Mt. Bachelor Plans Northwest Express Lift Improvements

Mt. Bachelor is proposing to improve and modernize the Northwest Express lift (Figure 1). This modernization would replace the lift’s electric drive components and safety switches to bring the lift to current technological standards while using all the existing foundations, towers, lift terminals, haul rope, and chairs. Proposed action includes:

• Burying the communication and fiber lines portions of Northwest Express lift to protect wires from ice buildup.

o Trench of 5000 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet.

• Hand cutting of second growth hemlock from a 70-foot wide corridor along 6300 feet of the communication and fiber line trench. Whitebark pine trees will not be removed unless critical to the path of the trench.

• Upgrading the lower terminal power supply by excavating the previously disturbed existing power supply route to lay new power line.

o Trench of 7400 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet.

• Replacing the existing upper and lower operator shacks with larger structures.

o Demolish upper operator shack and replace with a two-story structure to accommodate new larger electric motor controls. Ground disturbance would be 50 feet by 20 feet.

o Demolish lower operator shack and replace with a prefabricated structure. Ground disturbance would be 30 feet by 30 feet by 4 feet (to allow for an elevated pillar style foundation to raise the shack off the ground).

• Expanding the lift chair storage system to hold all of the available chairs on the lift in a semi enclosed steel structure. This expansion would allow installation of a night drive system which would run the lift with no chairs on the line to reduce ice buildup.

o Ground disturbance for chair storage would be up to 0.93 acres. There would be multiple concrete pilons and minor cut and fill work on the east side of the bottom of the lift. Any excess cut material would be deposited at the bottom of Outback lift.

• Installing a small, prefabricated steel garage structure at the bottom of Northwest Express lift to function as a maintenance shop to allow workers to perform required lift carrier testing on-site rather than hauling parts to a separate workshop. A 20 foot by 20 foot by 2 foot concrete pad would be installed to serve as the foundation for the structure.

• Equipment used during the implementation of the project may include an off-road crane, mid-size excavator, reach forklifts, tracked dump truck, bulldozer, boom lift, and skid steer. Access to these areas would be on existing roads. Staging of equipment and materials would on existing roads or on the Northwest Express job site.

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