Summit at Snoqualmie | Central Express
Ski Acres (now Summit Central) had its second and third chairs (after the install of Single Chair in 1948) around 1966, Alpine Bowl and Bonanza. Both were Riblet center-pole doubles, just like the rest of their early aerial lift system. They both ran roughly parallel to each other, serving long intermediate cruisers and black diamonds. Both lifts were quite long, spanning almost 4000', making them some of the longest lifts at all four areas of Snoqualmie. This also came with a lengthy ride time of over eight minutes on each chair. In 1998, after Boyne Resorts purchased the resort, two high-speed quads were built, Central Express at Summit Central, and Armstrong Express at Alpental. Central Express replaced and completely took over the duties of both outgoing Riblet chairs.
Central Express is a Poma high-speed quad. Being one of the last lifts to use Challenger II terminals, it uses Poma Omega chairs instead of the standard Arceaux chairs. Tower lifting frames and sheaves are also Omega style, while the lift uses TB-41 detachable grips. The lift has a bottom drive terminal, and dual tensioning, as is standard on many Poma/Leitner-Poma lifts. Summit at Snoqualmie's latest master plan involves replacing this lift with a realigned high-speed six-pack. The plan calls for moving the existing Central Express over to Triple 60, so while this lift may be around for awhile, its days in this location are numbered.
Recorded on December 21st, 2023
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