Massachusetts Mountain Is Spending $20 Million on New Chairlift

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated May 30, 2025 3:11 PM ET

Waaaaa-Wa-Wachusett is getting a new chairlift.

The Polar Express lift is being replaced at Massachusetts most popular ski area.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette published a photos of 14 towers being brought down off of the mountain one at a time by helicopter. Helicarrier, a Quebec-based helicopter service, was brought in to do the job.

The mountain signed a deal with Doppelmayr to replace its four-passenger lift at the end of the 2024-2025 season. That lift has been at the central Massachusetts mountain since 1994. If all goes according to plan, the lift will be ready in time for the upcoming season. A ribbing-cutting ceremony is scheduled for December 9, 2025.

The project will cost $20 million, according to Jeff Crowley, the ski area’s president. The name will stay the same. If you think that the name sounds oddly familiar to the brand of seltzer water you find on the grocery store shelves, you’d be right. The lift is named after Worcester-based Polar Beverages.

The new lift will have self-locking restraint bars that automatically close. Wachusett has not yet said how much uphill capacity the change in chairlifts will bring, but it has said that the ride to the summit will be just under five minutes long, according to the Telegram and Gazette.

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“We’ll work closely with the ski patrol especially on days with a reduced number of trails, frequently loading every other chair or every third chair,” Crowley said in the Telegram and Gazette’s story from 2024. “We didn't want to see the next generation having to scramble and make sure that every carrier is fully loaded. So with a sixpack, we won’t get bothered if two people wish to ride alone.”

Wachusett is located just 54 miles away from downtown Boston, which translates to a 1.5-2 hour car ride, depending on traffic. It is about a 30-minute drive from Worcester, the second largest city in Massachusetts. It is also the only ski area in the state in which you can access entirely via public transportation. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority offers commuter rail service from Boston’s North Station. Take the Fitchburg Line to the Wachusett stop, and then board a modified coach bus equipped with racks for your board and skis.

Of course, being accessible does come with a cost. Wachusett is one of the busiest ski areas in all of New England, as a result. So much so, day lift tickets are sold in four-hour time slots to control the crowds.

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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