Arapahoe Basin has reached a deal with its longtime lift supplier Leitner-Poma to replace the Lenawee Mountain triple next year. The mountain’s first six place chairlift will increase throughput from 1,800 skiers per hour to 2,400. “In addition to 6-packs being more stable in high winds, we felt this lift would do the best job of increasing capacity,” wrote Chief Operating Officer Al Henceroth on his always informative blog. “Through our planning we felt the need to upgrade the capacity of Lenawee from 1,800 people per hour (pph) to 2,400 pph. While this could technically be achieved with a quad chair, we felt that in actual use, the 6-pack would be far more effective achieving that goal of 2400 pph,” he continued.
Other new lifts planned for Colorado next year include the first section of Steamboat’s new Wild Blue Gondola, a Rip’s Ride replacement at Breckenridge, Bergman Bowl Express at Keystone and two new detachables at Vail. Copper Mountain, Loveland and Winter Park all have Forest Service approval to build lifts as well, though timelines have not been announced for those projects.
Lift Blog 
I think this will compete with the Kensho SuperChair and Bergman Express for highest high speed six pack.
LikeLike
This will beat out Kensho by ~50m, and the very summit of Bergman (which is above where the lift will end, IIRC) by ~35m.
LikeLike
Assuming a normal rope speed, what does 2400 pph mean for chair spacing? One of my concerns when they said they were considering a six was that the offload area at the top of Lenawee seems smallish, and even adding 10 people per minute there strapping in, chatting with friends about run selection it could get messy.
Can Abasin add more chairs or is 2400 the design max?
LikeLiked by 1 person
2400 pph with a quad is 4 per 6.0 seconds
2400 pph with a 6-pack is 6 per 9.0seconds
LikeLiked by 1 person
As for whether they can add more chairs, that will depend on a couple things. If they design it for 2400 pph as built, they’d have to increase braking force and motor horsepower and probably swap out a few tower assemblies as well. I’d imagine they’re going to do some grading at the top to allow for the increase in folks unloading; you’re absolutely correct that the current unload is ‘smallish’.
LikeLike
2,400 pph on a six pack looks like this:
LikeLike
Thanks for the answers. I don’t love six-packs, but the longer interval may resolve some of that, and most days will be off-peak days at the Basin, when a six can end up feeling spacious for sharing (I mostly ride with one friend, or single).
LikeLike
The extra 600 pph will be clutch on this lift. Since Norway got removed its really the only place that still gets lines if everything is open.
LikeLike
Excited about this – Lenawee is the only choke point on the mountain as it currently stands and is now their oldest lift. I would think they’d move some dirt around at the unload area or maybe use 90-degree unloading at the top since it’s tight as currently configured. There’s plenty of room for people to spread out once they get up here, and the limiting factor for crowding when everything is open at A-Basin is parking, not lift capacity.
Current one has been operated 8 months a year for 22 years and they will likely be reusing all the tower tubes for the new one – wonder if it finds a new home somewhere Midwestern.
I just hope they don’t have to start until the end of June to keep spring skiing going as long as they can, or maybe they can use Pali to Beavers for late spring skiing this year while they remove the old one.
Times are changing at A-Basin! First a cell tower (installed this summer) and now a six pack!
LikeLike
Where did the cell tower get installed and what carriers are on it? That is definitely a change.
LikeLike
I believe it is Verizon.
LikeLike
Will it be the same length or will it go high enough to access Zuma without using the rope tow?
LikeLike