Photos Melissa Plantz
COMMUNITY CHARACTERS
THE G TEAM A dedicated crew keeps the much-loved Gondola at the heart of the community BY KATHRINE WARREN
W
hat’s at the top of anyone’s todo list when visiting Telluride or Mountain Village? Riding the Gondola, of course. This free, one-of-a-kind piece of machinery links the two sister towns together, spanning 3 miles and peaking at 10,500 feet above sea level, and is the first and only public transportation system of its kind in the United States. The Gondola provides over 3 million passenger trips each year along cables that travel at 1,000 feet per minute, and more than 56 million passenger trips have been provided since it opened in 1996. Those passengers include skiers and boarders, festivarians and mountain bikers, commuters, schoolkids and sightseers. The “G” has even hosted a proposal or two. In fact, it’s safe to say that the Gondola is at the heart of the community. And at the heart of the Gondola is a dedicated team that keeps this crucial apparatus running smoothly for more than 290 days each year, headed by Mountain Village Transit Director Jim Loebe, Transit Operations Manager Rob Johnson and Gondola Maintenance Manager Conor Intemann. The three work tirelessly to lead a team of about 55 operators and mechanics who do everything from performing routine or emergency maintenance and loading passengers to acting as
customer service personnel welcoming guests to the Telluride/Mountain Village experience. Their staff is a mix of young seasonals fresh out of college looking for a winter job and seasoned professionals, some of whom have been working for the Gondola for over 10 years, or even since before it opened. Combined, Loebe, Intemann and Johnson have more than 55 years of experience of working for the Gondola and for them it’s more than just a job title and paycheck it’s a dedication to ‘ I DON’T THINK providing the ANYBODY community a WOULD HAVE reliable service EVER DREAMED day in and day out. “We HOW INCREDIBLY believe in the SUCCESSFUL THIS mission,” Loebe THING WOULD says. “We BECOME.’ preach the misJim Loebe sion to our staff, and we want our people to buy into it and take ownership in our truly unique operation. We want our passion to translate into a sense of belonging for our team and, in turn, our guests”. And it’s a successful tactic based on the rave
reviews visitors leave for the Gondola on TripAdvisor or Yelp. The Gondola is now in its 26th year of operation and will soon need to be replaced, according to its stewards. “It’s one of the best maintained machines in the world, but after more than a quarter century, it’s almost time for an upgrade,” Intemann says. The current funding agreement for the Gondola is set to expire Dec. 31, 2027 and regional stakeholders (including the Town of Mountain Village, which owns and operates the Gondola; the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, which funds the majority of operations; the Town of Telluride; San Miguel County; and the Telluride Ski Resort) are in ongoing discussions, planning the Gondola’s future and how it will be funded. “It’s a big project but the community is behind it, by and large, they see the value in the Gondola,” says Johnson. These discussions will play out over the next few years before the funding agreement expires and will shape the future of the destination due to the Gondola’s enduring popularity. Says Loebe, “I don’t think anybody would have ever dreamed how incredibly successful this thing would become for the entire region when it first opened.” telluride.com | 855.421.4360
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