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This is called a session where I paint the lifts red with Photoshop. Here's what I was able to create through this.

A red Mercury SuperChair looks very interesting:
 Red Mercury SuperChair.jpg (1.53MB)
Number of downloads: 330


Beaver Creek's high speed quads are painted red and Vail's are painted blue.

But if Vail went with red instead, we would have this:
 Red Northwoods Express.jpg (1.8MB)
Number of downloads: 399


The American Eagle and American Flyer lifts at Copper Mountain actually used to be painted red. Photoshop makes it possible to restore the lifts to their original paint job:

 Red American Eagle lift.jpg (1.78MB)
Number of downloads: 323

 Red American Flyer.jpg (1.56MB)
Number of downloads: 300

If only Breckenridge painted the Colorado SuperChair red:

 Red Colorado SuperChair.jpg (1.93MB)
Number of downloads: 238
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 12 November 2013 - 07:56 PM

Out of curiosity, what version of Photoshop are you using to create these effects?

SkiBachelor, on 12 November 2013 - 08:06 PM, said:

The most recent version. What I do is I select the area using the Wand tool (W key), then I make it as precise as I can. Then I create a layer mask so that I can paint just the area I want to without having to do eraser work. In instances like the Colorado SuperChair or the Mercury SuperChair, I then use the Eraser to rid any red coloring from the blue name signs. The result is that I can then use Photoshop to repaint a chairlift and still end up with something that still looks so realistic you think it is what the real deal looks like until you pay a trip to the actual chairlift and get disappointed.

It's easiest to do this with most of Breckenridge's high speed quads, given that they do not have the name etched directly on the sides of the terminals. The exceptions are the Peak 8 SuperConnect, and the Imperial lift. The Independence SuperChair and Quicksilver SuperChair also have their names etched directly on the terminal siding, not on a blue tab (which is what is used on the Mercury SuperChair, Colorado SuperChair, and Rocky Mountain SuperChair). Copper Mountain is also easy to do when it comes to American Eagle, American Flyer, or Excelerator.

I haven't yet tried the Teacup Express or any of the high speed quads in Blue Sky Basin, but I'm sure I can replicate this photoshop work there.



This is what the Rocky Mountain SuperChair would look like if only it was painted a bright green instead of beige. Admittedly this is what I wish Breckenridge would do to their lifts - paint them bright and vivid colors. The only high speed quads or six packs not to be painted the actual beige that used to be in this picture in real life are the Beaver Run SuperChair (which is painted a pale orange that matches the buildings at Beaver Run Resort), and the new Kensho SuperChair (which has European-esque wood siding for its terminals):
 Green Rocky Mountain SuperChair.jpg (1.75MB)
Number of downloads: 210


Or if the Falcon SuperChair goes sunshine yellow, it would look like at least one Poma high speed quad in Quebec that I've found pictures of:

 Yellow Falcon SuperChair.jpg (1.56MB)
Number of downloads: 299

Same for Union Creek at Copper:
 Yellow Union Creek.jpg (1.3MB)
Number of downloads: 209
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 14 November 2013 - 06:29 AM

Cool. Adobe has really improved on the 'fill' technique since CS4 (which is what I have).

Some other new Photoshoppings.

Copper Mountain's Rendezvous:
 Purple Rendezvous.jpg (1.47MB)
Number of downloads: 194


Did you know that the Colorado SuperChair was built as the sister lift of the American Flyer lift and this extended to having its terminals being painted the same shade of red?
 Red Colorado SuperChair top terminal.jpg (1.65MB)
Number of downloads: 192 vs.  Red American Flyer.jpg (1.56MB)
Number of downloads: 154


No matter what you say, I think the Outback Express lift looks better in red than in beige.
 Red Outback Express lift.jpg (1.57MB)
Number of downloads: 131
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 14 November 2013 - 06:32 AM

Sorta recall the Colorado was never red. It was primer grey-- which is all the Flyer's red ever was. The new orange is the first coat of actual paint those terminals have had. (on a personal note, I don't like the orange, I'd have preferred it if we had just left the primer red.) As for bright colours, the Forest Service doesn't like them so we're not allowed to paint lifts that way. Thus the proliferation of dark green in the last decade or so.

liftmech, on 14 November 2013 - 07:24 AM, said:

These are not supposed to be real in any way. I'm aware that none of Breckenridge's lifts really were painted the same red shade that the American Flyer was. I'm just trying to show you what imagination can allow you to do. By the way, the photoshopped American Flyer and American Eagle pictures originally had the red-orange color and have been retouched so that the red is used. Admittedly, I do wish Breckenridge would revert the Mercury and Rocky Mountain SuperChairs back to the original silvery gray that is shown here: And I believe Keystone is probably repainting the upper terminal of the Outback Express to dark green this year. They repainted the bottom terminal last year, like they had done to the terminals of the other four high speed quads. It's the original shade of green they used when the lifts were originally built.
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 14 November 2013 - 08:40 AM

Photoshopping the Outback Express to something that somewhat looks like a pale version of the original green it was painted in results in something looking like this:


 Retouched Outback Express.jpg (1.62MB)
Number of downloads: 104


I guess photoshopping lifts so that they have a light-blue color is the better approach for realistic photoshopping. This I achieved by using the eyedropper to select the shade of blue used by Winter Park on the Pioneer Express, then using it across a number of other lifts to see what it looked like.

This is the Outback Express lift with Pioneer Express-blue. It kind of works on a Doppelmayr, but probably works more easily with Pomas:
 Blue Outback Express.jpg (1.55MB)
Number of downloads: 99

The shade of blue from the Pioneer Express is the type of blue shade that I think all of Breckenridge's high speed quads and six packs (except the Beaver Run SuperChair and Kensho SuperChair) should have so that they look a little more aesthetically pleasing than brown or beige.

As applied to the Mercury SuperChair:
 Blue Mercury SuperChair.jpg (1.76MB)
Number of downloads: 88

 Light Blue Mercury SuperChair.jpg (1.5MB)
Number of downloads: 95

As applied to the Falcon SuperChair:
 Falcon SuperChair resembling Pioneer Express.jpg (1.91MB)
Number of downloads: 81
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 15 November 2013 - 08:03 AM

DonaldMReif, on 14 November 2013 - 06:21 AM, said:

Purple, It's just not a serious colour, and in that shade...

Non-gray lifts (and towers) at Breck - that will upset Jon Mauch.

2milehi, on 01 December 2013 - 09:31 AM, said:

It's realistic looking, though fictional. Admittedly a pale-blue Mercury SuperChair actually looks very close to the 1997-2008 appearance of the lift (minus having the lift name printed in large letters on the sides of the terminal).

2milehi, on 01 December 2013 - 09:31 AM, said:

I take it he wasn't a fan of colour?

The lifts constructed by POMA look great in red.!

DonaldMReif, on 12 November 2013 - 08:22 PM, said:

Two high speed lifts at Silver Star in BC Canada are painted with yellow shell

The Comet Express, a Leitner Poma high speed six pack
http://www.skilifts....comet/comet.htm


The Powder Gulch Express, a Leitner Poma, high speed Quad
http://www.skilifts....powdergulch.htm

liftmech, on 06 December 2013 - 11:26 AM, said:

Yeah, you can see his influence at Keystone when a lot of the lifts/towers were painted Jon Mauch gray.

Yes, I am aware of the yellow lifts at Silver Star. Those had just slipped my mind.

The lifts that could live without photoshopping of any kind might be the Kensho SuperChair and the Colorado SuperChair, because of that European wood-siding.

However, Photoshopping makes it possible to rebrand a ski resort.

For instance, here is the Peak 8 SuperConnect of Arendelle Ski Resort. Arendelle is my idea of what Breckenridge would look like if the town was named after a Scandinavian kingdom that was ruled by an ice-conjuring sorceress (who was best known for when she accidentally froze her kingdom for three days in the middle of July of 1816):



The logo of Arendelle Resort is a snowflake with lots of whites, blues and purples.

Of course, that's the photoshopped picture above. This is the real picture:

I kind of want to see you redo the American Eagle and American Flyer so that they have the design of an american flag on the side. I always wondered what that would look like.

I once restored American Flyer and American Eagle to their original red.

But here's some work with me recoloring the Mercury SuperChair different colors, like.....

light red:



....a mint green:



...and in the same shade of orange that the Beaver Run SuperChair uses:

I noticed a little photoshop action in Doppelmayr's 2009 yearbook...
Check the lower left photo.

http://i1355.photobu...zps0b0d7daa.png