After months of planning and anticipation, hardworking construction crews are deep into work on our new chairlift upgrades at the Harmony and Crystal zones.  On the closing date of Whistler Mountain, April 21, work began at Harmony where crews first had to clear of out the metres of the snow to access the bottom terminal of the current Harmony quad chairlift.  

Clearing the Road at Harmony

An excavator was also brought up to the location of the bottom of the new Crystal Ridge Express to dig out snow and prepare the slope for the new chairlift terminal to be installed.  With a big project ahead, the crews welcomed the long daylight hours and unexpected heat wave to help clear out the work site and boost them ahead of the projected schedule.

Clearing the base of the new Crystal Ridge Express

Now clear of snow, work continues on the new Crystal Ridge Express base station landing zone which is located in a large basin below the Blackcomb Glacier Road.  This flat and open basin will provide a very comfortable loading area for skiers and snowboarders.  It is currently the largest work site for the project as the top of the Crystal Ridge Express and Harmony 6 Express top and bottom stations are being built on the existing footprints from previous lifts.

The final surveys for the engineering specifications of the new Crystal Ridge Express will be completed this week after which ground work at the top of Crystal will begin. Crews from Leitner-Poma are now into the second week of disassembling the Harmony quad to be moved over to Blackcomb Mountain.  All chairs have been taken off and it is expected the rope will be off by mid-week. This existing equipment will then be transported over to the Crystal zone and the planning of the layout of the Crystal Ridge Express will begin. Most of the work on Harmony is currently being done over snow to minimize environmental impact and keep to tight timelines.  

The site of the Crystal Ridge Express

We look forward to watching the progression of this exciting project and will update regularly on the status of our new lifts.

Whistler local Sean Pettit is in the running for the first Real Ski Backcountry video contest premiering at the X Games 2013 in Tignes, France.  Check out the amazing edits (many filmed right here in our backyard) and show our WB shredder Sean some support!