Olympic Chair

One of the classic Murray-Latta doubles that defined skiing at Lake Louise for decades. Built in 1964 to serve the new Men’s Downhill and Ladies’ Olympic downhill runs cut on Whitehorn for a hoped-for 1972 Winter Games bid. Ran from near the base up to the Upper Wiwaxy area, giving true top-to-bottom access together with the Summit Platter (from 1975) and the Von Roll gondola (later Grizzly Gondola).

Design

Classic Murray-Latta layout; vault drive at the bottom, counterweight tensioning at the top, widely spaced simple tube towers; giving it a long, slightly “floaty” ride. Known for being long and slow; once faster lifts arrived (Friendly Giant, then Glacier Express), most people avoided Olympic unless everything else was busy.

Removal

Became redundant after the Yan detachable Friendly Giant (1989) and Glacier Express (2000). Stopped operating around 2004; physical removal of towers and terminals completed around 2020. The Ladies’ Downhill was later renamed Lake Lindsey Way in honour of Lindsey Vonn.