Rangeley, ME – Lots of relationships have blossomed from chance meeting on ski lifts. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, a number of U.S. ski resorts are offering variations of “speed dating” using a quintessential tool: the double chairlift.nOn Monday, Feb. 14, Maine’s Saddleback ski resort will offer speed dating on the Rangeley double chairlift. For a $25 lift ticket, single men and women will be able to share the eight minute ride up the mountain as a way for them to meet new people interested in a romantic relationship.
“This is a fun opportunity for folks to have a mini-date with someone who at the very least shares their love of skiing and Saddleback,” says JoAnne Taylor, marketing director at Saddleback. “People can go on as many dates, or rides up on the lift, as they like and should they find they don’t want the date to end quite yet, they’d then be able to ski back down together.”
Participants in Saddleback’s speed dating will be given a red heart on their lanyard with the purchase of the discounted lift ticket and then get in the lines of single men and women at the Rangeley chairlift.
Staffers at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vt. will once again play cupid by giving a new name to the “singles line.” Single skiers and riders in search of a match should plan to ride the Black Ridge Triple Chair starting at 1 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, Monday, Feb. 14. Couples will be created randomly, on-the-spot, and in the time it takes to ride the lift to the top, fate will make a love connection, or skiers and riders can go their separate ways and return to the “Lookin’ for Love Line” again.
In addition, guests visiting the popular Green Mountain ski and snowboard resort can participate in a Sweetheart Scavenger Hunt, a Find-the-Liftie-with-a-Heart contest, or play Okemo’s social media Valentine’s Day photo game.
In California, Squaw Valley is kicking things off early on Saturday, Feb. 12 and running through Monday, Valentine’s Day. Meet other singles at the Solitude lift line this weekend by pairing up and speed dating on the ride up Shirley Canyon with the help of Squaw Valley’s match-making lift operators. Didn’t meet your match? Hop back in line at the Solitude lift line and see who fate hands you next.
Also on Feb. 12, Squaw Valley lift attendants will be giving out heart-shaped stickers all day around the mountain. Stickered men and women can head to the party on the KT Sundeck at Olympic House from 2 to 5 p.m. and try to find their sticker’s match. For those 21 and over who find their match, both stickered parties get a free drink on the house.
Squaw will wrap up the weekend on Monday, Valentine’s Day, with the Tahoe ski resort’s Where is the Love Scavenger Hunt. Skiers and riders who find a hidden heart can bring it to The Plaza Bar in the Olympic House for redemption of prizes including: a couple’s massage from Trilogy Spa; lunch at PlumpJack’s Café; gift certificates to Bistro 22, Mamasake and Blue Coyote; $15 champagne and chocolate tasting from Uncorked; lift tickets; Squaw apparel, and more. The hunt begins at 9 a.m. when the lifts open and lasts until the last heart is found.