The first chairlift was "black chair" in 1961, shortly followed by "red chair" in 1964. In 1967 and 1970 the yellow and blue chair lifts were added, and in 1973 the green and orange chair lifts were added. The "Outback chair" was added in 1976, "Rainbow" in 1980, and "Sunrise" in 1982. The first area of the mountain developed for skiing was the northeastern side. The northwestern side was not lift-served in 1973, but those who ventured for the "Outback Trail Tour" paid a dollar in advance and got a return ride by a snowcat to the lodge. A new trail was finished in 1975, and the Outback double chairlift was installed at a cost of $700,000. It was replaced by the $3 million high-speed quad "(Outback Express)" in the summer of 1987; with a capacity of 2,800 passengers per hour. The -long Northwest Express chairlift was added in 1996, a high-speed quad with vertical. This lift further expanded the terrain to the west and increased the resort's overall vertical, lowering the minimum lift-served elevation to . In 1976, Mount Bachelor had a severe drought and was only open January 2 through February 14, and February 26 through April 30. There was a loss of an estimated $4 million which took four years to recover. Following the drought, the Nordic initiative began and the main lodge expanded.