Six chairs, less waiting: Mt. Bachelor, skiers and boarders celebrate grand opening of ‘six-pack’ Skyliner Express lift

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Mt. Bachelor officials, staff and hundreds of skiers and snowboarders gathered on the slopes Tuesday morning to celebrate the grand opening of its much-anticipated Skyliner Express high-speed "6-pack" chairlift.

Replacing a quad lift installed in 1989, the state-of-the-art Doppelmayr 6-CLD UNIG lift "is set to elevate the skiing and snowboarding experience at Mt. Bachelor, with increased uphill capacity and greater operational reliability in inclement weather," the resort said.

Hundreds of skiers and riders lined up starting at 7 a.m. to celebrate the opening of Skyliner Express, Mt. Bachelor’s first 6-pack lift.

Guests were treated to custom Skyliner giveaways: T-shirts, stickers, koozies and Deschutes Brewery discounts as well as music, free burritos, coffee and cocoa.

Mt. Bachelor’s Director of Mountain Operations, Dustin Smith, cut the ceremonial ribbon following a speech by President and General Manager John Merriman.

First chair went to the winners of the “Golden Ticket” first chair giveaway, and the following chairs were reserved for the project build team, led by Mt. Bachelor’s Lift Maintenance Department. Representatives from POWDR, the U.S. Forest Service, Doppelmayr, Visit Bend and more were on site to join in the celebration.

“From breaking ground in May, to opening the lift today, I have been endlessly impressed with the heroic team effort involved in this project,” Merriman said. “Thank you to our Lift Maintenance team and everyone involved for making this happen – and a few days ahead of schedule!”

During the summer, Mt. Bachelor auctioned off 50 of the old Skyliner chairs for $500 each, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to local non-profit Vamonos Outside. The remaining chairs were donated to other non-profits and local partners.