It’s been a long and delayed road for The Remarkables Sugar Bowl Express chairlift that was originally slated for a 2019 opening but pushed back a year. The 2020 opening was then delayed again, due to Covid lockdown preventing crucial work for the safety of the lift.
Thanks to an Austrian splicer from Doppelmayr, who quarantined for 2 weeks to complete 8 hours of work at The Remarkables, the chair is now finally officially open and the resort celebrated in style.
Six worthy skiers and boarders scored the first spots on the new lift after being nominated by friends and family members as people who deserved their 2020 to get a little sweeter.
Mauricio Linzmeyer was nominated by 14 friends who all shared how passionate Mauricio was about snowboarding and The Remarkables. He’s one of the founders of the South American boarders group and is always on hand to help those in the community get into snow sports, whether it’s giving them some tips on snow or helping wax everyone’s boards in preparation for hitting the slopes.
Nine year old Noah Smith was nominated by his mum Liz. He’s had a pretty rough year health wise and missed last season completely while he was up in Christchurch receiving treatment. Liz said Noah had been asking all season when Sugar was opening and it’s made his year getting first on chair today.
The other spots went to local librarian Alex Basset, who’s partner is over in the UK receiving medical treatment, Karl Stieglbauer who was celebrating his 60th birthday today with his Godson, Sarah Liddell who is one of the ski areas biggest fans, and Nick Prebble who’s been stuck in Queenstown because of Covid-19 while he waits for his brother’s wedding.
Ski Area Manager Ross Lawrence said he was stoked to be opening the new Sugar Bowl Express lift today.
“It’s an exciting day and great to see everyone up here enjoying the new sugar high. The 2.5km of new trails are shaping up well and they’ve opened up more top-to-bottom skiing and boarding. The Remarks Parks crew has also done a fantastic job with the intermediate and beginner parks.”
The Remarkables will continue weekend operations through until the 26th September when they will open up daily until scheduled closing on 11th October.
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