2 new chairlifts will mean shorter lines and longer runs, Bogus Basin ski area announces

Nicole Blanchard
·2 min read

Skiers and snowboarders will have two improved chair lifts at Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area next ski season, Bogus officials announced Thursday.

The nonprofit ski area near Boise said it will begin construction on replacement Bitterroot and Coach lifts once the 2023-24 season ends this spring. The existing lifts date back to the 1970s and ‘80s and are among the oldest lifts at Bogus Basin.

The replacements will also slightly reroute both lifts, bringing Bitterroot riders closer to Pioneer Lodge and opening up better access to terrain and runs, particularly for beginners and School Race Program participants.

The Coach lift, which has been used at Bogus for 43 years, starts at the ski area’s base near J.R. Simplot Lodge and largely serves beginners. According to the news release, the Coach reroute will triple the length of the novice Coach’s Corner run.

The Bitterroot lift was installed in the 1970s and takes riders from the Bitterroot Basin on the southwest side of Bogus Basin back to Pioneer Lodge. Officials said the reroute will bring riders closer to the lodge, and four-person chairs will double the lift’s capacity, reducing wait times when races are held in the area. The Snoozer run will be more accessible and see some terrain improvements as part of the redesign.

Both lifts will be replaced with fixed-grip quad chairs. Bogus’ most recent lift upgrades have been to high-speed lifts, which ski area officials noted are significantly more expensive to install. According to an article on the new lifts, initial quotes for high-speed quads on the Coach lift came in around $6 million. A fixed-grip lift will cost the ski area about $2.5 million for Coach. The Bitterroot lift cost about $3.5 million, Bogus Basin spokesperson Susan Saad told the Idaho Statesman in an email.

With terrain improvements and other expenses, the total cost of the remodel is about $7 million, Saad noted.

Maps of the current and rerouted lifts can be found online at bogusbasin.org.