The Fastest Six-Person Chairlift in North America

Big Sky Resort has resumed the installation of a major new chairlift, Swift Current 6. In summer 2020, crews completed much of the foundation work to commence the installation of the new chair. Starting April 19, 2021, crews began removing the existing quad, which will be replaced with a brand new, six-person high-speed chair for the 2021-2022 season. 

Swift Current 6 will be a new six-person, high-speed chair with a signature Big Sky Blue Bubble, ultrawide heated seats, and will also become the fastest six-person chairlift in North America. Swift Current 6 is the resort’s next step in creating the most technologically-advanced lift network in North America, a key pillar of the Big Sky 2025 vision.  

“Swift Current 6 replaces the current four-person chairlift with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Doppelmayr D-Line technology,” explains Stephen Kircher, CEO and president of Boyne Resorts, parent company of Big Sky Resort. “This technology offers guests reliability and a staggeringly fast, warm, and comfortable ride leading up to the iconic Lone Peak. There will be no faster, safer or more comfortable chairlift in North America.”  

Kircher says the chairlift’s innovations will make the ride not only measurably faster—moving at the unsurpassed speed of 1,200 feet per minute—but noticeably quieter, smoother, and more energy-efficient. “The combination of the lift design and the new D-Line technology makes the ride whisper quiet, incredibly smooth, and energy-efficient,” says Kircher. “The safety-bars auto-lock, the adjustable ramp makes loading seamless, and with wide, heated seats and a weatherproof bubble—the short seven-minute ride will feature extraordinary comfort and reliability.”  

Swift Current 6 marks the fifth major Doppelmayr lift infrastructure project at Big Sky in the past five years, with each lift improvement offering innovations that are essential to deliver on the Big Sky 2025 vision of creating America’s Alp.  
 
“We are proud to be part of the lift transformation happening at Big Sky,” said Katharina Schmitz, president, Doppelmayr USA. “Big Sky is on a path to rival the best lift systems in the world when the 2025 vision is completed,” added Schmitz.  

Consistent lift improvements are an essential part of Big Sky’s 2025 vision, says Big Sky President and COO Taylor Middleton. “We know efficiently dispersing skiers across our almost 6,000 acres of skiing is essential to our guests. Swift Current will dramatically modernize and improve the flow of skiers in the Mountain Village base area thanks to a nearly 50% increase in uphill capacity and a noticeably faster ride.”  

Middleton says Swift Current’s upgrade demonstrates the resort’s ability to adapt the Big Sky 2025 vision through the pandemic and to accommodate for increased demand at Big Sky.  

“We were able to bring Swift Current forward in our 2025 timeline and still keep on track with our next transformative steps of mountain improvements,” added Middleton.