Bluewood to get new high-speed quad lift
Bluewood, a ski area near Dayton, Washington, announced Tuesday it will replace its aging Skyline Express chairlift with a new high-speed, detachable quad lift and add a snowmaking system to its base area.
The snowmaking system will be installed for the 2024-25 ski season and construction of the new chairlift will begin in April 2025.
The addition of both will be significant upgrades for the small, family-friendly resort in the middle of the Umatilla National Forest. General manager Pete Korfiatis said the high-speed quad will shorten the time people spend on the lift and in lines and allow Bluewood to develop into a four season resort offering summer mountain biking and events like weddings at its summit.
“I think it’s going to dramatically change how people use the mountain,” he said. “If you have half a day and are an hour away, you can come up to Bluewood for two hours and get in 10 to 12 runs. On the old lift, 10 to 12 runs would take you all day on a busy Saturday.”
Detachable high-speed quads have become the standard for ski areas across the globe. They move at a much higher speed than older lifts but because each four-person chair detaches from the high-speed cable at the top and bottom of the lift, they allow safe and easy loading and unloading. Korfiatis said the lift will help Bluewood tap its unused capacity.
“The mountain has a ton of capacity in terms of volume of people we can put up there,” he said. “Our lift was not accommodating that. No matter how busy it was in the base area, nobody was on the mountain.”
The snow making system will help the mountain deal with fickle late fall weather when temperatures often drop below freezing but might not coincide with snow. Bluewood shoots to open in early December but isn’t always able to. Last winter, it opened then closed for four days until another storm arrived.
“Oftentimes, our snowline is 50 to 100 feet above the base lodge,” said Korfiatis. “This proposed system will enable us to produce snow during the November cold streak and create a base depth that we can ride even on the thin years.”
The resort that is 32 miles from Dayton will continue to run largely off power from diesel generators.
“The goal would be to have a generator house in a sound attenuated box and greatly decrease the current diesel sound you know and love at Bluewood.”
Bluewood sits on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and the agency and resort plan to complete a needed environmental assessment before construction. Johnny Collin, ranger of the Walla Walla District of the Umatilla Forest, said in a news release that the ski area is treasured by local communities.
“For the Umatilla National Forest, being a good neighbor to our surrounding communities means making sure they have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the forest and all the benefits it can provide,” he said.