Killington - Superstar Express Quad

The History:
In the mid 1980s Killington had grown to be one of the most popular, if not the most popular ski destination on the East Coast. Although they had an impressive 3-stage detachable gondola, the rest of their lift infrastructure was somewhat lacking. At the time, detachable chairlifts were gaining popularity so Killington chose to add one themselves. In a move that is considered questionable by many, they chose not to replace a lift, but use it to expand an existing area without direct lift service. This area is located between Killington and Skye Peak and along with the lift, a new, super wide trail was cut. Both the lift and the trail were named Superstar. The Superstar Express was built by Yan along with the Snowshed Express which was also built by Yan during the same year. Long story short, Yan detachables suffered catastrophic grip failures and other reliability concerns, so both lifts had to be retrofitted by Poma in 1994. Ever since the retrofits though both lifts have run pretty reliably. Superstar (the trail) has become one of the most iconic trails in the East due to how long it is open (typically early November-late May).

The Lift:
As mentioned, the Superstar Express was built by Yan. All Yan detachables built suffered major grip slippage issues due to the "marshmallow springs" that they used. In some cases, these issues led to fatal accidents, like on Whistler's Quicksilver Express. So in 1994, American Skiing Company chose to have Poma retrofit all of their Eastern Yan detachables. The retrofit efforts were extensive and consisted of mostly new terminal equipment and enclosures, new TB-41 grips, new sheaves, and other upgrades. Superstar uses some structural components of the original Yan "pancake" terminals but the terminals mostly resemble first generation Poma Challenger terminals. The chairs were originally Yan pentagon style detachable carriers, but were eventually replaced by Poma Omega carriers in 2004. These carriers utilize Poma TB-41 grips. Tower equipment includes a mixture of Poma '90s-style lifting frames and Yan "Y" style lifting frames along with '90s style Poma sheaves. The drive is located at the bottom terminal and the tensioning is located at the top terminal. One interesting part of this lift is that the signature Yan breakover still remains at the top terminal.