It may take a few years, but Sunlight Mountain Resort intends to add 100 acres along its eastern boundary serviced by a fourth fixed grip chairlift. Glading work has already begun and will continue into next summer. “This is a multi-year effort,” General Manager Tom Hays recently told the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. “We are in the very early stages of a process that includes building a capital fund, negotiating additional financing, permitting processes with the county and Forest Service, mapping, planning, and shopping for lifts.” The project is estimated to cost $4 million and is dependent on another season or two as successful as 2018-19.
New runs will be cut on private land below the Midland Traverse and will remain hike-out until the lift is installed. The chair will load just above Four Mile Creek and unload above the Beaujolais and Rebel trails. “We’re excited to expand skiing and riding on the already legendary East Ridge,” said Marketing and Sales Director Troy Hawks. “These new runs mean our local skiers and riders will have even more powder to explore and exploit.” If all goes well, the new lift could spin in 2021.
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I wonder what kind of lift this could be. I assume it could be a skytrac triple or quad but it could also be a used double or triple chair.
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Also less than two hours from the Leitner-Poma factory where the Alpha is made.
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I am very excited about the proposed new lift at Sunlight. This terrain is super fun and will look forward to extended runs and a lift back up instead of the current long, flat, awkward run out. One day they may need to replace those Riblets though…
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I’d first like to see them install a HSQ or FGQ from the base to the summit instead of having to utilize 2 lifts like you do now. I love the old Riblets, especially the very old Segundo, which is one of the oldest in Colorado (was originally installed at Aspen) There will be plenty of used fixed grip lifts out there though so they shouldn’t have too big of an issue finding one.
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I would rather see them put the money into a detachable of some type (Chondola?). Having skied Sunlight quite a few times, this new area will not increase the skier experience in my opinion and those steep chute trails don’t always have the best coverage. Anticipate getting a few core shots and the like because there are lots of rocks and branches sticking up.
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Would this be enough to get finally get Sunlight to the 2,010′ vertical they’ve been advertising for so many years?
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This is good news. I don’t know about land/permit boundaries but there is a lot of skiing east of the proposed lift that would funnel back to the lift. Some is steep like the existing runs and some is intermediate. Hopefully all of that terrain would be added. The lift would likely have about 1700 vertical and extend the overall ski area vertical to 2.2k
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