Lookout Pass To Install New Fixed Grip Quad Lift

Phase I of Lookout Pass' expansion plan has undergone the process required by the National Environmental Protection Act and the U.S. Forest Service has approved Phase One through a Record of Decision signed by IPNF Forest Supervisor Mary Farnsworth and Lolo NF Supervisor Tim Garcia.

​The Phase I expansion increases the special-use permit area by 485 acres (expanding the area from 538 acres currently, to a total of 1,023 acres), and includes two additional chairlifts to the summit of Eagle Peak (shown in the photo below) with a top elevation of 6,160'. The two chairlifts will access 16 new trails, plus gladed areas, on the North and East aspects of the new peak. Lookout's overall vertical drop will increase by 500 feet to 1,650' with the Eagle Peak chair offering 1,368 ft of vertical.

A Garaventa CTEC Fixed Grip Quad lift is being upgraded and will be installed by Sky Trac Lifts out of Salt Lake City, UT. The Chairlifts vertical rise will be approximately 1380 ft. This Lift Raises Lookout Passes Total Vertical to 1,650 ft when measured from the new summit to base of Chair 2.

The Chair will span more than 1 mile in length. There will be 152 chairs on the line. This along with a few other enhancements represents over a $3.5 million dollar investment.

The New Terrain will offera a mix of Groomed Runs and Areas that will left ungroomed for Powder Hounds. This lift will service some new types of terrain not presently found on Lookout Pass' other lifts.

Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area is a ski area in the western United States. It is at Lookout Pass on Interstate 90, on the border of Idaho and Montana, five miles (8 km) east of Mullan, Idaho. It has a summit elevation of 5,650 ft (1,720 m) on Runt Mountain with a vertical drop of 1,150 ft (350 m) on the northeast-facing slopes. Lookout Pass operates seven days per week from the beginning of the ski season until late March then six days a week (closed Tuesday) until closing, which is usually mid-April.

The area has tripled in size since 2003; new terrain was opened to the southeast-facing slopes on the Montana side of the border in December 2003, and on the northwest-facing North Side (in Idaho) in 2006. There are two double chairlifts, one quad chairlift and one triple chairlift at Lookout Pass, whose average annual snowfall exceeds 350 inches (890 cm).

The elevation of the highway pass on I-90 is a moderate 4,720 feet (1,440 m). The historic Mullan Pass, constructed as a wagon road by the U.S. Army in 1860, is about three miles (5 km) east-northeast as the crow flies, at 5,168 feet (1,575 m). Lookout Pass is considered the eastern boundary of Idaho's Silver Valley mining region.

Lookout Pass has two freestyle terrain parks, and a quarter pipe that is 1,111 feet (340 m).