Ontario's Biggest Ski Resort Now Has a Chairlift That Knows If Your Bar Is Up
Blue Mountain added a system to its Silver Bullet Express that spots unlowered safety bars and badly seated riders, then alerts staff before the first tower.
Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario, has installed a chairlift safety system on its Silver Bullet Express that watches the loading area and flags two problems: a safety bar that never came down, and a rider who is not seated properly. When it spots either one, it alerts lift operators before the chair reaches the first tower, so staff can step in while the rider is still close to the ground.
The resort listed the upgrade under "A New Layer of Lift Safety" in its 2026-27 What's New rundown. Blue Mountain, the largest ski resort in Ontario and an Ikon Pass mountain, is celebrating its 85th winter this season.
What the system does, and what it does not
Blue Mountain has not named the manufacturer or said whether the system relies on cameras, sensors or both. Its description also does not say the lift slows or stops on its own. As Unofficial Networks pointed out, the system alerts people rather than acting itself, which means the lift attendant still makes the call. Think of it as an extra set of electronic eyes on a six-passenger, high-speed chair that moves a lot of people every hour.
Ontario chairlifts are regulated by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, and safety bars are heavily regulated across Canada. The resort has not announced what happens to riders who keep their bars up, such as warnings or pass penalties, so enforcement is still an open question heading into opening day.
Why it matters beyond Collingwood
Whether riders lower the bar is a long-running argument on lifts across North America, and the Denver Gazette flagged Blue Mountain's move as one Colorado skiers will talk about. A tool aimed squarely at rider behavior in the loading zone is a much smaller investment than building or replacing a chairlift. If it works at Silver Bullet, it is the kind of upgrade other busy day-ski hills could copy without a major capital project.
The lift work sits alongside a broader off-season push. Blue Mountain doubled snowmaking density on two-thirds of Schuss, added close to 9,000 feet of new pipe on Butternut, brought in a robotic ski tuning machine at the rental shop, and launched a Monday evening Night Ski Club for intermediate skiers ages 8 to 11. We covered the resort's 11 miles of new snowmaking pipe in September.
Blue Mountain is targeting a mid-December opening, weather permitting. See terrain, lodging and getting-there details on the Blue Mountain encyclopedia page, and check what your Ikon Pass tier includes before you plan a Collingwood weekend.