February 8 1985
Free Press Files
Directors of Snow Valley Ski Ltd. Have decided to go ahead with construction of a second chair lift, one which they say will be one of the biggest in Canada and which will handle upward of 1,800 skiers per hour.
The “Boomerang Chairlift” is to be built during the summer of 1985. This will be a modern triple chairlift with ultimate capacity of 1,700 or 1,800 persons per hour. The bottom tension station will be approximately 300 ft. vertical below Cedar Trail at the foot of Boomerang Ridge.
The top drive station will be on the Bear Ridge at the top of the North Ridge. The new lift will be shorter than the Griz Lift but it will have much more vertical with 1,600 ft. rise making it one of the biggest chairlifts in Canada.
Extensions of existing runs and new clearing will provide five new runs in the area between Holohike and the Cedar Bowl. With the loading area of the lift approximately 200ft. higher than the day lodge and a north easterly aspect of most of the new runs, deeper and drier can be skied on this part of the mountain more so than we have on the Elk and Lizard runs used most frequently to date.
The Boomerang Chair will open up a new ski terrain which, at present time, cannot be skied or requires skiing out on long slow trails. It will provide a quick return to the top with a nine minute ride time.
It is anticipated that the Boomerang Chair will eliminate lineups on the Griz Chair and the bear lift for years to come. The way the lift is located with its top and bottom and bottom stations. It will invite skiers to make alternate use of both chair lifts and the Bear T-Bar, providing extensive variety in the skiing circuit at a new and much larger Fernie Snow Valley.
For more great stories that ran in The Free Press in the past 115 years http://issuu.com/thefreepress/docs/115_the_free_press/1