Payday was installed in 1971, an original lift at Park City. It was an SLI double, and accessed terrain that the gondola could not reach. The ride time was lengthy, as the lift was over a mile long. Eventually, with the gondola's removal in 1997, Payday was replaced with a six pack, to serve not only its own terrain, but also as the lower section of the gondola. One could then take the Bonanza Access trail to ride Bonanza Express as the second part of the gondola. The mid station of the gondola still stands today, and is seen near the base of Bonanza Express.
Payday Express is a Garaventa CTEC high speed six pack. Just like the other three lifts of its kind, it is a top drive and bottom tensioned. The lift would have worked as a high speed quad, but because it was a replacement for the gondola, it became the main out of base lift, with higher capacity than the gondola. The main base of Park City could use more out of base capacity, but done wrong, this could result in one area of the mountain getting crowds instead of the bottleneck at the base. Payday doesn't get much crowding once people are on the mountain, as well as Crescent. Payday also has a mid-station, which is used in the summer, for scenic rides, but mostly to serve an alpine slide. The mid station is used by lowering sheave assemblies in the structure to bring the haul rope on each side down to ground level. During winter, chairs pass right through the structure. 3:15 is where the mid station is.
Recorded on February 16th, 2021
