Seven Springs Mountain Resort is tearing out a chairlift that has hauled skiers and snowboarders up its slopes since 1975, swapping the aging Blitzen triple for a new four-seat lift designed to move hundreds more riders per hour. The Westmoreland County resort is also selling off the old lift's individual chairs to the public, with proceeds earmarked for charity and three local volunteer fire departments.
The resort is replacing the Blitzen triple chair with a fixed-grip quad built by Doppelmayr, according to DCSki. The new lift is expected to boost uphill capacity by roughly 33 percent, carrying about 600 more passengers per hour than the old triple could handle. Part of the upgrade includes moving the top terminal about 400 feet downhill, a change intended to ease congestion and improve access to Lost Boy and the North Face side of the mountain, per the same outlet.
Work on the new lift had progressed steadily through the summer. By early July, crews had finished pouring concrete foundations for the towers, terminals and operator buildings, with grading still underway near the unloading ramp and runout, DCSki reported. The project is expected to wrap before the 2026-27 ski season, pending final approvals.
Parts Grew Scarce for the Old Triple Chair
The Blitzen lift's retirement wasn't just about speed. Parts for the old lift had become increasingly difficult to source, according to Unofficial Networks, a factor that pushed the resort toward a full replacement rather than another round of repairs on equipment that had been carrying riders since the mid-1970s.
Seven Springs is not letting the old chairs go to waste. The resort will auction individual chairs from the retired Blitzen triple from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27, with bidding starting at $250 apiece, the outlet reports. The online auction opens at noon on Sept. 25 and closes at 5 p.m. on Sept. 27, and each chair measures roughly 97 inches tall and 67.75 inches wide, weighing about 200 pounds.
Picking Up a Piece of Ski History
Winners won't be able to have their chairs shipped. Anyone who wins a bid has to pick up their chair in person at Seven Springs on Oct. 3 or Oct. 4, since the resort will not ship or deliver them. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the EpicPromise Foundation along with three volunteer fire departments serving the area.
According to CBS Pittsburgh, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain are all gearing up for the coming winter, with the resorts pointing to a strong prior season of substantial natural snow and sustained cold. Brett Cook, vice president and general manager of all three properties, said Seven Springs had a fantastic winter, and the station reports that Vail Resorts has not yet set an opening date for its Laurel Highlands properties.
More Than Just a New Lift
The Blitzen project is part of a broader list of offseason upgrades at Seven Springs. The resort is also adding a PistenBully 400 Park Pro snowcat, replacing about 3,000 feet of aging snowmaking pipe, and installing new haul rope and grips for the Cortina chair, according to DCSki.
The investment fits a wider pattern across the region. Mid-Atlantic ski areas are using the offseason to replace lifts, expand snowmaking systems, upgrade mountain infrastructure and finish new guest facilities ahead of the 2026-27 winter season, the outlet notes. A similar overhaul played out at Jack Frost and Big Boulder in 2022, when a lift-upgrade project resulted in the replacement and consolidation of five lifts, according to a separate DCSki report.
Seven Springs also brought back a 13-foot mini halfpipe for the 2025-26 season, its first since the 2020-21 season, per SnowBrains. Between the terrain-park additions and the lift overhaul, the resort appears to be betting on a busier mountain once snow starts falling again.
