Polar Peak Ski Bowl - Mountains. Fun. Excitement

Operations in the design of our ski area and contruction can be broken down into the following areas.

The construction of our Summit Express

Construction on our Snowmaking System - Coming Soon


	Before the days of the ski lift people were forced to hike relentlessly for hours, up the side of a steep mountain in search of the perfect turns. In 1934 Billings Farm in Woodstock, Vermont became the site for what would become a major break through in skiing, the ropetow. A simple, yet novel idea, the ropetow has taken its place in American ski history as a ski lift that is an icon for outdoor enjoyment. Today high speed quads and gondolas bring skiers and snowboarders to the places gripping onto a rope would only take you.. Much like the ropetows of yesteryear the Polar Peak Summit Express Ropetow is powered by a truck, located at the top of the hill. The bullwheel is located at the base of the mountain and is anchored by almost 5 cubic feet of concrete. The drive (the truck) is anchored in at the summit.

Quick Facts about the Summit Express

Base Elevation	547 Feet Above Sea Level
Summit Elevation	657 Feet Above Sea Level
Vertical Rise	110 Feet
Total Length	395 Feet
# Of Tower Assemblies	5
Total Uphill Capacity	120 pph
Rope Type	1" Polyprene specialty rope
Bull Wheel	60" Diameter - 400 lbs

Maps and Photos

	A Topographic View of Polar Peak Ski Bowl. The Summit Express is in Bold Red, notice the base area resides at 546 ft benchmark. The green, blue and black lines denote ski trails.
(Right) An aerial photo of Polar Peak taken in April 1994. Looking closely one can make out the ski trails. The red line denotes the location of the new Summit Express Ropetow

On April 20, 1997 the Polar Peak Express turned for the last time. After 5 years of bringing skiers and snowboarders to the summit of Polar Peak it was decided it was time to replace the aging lift. While a plan was drafted to replace the lift, resources financial and otherwise weren't available to successfully begin the construction of the new lift.

In 1999 construction commenced on the all new Polar Peak Summit Express Ropetow after a 2 year delay. Utilizing some parts off of Hunter Mountain's old ropetows (R1 & R2) it was decided to create a ropetow that would have a life of at least 15 years. The old wooden towers were replaced with towers with pressure treated towers, sheave assemblies were either replaced or retrofitted and the base and summit terminals were torn down and are currently being replaced. The mid-station was doubled in size to accomodate the volume of an increased uphill capacity, and a snowfence was placed to capture the snow along the area from mid-station to the ridge where high winds typically carry the snow off the face of the hill. The all new Summit Express begun turning again on February 2, 2001, and once again continues to bring skiers and riders to the only lift serviced peak in the hills of Taghkanic.

Photo From Construction

	Installation of the new lift towers (October 1999) View of Summit Liftline
	Manicured Upper and Lower Glade ski trails, side view of Summit Express lift line (October 1999)
	Installation of the base bullwheel assembly (December 2000)
	Installation of Tower 4 (ridge) sheave assembly (December 2000)
	Welding the Bull Wheel Assembly