. put me on top and let me hike for my lines. heck, let the weak take the lifts and let the strong hike for lines. p.s. upper beaver on a pow day, then just ski into your car
Max Van Craeynest @ Monday, Jul 20, 2009 @ 16:07:40 PM
Summit Chair at Alpine Meadows CA is alright. You can do alot of traversing from it. KT-22 is the greatest chairlift in North America
Louis Annino @ Friday, Jul 24, 2009 @ 12:07:46 PM
The Magic Mountain Red lift. SAVE MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!! www.magicmtn.com
Jim Hartl @ Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 @ 22:07:44 PM
Chair 2 at Alpental, WA....it's old school, but that chair has led me to some of the best skiing ever......
Baldyshredder @ Sunday, Aug 16, 2009 @ 09:08:24 AM
Thunder mtn. lift Mt. Baldy CA so many diff. lines for a short lift!!
gareth van dyk @ Friday, Sep 25, 2009 @ 22:09:12 PM
I gotta go with Marte for sure in Las Lenas, double seater, cement reinforcing avalanche cheese wedges on most lift towers to divert the slides(hopefully)150plus feet up over cliffbands and sketchy pie wedging argentinians, Wind, wind ,and more wind, and you don't know if it is gonna start up again when it stops,plus the thing was made by scetchy frenchies, the only willing to build it under contract ! finally, access to 4000ft fall line couloirs right off the top or hike a little for it and you get almost six thousand down tot he valley floor, viva El Marte !
Hnakphip @ Monday, Nov 09, 2009 @ 12:11:50 PM
Rote Nase, aka The Flying Toaster, in Zermatt
hammer @ Thursday, Dec 03, 2009 @ 19:12:07 PM
Chair 9 at Telluride. The best bump skiing on the planet, period.
slampard @ Friday, Feb 05, 2010 @ 12:02:41 PM
Another vote for Chair 2 @ ALpental, WA. Tremendous views of the cascades to the east, south and west. Not to mention the PNSA cement.
dcarpenter@utah.gov @ Monday, Aug 23, 2010 @ 12:08:44 PM
The Collins Lift at Alta is a great lift. There's so much to ski off it you can ride it all day and never ski the same run
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