Burke High Speed Quad to the Summit (The back story)

Burke Mountain was recently approved by Vermont's Act 250 for the preparation and installation of a high speed detachable quad (HSQ) chairlift that accesses the summit of the mountain. There has been a long history at Burke concerning the installation of such a lift. The current "Willoughby" summit lift is a fixed grip CTEC quad that takes approximately 13 minutes to get to the summit, which many feel is far too long and is a major reason many people overlook Burke as a serious New England ski destination.

Burke is "known" for its lack of liftlines and the debate about having a highspeed lift to the top revolved around the notion that the increased uphill capacity during non-capacity periods will reduce snow quality as skier and riders would be able to get up the mountain more quickly. This would result in more runs in a shorter period of time. At this time, no statistics on the new HSQ uphill capacity have been released but often times the number of riders per hour is not increased by a HSQ over the previous lift due to a longer period between chairs. However, if the lift is running below its max capacity, a single rider can complete more laps over the older slower lift during a given time. Currently the Willoughby quad will remain in its current position and potentially be run on "busy" days to keep liftlines down. We will have to see how the potential doubling of uphill capacity (when both lifts are running) affects the skiing surface quality at Burke.
At the end of the 2010-2011 ski season, rumors emerged that Burke was going to purchase a ten year old CTEC HSQ from the recently closed Ascutney Mountain in southern Vermont. Details were unclear but it sounded like a deal was close at hand. These rumors really picked up steam with a few stories in the local media and the submission for the Act 250 permit on March 31.