Another old trail map, this time from Stevens Pass in 1968.
This was the area I grew up with. I started there in 1967 in junior high. At the time, there were four lifts .... #1 Barrier Mountain (commonly called "Big Chair"), #2 Intermediate Chair (commonly called "Little Chair"), #3 Seventh Heaven, and #4 Big Chief. At the time, Barrier Mountain ran to the right of the current alignment of what is now "Skyline Express." It still used some of the old wooden scaffolding that held the original T-bar put in in the early 1950's! There was a mid-station offloading platform which was almost never open, and a rope tow in the middle of the hill to the right of the liftline midway up the slope. There was a rope tow at the top of the hill with the sign "Take this rope to Seventh Heaven."
Seventh Heaven was (and is) one the SCARIEST chairlifts I've ever been on. I have a real fear of heights (and a skiier? Go figure!). The lift runs almost horizontal until the first tower, while the slope drops away rapidly below. I once got stuck there in a windstorm dangling what seemed like five miles above the snow with a buddy who decided it would be REAL fun to make the chair bounce. I wasn't amused! After the first tower, the lift runs practically vertically to the top of the hill. It seems as if you're going straight up. I do NOT recommend looking back as you ride the chair if you have vertigo.
The Intermediate Chair, later named "Blue Jay" and removed in the 1990's, originally was half the length shown on this map. It was extended in 1966. Big Chief, built in 1964, replaced bunch of rope tows. One of which was placed at the top of the chair for a little extra vertical (as shown in the map), but it was almost never open.
The chair labelled "Number 5" on this map is the current "Brooks" chair.
The collection of ropes between #3 Intermediate Chair and #4 Big Chief were collectively called Daisy 1, Daisy 2, Daisy 3, and Daisy 4. They were replaced by the current Daisy triple in the early 1970's.
Steve Crutchfield