MOUNTAIN LIFE
A NEW 9
Storied lift gets a much-needed upgrade BY EMILY SHOFF
T
he Telluride Ski Resort’s legendary Lift 9 has a whole new look this ski season. The resort has replaced the 37-yearold fixed-chair triple, known as the Plunge Lift, with a high-speed quad. According to Director of Mountain Operations Scott Pittenger, the old lift is showing its age on busier days. “We wanted to put in a lift that’s more suitable for the area and its demands.” The project, though, was complex and lengthy. As anyone who tried to hike into Wasatch Basin from the resort last summer (only to discover the route was closed) can attest to, construction was non-stop. “We started working April 6, the day after the ski area closed, hoping to be ready for the holiday crowds,” Pittenger says. “It’s been a big project.” Doppelmayr, the company that made the lift and oversaw its installation, had its work cut out. Lift 9 serves a wealth of black and double-black runs and rises up over more than 2,000 feet, much of it incredibly difficult terrain. Crews used helicopters
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Reflecting on the project, a precursor to the upgrades of Lifts 4 and 10, which are also on the resort’s to-do list, Pittenger notes that the revamp of Lift 9 is going to change the way people move around the mountain. The new high-speed quad will operate at twice the pace, a six-and-a-half-minute ride now as opposed to 13 minutes before. “On a powder day, you’ll be able to quickly access the top of the mountain by riding Lift 8 to 9,” he says. “It’s a huge upgrade.” As with any change though, the loss of the old chair stirs up mixed emotions, conjuring memories of happy days on the mountain. Many longtime locals remember when the chair was first installed, changing “front-side” (the section of the resort that faces the town of Telluride) access dramatically. In the early ‘WE WANTED TO PUT IN A LIFT THAT’S MORE days, for instance, before SUITABLE FOR THE AREA AND ITS DEMANDS.’ Lifts 7 and 8, skiers headScott Pittenger ing down the Plunge had to take a bus from town and specialist cranes to replace the old towers and back to Mountain Village. cables with new ones. Additionally, the ski area Johnnie Stevens — who grew up in Telluride, widened the unloading zone and updated the pipes was instrumental in the resort’s founding and for snowmaking at the top of Joint Point and along served as a ski patroller before rising to chief operthe Apex cat track. “It just made sense with all of ating officer — remembers hiking up Powerline to the ripping up we were doing to put in new snowski the Plunge with friends. “To have a chair that making pipes as well,” says Pittenger. would zip you to the top in 13 minutes was almost Giuseppe’s, the quaint shack at the top of Lift 9 overwhelming,” he recalls. “Nine” was such a spefamous for meatball subs and po’ boy sandwiches, cial place that Stevens got married at the top. “The is also getting an update, although that won’t be entire ski patrol was there to help us celebrate.” finished until the 2023-24 season. The new place For those worried about the fate of the storied will have more room — essential for those powder old lift, which held so many memories for so many days when skiers and boarders are looking to refuel people, there’s hope that it will live out its days on — but will keep the New Orleans-themed menu. another ski mountain. “We hope it’ll be reused “We’re going to keep the Telluride vibe, while mak- somewhere else,” Pittenger says. “It’s still a really ing room for a few more tables,” Pittenger says. nice lift, but we were pushing it to the max.”
