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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK No one in Ketchum got to sleep in late Saturday morning. The thud of helicopter rotor blades started up about 8:30 a.m., the thud-like sound bouncing back and forth between mountain slopes as the helicopter began depositing lift towers for two new chairlifts on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain. The helicopter picked up its first tower about 8:30 a.m. from a supply spot in Cold Springs Canyon near St. Luke’s Wood River hospital. It flew the tower across mid-mountain past the Roundhouse Gondola to a spot just below Mid-River Run.
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The helicopter makes its way across the mountain for a second drop.
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A round cloud of dust poofed into the air as it hovered over the spot that had been scoured out to receive the tower. Ski lift towers measure between 20 and 80 feet tall, depending on their location on mountains. Ten minutes after it rose with the first tower, the helicopter made its way back across the mountain to pick up a second tower. By 9 a.m. it had deposited three of the 21 Doppelmayr towers needed for the Lookout Express, workers at the bottom securing the towers into place. When done with the Lookout Express towers, there would be another 14 towers to lower into place for the nearby Christmas lift.
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The helicopter passes by the Roundhouse Restaurant and Roundhouse Gondola.
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It was no small feat--Dopplemayr ski lift towers at Sun Valley Resort weigh between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds, or two to four tons. But when done skiers and boarders will enjoy a new six-passenger high-speed Lookout Express ferrying them from mid-mountain below the roundhouse to the top of the 9,150-foot-tall mountain. The older Yan quad was built in 1993. The new Lookout Express will be able to ferry skiers 2,673 vertical feet to the top at 1,000 feet per minute in about 8.5 minutes. A four-passenger high speed quad will replace the old Christmas lift that starts just outside of Roundhouse Restaurant. It’ll offer a 4.5-miute ride at speeds up to 1,000 feet per minute as the lift climbs 1,354 vertical feet.
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The helicopter is a blur and the dirt is flying as workers secure the tower in place.
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The project is expected to be completed by the time Sun Valley Resort hopes to kick off its 2026-27 winter ski season 103 days from now.
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Another tower heads for its new home.
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