3 minute read
A New 9
Storied lift gets a much-needed upgrade
BY EMILY SHOFF
The 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 and specialist cranes to replace the old towers and cables with new ones. Additionally, the ski area widened the unloading zone and updated the pipes for snowmaking at the top of Joint Point and along the Apex cat track. “It just made sense with all of the ripping up we were doing to put in new snowmaking pipes as well,” says Pittenger.
Giuseppe’s, the quaint shack at the top of Lift 9 famous for meatball subs and po’ boy sandwiches, is also getting an update, although that won’t be finished until the 2023-24 season. The new place will have more room — essential for those powder days when skiers and boarders are looking to refuel — but will keep the New Orleans-themed menu. “We’re going to keep the Telluride vibe, while making room for a few more tables,” Pittenger says.
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 days, for instance, before Lifts 7 and 8, skiers heading down the Plunge had to take a bus from town back to Mountain Village.
Johnnie Stevens — who grew up in Telluride, was instrumental in the resort’s founding and served as a ski patroller before rising to chief operating officer — remembers hiking up Powerline to ski the Plunge with friends. “To have a chair that would zip you to the top in 13 minutes was almost overwhelming,” he recalls. “Nine” was such a special place that Stevens got married at the top. “The entire ski patrol was there to help us celebrate.”
For those worried about the fate of the storied old lift, which held so many memories for so many people, there’s hope that it will live out its days on another ski mountain. “We hope it’ll be reused somewhere else,” Pittenger says. “It’s still a really nice lift, but we were pushing it to the max.”
Scott Pittenger
Ryan Bonneau
