Construction underway at Ski Sundown of the first quad in Connecticut

Tower heads sit in the Ski Sundown parking lot. (Ski Sundown)

This summer in Connecticut, one historic lift is being replaced by another that will write its own chapter in the history book. Utah-based Skytrac is installing a fixed grip quad with a conveyor belt to assist loading at Ski Sundown in New Hartford.

It will be the first quad in the Nutmeg State, and it is replacing the state’s first triple chair, which was installed in 1977.

The new 1,999-foot Exhibition Quad will have 90 chairs and use pretty much the same line as the lift it is replacing. It will have a capacity of 2,400 people per hour, a 33-percent increase over its predecessor.

With a line speed of 450 feet per minute, a trip up to the 1,075-foot summit will take 4.5 minutes.

The triple chair was dismantled during the spring. The concrete was poured at the terminals and lift towers over the first half of the summer, and the frame for the conveyor belt was recently added. There is plenty of work to be done over the next few months before some test spins, but all signs point toward the quad being ready to go for the start of the season.

Ski Sundown donated 50 of the chairs from the Exhibition Triple to Summit Adaptive Sports and Sundown Ski Patrol, nonprofit organizations that the mountain works closely with, and they had an online auction in May, according to Ski Sundown marketing director Ulla Jacobs.

Ski Sundown has 17 trails over 70 skiable acres with 625 vertical feet.

Even though Ski Sundown is in the middle of a major capital project, they are offering season passes for 2024-25 at last season’s rate through Oct. 31.