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'Six-pack' lift slated for Crystal Mountain
By GREG JOHNSTON 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A second high-speed, six-person chairlift will be built at Crystal Mountain ski area this summer, part of $4 million in improvements planned for the 1998-99 winter season, officials of Boyne USA announced yesterday.
It would be the state's second "six-pack," the other being the Forest Queen Express lift built at Crystal last summer. The Austrian company Doppelmayr will build the new lift, which will replace the existing Midway Shuttle, now used primarily as a connector lift from the lodge area to the high-speed lifts that reach Crystal's upper reaches.
"This will be our final blow in our war against lift lines," said Kelly Graham, Crystal marketing assistant. John Kircher, Crystal general manager, said skiers and snowboarders have responded favorably to Forest Queen Express, with visits up 30 percent this season.
"Even on our busiest days the lines have been tolerable," he said. "And it has been more effective than we expected in shifting congestion from other chairlifts."
The new lift will move at about 1,000 feet per minute, with six people per chair. Also planned in the coming off-season is the addition of night lighting to the new Midway Shuttle and Forest Queen Express.
Crystal plans a return to night operation next season after a one-year break. With the new lighting, Crystal will offer 90 acres and a 2,100-foot vertical drop for night skiing and snowboarding, and plans to stay open until 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Other summer plans include more improvements at base areas, including paving more parking lots.
Crystal is the first ski area in Washington to officially announce off-season improvements. But Stevens Pass is expected to announce a new high-speed quad (four-person) chairlift soon. It would probably replace Stevens' Hogsback, an aging three-person lift.
In addition, Booth Creek Ski Holdings, which owns the four ski areas on Snoqualmie Pass, has previously announced ambitious plans for new lifts and is expected to reveal construction specifics for this off-season by spring.
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