Brighton’s new Crest chairlift will be opening later this week.

On Monday, the Utah ski resort announced that they will be opening the Crest 6 on Friday, December 8th at 9 am. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will include a DJ, complimentary pastries and drinks, and prizes who dress up with the most Brighton swag.

This past offseason, the Crest Express was replaced with a Doppelmayr D-line high-speed six-pack chairlift. This new chairlift will have a ride time of 5.3 minutes and an uphill capacity of 2400 riders per hour. At the base terminal, they will have a conveyor belt to make loading easier. The base terminal will also have a video screen, which will display resort updates.

Two other major changes are happening this season at Brighton: a new mid-mountain lodge, and parking reservations. A new lodge is currently being built, which will have a food and drink venue, along with bathrooms. The new mid-mountain lodge, located near the base of the Snake Creek chairlift, will open at some point this winter.

The parking reservation change has seen a lot of criticism due to the lack of availability, especially for season passholders. Most of the 400+ comments on the post above refer to the parking reservation system, and they’re not positive.

Who knows? The author of this article may even head up there on his Utah trip this week to check this new chairlift out.

Image Credits: Andrew Kooyman (Featured Image), Brighton Resort