Snowbird Retires the Chickadee Chairlift: A Farewell to a 54-Year Beginner Landmark

An era of beginner skiing in Little Cottonwood Canyon came to a quiet close this past Sunday as Snowbird officially retired the Chickadee chairlift. A staple of the resort since the early 1970s, the lift spun its final chairs after more than half a century of service, marking a significant transition for the resort’s base-area operations.

Five Decades of First Turns

Installed in 1972, the Thiokol fixed-grip double chairlift was one of the oldest remaining pieces of infrastructure at Snowbird. While the resort is globally famous for its steep, technical terrain, Chickadee served as the essential starting point for generations of skiers and riders. For many locals and visitors alike, it was the very first lift they ever rode.

The lift served a modest pod of beginner terrain located directly between the Snowbird Center and the Cliff Lodge. Despite its short length, Chickadee played a vital role in the resort's logistics, providing a convenient "bridge" for guests staying at the Cliff Lodge to reach the main base area or return to their vehicles in the upper parking lots.

A Four-Season Workhorse

Chickadee was more than just a winter lift; it was the heart of Snowbird’s summer operations. For decades, it serviced the resort’s popular Alpine Slide, summer tubing hills, and other family-oriented mountain attractions.

The lift also held a unique place in the resort's history as the primary venue for night skiing. However, Snowbird recently discontinued its night skiing program, a move that signaled the beginning of the end for the aging Thiokol double.

What’s Next for Chickadee?

The retirement of the 1972 double chair follows a broader trend at Snowbird of modernizing aging infrastructure to improve guest flow and reliability. While the resort has not yet officially unveiled the specific blueprints for the Chickadee replacement, it is widely expected that a more modern conveyance—potentially a new fixed-grip chair or a high-capacity surface lift—will be installed to continue serving the beginner slopes and summer attractions.

"Chickadee was a humble lift, but it was where the magic started for so many of our guests," said a Snowbird representative. "Retiring a lift with this much history is always bittersweet, but it’s a necessary step as we look toward the future of the mountain."

As is tradition with retired lifts in the Wasatch, Snowbird fans are already asking about the fate of the original 1972 chairs. The resort is expected to announce details regarding a commemorative chair auction or sale later this spring, with proceeds often benefiting local non-profits or the resort's employee fund.

For now, the slopes of Chickadee sit quiet, awaiting the next chapter of Snowbird’s evolution.