Saddleback - Sandy Quad

The History:
From 1967 until 2015, Saddleback's bunny slope was served by one lift: a Hopkins-built double chair called the Sandy Double. This lift was adequate for many years, but after Saddleback closed after the 2014/15 season, it sat unused until 2020. For Saddleback's reopening, the original plan was to keep the old Sandy Double, but it was determined that it was in a state of disrepair after sitting for five years. Saddleback reopened in 2020 with a brand new Doppelmayr detachable quad, but the Wheeler bunny slope was left without a lift for the first two seasons after Saddleback's reopening. This especially became a problem after the new Cupsuptic T-Bar was installed for the 2021/22 season. On days when the Rangeley Express could not operate due to wind, the T-Bar could still run, but there was no chair to bring people up to it as the Sandy Double once did. Finally, during the summer of 2022, Saddleback installed this brand new Partek fixed-grip quad along a similar alignment. The Sandy Quad now serves as a park lift, a beginner lift, and a convenient way to access the T-Bar from the base area.

The Lift:
The Sandy Quad was installed in 2022 by Partek. Partek's current state of operation is not too well known but they have tended to build one or two lifts each season for the past six years or so. Partek offers more budget friendly ski lifts, perfect for bunny hills like this, utilizing many recycled Borvig designs. The Sandy Quad utilizes a Partek bottom drive terminal with hydraulic tensioning, a Partek fixed top return terminal, Partek quad carriers, Partek towers, and Partek sheaves. The towers and sheaves are extremely similar to Borvig designs of the past. Capacity is rated at 1,600 p/h with a design speed of 400 ft/min. It seems to typically run considerably slower during normal operations.