Mad River Glen likes to make people believe that they have the last single chair on the planet. One of their funny logos is, "Still Single After All These Years." Well, I hate to report that these contraptions are still allive and well in other parts of the world.

Here's a shot of one taken at Martinske Hole in Slovakia courtesy of www.goski.sk (a web site run by a friend):



There's also a single chair at Soelden in Austria. Does anyone know of other resorts that still sport single chairs.

Actually, I think that they claim to have the only one on the east coast, and one of only two in the US. The other single chair is out west. They also claim to have the longest diesel powered lift in North America. there are still many single chairs in europe.

What resort out west has a single?

From the MRG flyer/Info Pack:

"The single is NOT the last single chair in operation. There are quite a few in Europe, but there is only one other in North America, at Mt. Eyak in Cordova, Alaska." [emphasis theirs]

"The Single is the longest and fastet single chair in North America."

"It is the oldest single chair operating in its original location. Mt. Eyak's is the original chair from Sun Valley, Idaho (1936) and it is older."

My bad. I knew Sun Valley's chair was still in use, just didn't know that it had been moved!!

The single chair is Mad River's greatest asset. It has a capacity of 400 skiers per hour and is the only lift to the top of General Stark Mountain. Once at the top skiers spread out over about 1.5 miles of ridge line. Combine the low skier density with natural snow which does not pack down into ice nearly as fast as machine made and you have the Mad River experience in a nutshell. The woods are open and that's where the best snow is located. I am a shareholder and we are going to have to replace the single soon. The replacement will be another slow single. Lift lines can be 30 min. or longer on a peak weekend but my legs can only handle 5-6 runs/day top to bottom of their best terrain anyway and I always meet dozens of friends while in line.

The double line is much shorter and the practice slope and Birdland lifts have no lines so one can always go there to yo-yo runs if that is one's desire. Along about 2:30 when I go to Birdland because my legs are trashed on the tough stuff I always see lots of the hard cores doing the same thing.

http://www.madriverglen.com/maps/?Page=mountainstats.html

Kratka Ridge in So. Cal. has not operated for several years but they have (had) a single chair as well and I believe it was also diesel powered. It is claimed to have some pretty good terrain that backcountry skiers hike. I get to LA frequently on business and will have to check it out sometime.