Mt. Hood Meadows: Saying Goodbye To Blue

After more than 55 years in service, the time has come to give Blue a much-deserved retirement. The iconic chairlift will be decommissioned this summer, as it has reached the end of its lifespan and would need to be overhauled for it to be available next season.

Blue, originally known as Chair #1, was constructed in 1967 and began service during our inaugural season in 1968. It is a fixed-grip, two-seater chairlift manufactured by Riblet, which was in business from 1908 to 2003 and was once the largest chairlift manufacturer in the world. At the time, it was arguably the most important lift at Meadows, helping uplift guests out of the base area to access a large portion of the resort's terrain. It eventually fell out of favor with the arrival of the Express/Jacob's Ladder three-seater fixed grip in 1984, and even more so with the arrival of the Mt. Hood Express high-speed quad in 1994 (now a high-speed six-pack, which was installed in 2023).

In recent years, Blue had been relegated to an auxiliary role and was rarely utilized; with the new Mt. Hood Express six-seater being able to run in similar wind conditions as Blue, there is no longer a need to keep the chair operational.

And speaking of chairs: they know there will be a lot of interest in acquiring them, so they will be holding a lottery for who gets to purchase them. Details are below; watch the website, eNews, and socials for updates.

Blue Chair Lottery/Purchase/Pickup Details:

142 chairs will be available for purchase to the general public; they are holding some back to give to a few charitable organizations so that they can auction them off for fundraising purposes

Cost will be $900; limit one chair per family
Chair lottery will be open via May 1-31; registration will be on the Meadows website
Lottery will be drawn on June 3 and winners will be notified shortly thereafter
Winners will have until June 15 to pay for the chairs
Payment will be via credit card on website; all sales are final (no refunds)
Chair pickup will be available on select dates (TBD)
You must be able to pick up your chair onsite in the Mt. Hood Meadows main lot
You will need a pickup or a trailer; they will have it hoisted for you to back under and at your own risk

Blue Facts: