Longer Gondola, Shorter Ride at Keystone
At Keystone (tel. 877/753-9786 or 970/496-4500; http://keystone.snow.com), a new eight-passenger River Run gondola replaces the former six-passenger model and doubles the uphill capacity to 2,400 riders per hour. The bottom terminal has been moved down into River Run Village, more convenient for both overnight guests and day visitors. The new lift covers the 2,307-foot vertical in a top-to-bottom ride time of under 12 minutes. A new mid-station with loading and unloading in both directions gives skiers and snowboarders an option to access the upper trails and to download at the end of the day, or evening for night skiers.
At Jackson Hole, The Tram is Back
For two winters, since its iconic 40-year-old tram was dismantled, Jackson Hole, WY (tel. 888-Deep-SNO or 307-733-2292; www.jacksonhole.com) skiers and riders have made do with a series of chairlifts to reach the top of Rendezvous Peak from the base village. This December, Jackson Hole's sleek new tram debuts with a slightly shorter ride time but with each cabin's capacity increased from 52 to 100, doubling the hourly uphill capacity from 300 to 650. Construction progress is tracked on Jackson's website; click on "Tramformation."
Telluride's Revelation Bowl Gets Lift Service
Revelation Bowl at Telluride, CO (tel. 888/778-8581 or 970/728-6900) is now lift-accessed. This dramatic above-the-treeline European-style terrain, directly off the back side of Gold Hill and Chair 14, is a natural, wide-open bowl with 800 vertical feet of advanced and expert skiing. Thanks to its northeastern aspect, it snares huge amounts of snow from prevailing westerly storms. From the Revelation lift's top station, skiers and riders can choose ridgelines in either direction. The sides offer steeper pitches and thrilling rock features, while the bowl's slightly rolling center will be groomed for cruising. Another option from the top of the lift is the 160 vertical-foot hike to Gold Hill Chutes 6-10 and additional expansive terrain of Palmyra Basin.
Park City Replaces Ski Team Lift with Quick Quad
A new high-speed detachable quad replaces the old Ski Team chair at Park City Mountain Resort, UT (tel. 800/222-PARK or 435/649-8111; www.parkcitymountain.com), increasing capacity, speeding the ride, and in general improving access to the majority of the resort's terrain. The new Ski Team chair, which has been realigned, now provides direct access to the Silverlode, King Con, Bonanza, Pioneer and McConkey's chairlifts.
Lift Upgrade at Snowmass
The Sheer Bliss lift at Snowmass, CO (tel. 800/525-6200 or 970/925-1220; www.aspensnowmass.com) is being upgraded into a high-speed quad. It is also being realigned to feed skiers more directly into the entire Big Burn and Sheer Bliss areas, which together comprise nearly 700 acres of the resort's most popular cruising terrain. The new lift rises 2,212 vertical feet, 155 feet more than the old Sheer Bliss chair. The new lift's ride time is just over nine minutes, compared with 16 minutes for the 23-year-old double chair that it replaces.
Winter Park Installs Cabriolet Transport Lift
Winter Park, CO (tel. 800/729-5813 or 303/892-0961; www.skiwinterpark.com) adds an eight-passenger open-air, stand-up gondola known as a cabriolet to transport guests from the Vintage Hotel parking lot and the every-growing Village at Winter Park Resort. The 1,436-foot-long lift will, of course, provide easy access to the base village for Vintage Hotel guests, but it will also be welcomed by day skiers or vacationers driving in from outlying lodging. The cabriolet makes shuttle buses unnecessary for the Vintage Hotel to resort route. Bus service will continue to run the routes from the other free parking lots.
