Maggie Valley, North Carolina — The North Carolina ski industry’s marquee addition for the 2025-26 season is complete.
This week, Doppelmayr USA announced that the new Omigosh Quad at Cataloochee Ski Area was commissioned last month. This means that the lift is ready to go for the 2025-26 season. Out of all the lifts Doppelmayr is working on this offseason, this was the first to be commissioned.
This offseason, the Omigosh double chairlift was replaced by a new Doppelmayr Alpenstar fixed-grip quad chairlift. The new chairlift is 2,800 feet long and has a vertical rise of 740 feet.
The Omigosh chairlift is Cataloochee’s sole lift to the summit. This means it’s the only way to reach the Upper Omigosh, Upper Snowbird, and The Meadows trails. Like its predecessor, there is a mid-station that will service the intermediate Lower Omigosh piste, which leads to the Rabbit Hill trail.
About Ski Catalooche
Opened in 1961, Ski Cataloochee is the oldest operating ski area in North Carolina. The ski area features 18 trails, 5 lifts, and a vertical drop of 740 feet. If you know East Coast skiing, what may surprise people about Catalooche is its elevation. The peak elevation is 5,400 feet, which is well above all Northeast ski resorts (even Whiteface!). However, Cataloochee isn’t the highest elevation ski area in North Carolina. That title belongs to Beech Mountain, with a peak elevation of 5,506 feet.
Image/Video Credits: Cataloochee Ski Area, The Skiing Cartographer
