By admin 
Partway through your first ride on Whistler Blackcomb’s new Showcase lift, you might, depending on your tolerance for out-there engineering contraptions, start to feel nervous. Why? The lift’s fifth tower looks like it’s hovering in space, held up by a metal arm that juts out of a rock face.
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In one comment below Whistler Blackcomb’s post explaining the funky-seeming construction, one person wrote, “Bar will be going down on this one.” We feel similarly.
Images shared by Whistler Blackcomb are surreal. The full build comes in a sideways “L” shape, with the anchor stretching out above open space. Atop it is a shorter-than-usual lift tower that, when framed against the surrounding mountainscape, could’ve been ripped from the notebook of a mad scientist who’s taken a particular interest in ski lifts.
But it’s real engineering. The design emerged because Whistler Blackcomb had a problem: during site investigations, engineers discovered buried glacial ice beneath the planned foundation area. To solve it, they opted for a cantilevered design built directly into the adjacent rock face. To those wondering if it’s safe, Whistler Blackcomb addressed that question in the post.
“Absolutely. Extensive geotechnical investigations were completed to evaluate bedrock conditions, and the structure was designed by specialized engineers, independently reviewed, and is subject to rigorous inspection and testing,” the resort said.
When the snow starts falling, the protruding arm will remain visible while the rest will be covered and buried beneath the snowpack, according to Whistler Blackcomb. As for how unique this design really is, the resort added that the old Big Red chairlift used a similar approach.
“It is common in the world of chairlifts!” the resort said.
Still, it’s not every day you encounter what appears to be a floating lift tower and, for many of Showcase’s riders, bumping into one may be a first. After all, it sports “a look unlike any other lift tower on the mountain,” according to the post.
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Set to open this coming season, the Showcase is a fixed-grip quad that replaces a t-bar of the same name, providing access to the glaciated upper reaches of Blackcomb Mountain. According to Lift Blog, the lift is made by Skytrac, a North American outfit that focuses on building fixed-grip lifts.
Once complete, Showcase will “provide faster, easier access to some of Blackcomb’s best alpine terrain,” the resort previously said, “making it significantly easier to lap the Showcase and Blackcomb Glacier areas.”
Both the Blackcomb Glacier and Showcase areas are iconic above-treeline slopes with wide-open snowfields. After dropping into the backside area of Blackcomb Glacier, skiers can wind their way back down to the Crystal Ridge Express, a lower-mountain lift.
Whistler Blackcomb noted that alongside the Showcase project, it’s working to improve “trail connections, skier flow, and access” into Blackcomb Glacier for an “even better guest experience.”
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This story was originally published October 15, 2026 at 3:18 AM.