This lift connects Loveland Basin and Loveland Valley but was replaced by shuttle buses in recent years.View towards Loveland Valley.Vault drive station at the Basin.Tension station at Loveland Valley.Note the whiteboard – March 18, 2001!Yan switched out a few towers over the years.Tower 18 at the Valley load.View towards the Basin.Over the Basin parking lot.The lift crosses US6 with a net to catch falling riders.
I asked this question at Loveland and was given a very reasonable answer. The lift requires 4 people to run 2 on each end. The bus requires 1 person to run and is faster. Even on the busiest days they only run 2 buses and they have to have a bus and driver to shuttle employees from Denver.
That is what I heard as well. It is also cheaper to run a shuttle. I think they should upgrade to a 6 or 8 passenger gondola and the guests would have a better experience traveling between the Valley and the basin.
And the nice thing about a gondola, is that an automated one only requires a single employee to run it. That’s a huge capital expense though. Buying 1 or 2 gondola cabins would be about the same as buying an extra shuttle bus. I’m guessing Loveland isn’t rolling in dough, given that their one and only detachable wasn’t installed until 5 years ago.
I feel like a pulse gondola like Wildhorse at Steamboat would be more practical, considering this is not a very popular ski resort and wouldn’t need a very large capacity. It could run from the base of Lift 2 to the base of lift 6, meaning this lift could finally be put to rest. It’s kind of an eyesore right now, just seeing this poor thing rust away at Loveland, so the least they could do is just remove it.
From what I have heard, they don’t plan to replace it anytime soon because a bus is cheaper to operate. You need 4 dirvers for a very high capacity between the mountains. On this lift, you need 4-5 people to operate the lift and there is less capacity. Busses are cheaper to maintain and the alignment on this lift is bad because the beginners would just go up Chet’s Dream instead of Lift 2 which has more beginner terrain for them. Also, they keep this lift standing because it crosses a highway and the forest service would never allow a new lift that would run over a highway.
Lift is still standing. On Lovelands master plan they show it shortened on the Valley side ending atop the beginner area where they also show a new chairlift.
Peter, you should mark this as “Standing”, not “Removed”. On some abandoned areas, you use that to say the lift is in-operational. Removed means it is not there anymore. This is still standing, just not running anymore.
It counts as “removed” because it’s not on the map. Just like how Outrigger at Winter Park was removed from the map after the 2003 season, but was not REMOVED removed until the relocation to Eagle Wind in 2006. Same for Crested Butte’s defunct Twister, or the abandoned lifts at Arizona’s Sunrise Park.
New England Chairlifts & SkiingNovember 8, 2019 / 12:59 pm
Do they still maintain the Liftline? These pictures show the Liftline looking pretty clear. 18 years of this lift sitting abandoned with very little growth on the line Doesn’t seem practical.
That’s probably similar to railroads. There is a railroad track that goes over Tennessee Pass that hasn’t had a train in probably 20 years, but in order to abandon it, they’d have to offer it for sale first, and the only potential buyers would be another railroad, so technically it is still an active mainline, despite a rockslide damaging the tracks, multiple roads paved over it, etc. Probably a similar case for Loveland. CDOT would never allow a new chairlift over the highway if Chair 5 was removed, so they probably maintain the right of way, even though they don’t use it.
I wonder when Colorado State is going to tell loveland to disassemble this lift, as it’s law to take down all abandoned lifts. It depends on what this classifies as. It would be cool to see maybe a pulse gondola or something here. People don’t really go back and forth between loveland basin and loveland valley, so a pulse would probably work. It should be between base areas though.
The reason Loveland will most likely never dismantle this lift is because it crosses a state highway and it would be impossible to get approval to build a new lift in the same alignment once they remove it. I don’t think the state cant tell Loveland to remove something Loveland owns. The state likely signed off on the lifts location years ago and if the state removes the lift, Loveland could sue. I think that law is more for abandoned resorts which have lifts that won’t run again. If it is law, Loveland can still say ” we plan to run it in the future” and they probably don’t have to remove it.
Also, Loveland will not replace this lift for a long time to come because it costs more money and requires more people to operate. A lift requires at least 4 people operate; two at the top, and two at the bottom. The shuttle service only requires two drivers (one for each shuttle) and the ride takes about 2-3 minutes from the valley to the basin. Just from the looks, the lift would take about 8+ minutes to ride, and it would be a long, cold, windy ride. And as you said “People don’t really go back and forth between loveland basin and loveland valley” so the shuttle bus makes more sense with capacity and time.
Another thing to take into account is where the lift drops off. Loveland Valley serves mostly green terrain and Lift 5 drops off at Chet’s Dream which serves more difficult blue and black terrain. Beginner skiers will either hike to Lift 2 (many don’t want to) or just hop on Chet’s Dream which gets them on terrain that’s too hard for them. The station at the valley isn’t very well placed either. It’s in the middle of a slope and if the lift was open, many skiers would miss the station.
If we saw a replacement, I would like to see the lift drop off at the top of Lift 7. On the basin side, it would be cool to see if they could to a turn similar to the one on the Supreme Lift at Alta so the lift would be re-directed into the middle slot between Chet’s Dream and Lift to. I’d doubt they could do a turn since it would take up too much parking space and parking is already a problem at Loveland. Maybe the lift would go over the base of Chet’s Dream and go uphill a ways. For a replacement, a pulse gondola isn’t too bad of an idea, but wind is a problem up there and I think a Cabriolet Lift would work well in that alignment.
Do they actually enforce that law? For years the old double lift at Idlewild stayed standing and tensioned. The area closed in 1986, and the lift was still standing until at least 2008. Not sure when it was removed after that. The old t-bar on Dallas Divide remains standing, and it closed in 1976.
Sunshine Express at Telluride runs over multiple active roads, so no it should not be a problem. I think there may be issues with running one over an interstate highway (I-70 for instance), which may be why the current alignment exists and not a base-to-base option. Regardless, a replacement would probably work better as either a pulse gondola or cabriolet gondola. A liftline from the base of Chet’s Dream to the top of Chair 7 would not be a bad alignment to allow access for all types of skiers. If they really wanted to be fancy, which I doubt because this is Loveland not Vail, they could make it a two-stage gondola, with the second stage replacing Chair 7 as a beginner lift, as beginner gondolas are the new trend (Taos, Beaver Creek) and this would be a true base-to-base option.
It is probably a case by case basis. Both the gondolas at Breck and Beaver Creek run over CDOT maintained highways, but those stretches of road are also bypassed far more easily than Loveland Pass is. When I-70 shuts down, Loveland Pass becomes a major alternate route, and is the primary route for trucks carrying hazardous cargo, so a damaged lift would have significant implications, compared to an issue at either Beaver Creek or Breckenridge. And of course we are all speculating too. Maybe CDOT would be fine with a gondola over the same alignment as Chair 5, but I don’t see them allowing a new chairlift on the same alignment.
I’m drawing a blank on an aerial lift running over a Federal Highway (like US 6) or Interstate (like I-70). There are lifts spanning busy, divided highways, like the Disney Skyliner (World Drive) and Roosevelt Island Tram (FDR Drive). But neither of those are *federal* highways, they are state highways. The proposed Dodger Stadium gondola would not cross any federal highways either. There are open chairlifts crossing state and local roadways, and one active train line in Vermont.
That said, I doubt it’s explicitly banned, and there are tons of other structures crossing or cantilevered over US highways and interstates.
The Portland Aerial Tram crosses Interstate 5. Technically Interstates aren’t federal highways though. They’re still owned and operated by states. Lots of lifts cross actual federal roads in the form of Forest Service roads though.
The Riverfront Gondola in Beaver Creek goes over the same US-6 that Chair 5 does, although a far less important section of it. The Breck Connect gondola in Breckenridge travels over State Highway 9 immediately after leaving the bottom terminal. As a side note, Loveland also has a skier tunnel that goes under I-70, from the bottom of Chair 8, back to the base.
In the current time of masks and distancing, etc maybe a pulse cabriolet would be a good replacement for #5? Maybe some of the original equipment could be used or skytrac could replace any needed equipment, it is/ was nice to have valley and Basin connected by lifts. Using the shuttle is a huge hassle, that shuttle has become crowded too. Although, to counter, nearly all of the best terrain for intermediate and advanced is at the Basin and the valley gets heavily used for race training. I once suggested Ptarmigan should be designated #5 and if/when current abandoned #5 is restored it should get a name since it doesn’t serve any actual runs and lift systems with missing numbers and a mixture of names and numbers are not good for my OCD symptoms but they said no🙂
I don’t believe it has been run in 20 years. I’m sure they’d need to replace a bunch of stuff. I always wanted to ride it as a kid. I’d see us pass under it on our way to Keystone or something. I just don’t think it is economical for Loveland. Like someone pointed out, it takes 4 people to run, but a shuttle bus only needs 1-2 people, and can handle a higher capacity.
Dumb question – but what type of maintenance is done on this lift? Like said, if it hasn’t run in years, to what degree do they still have to do some type of maintenance or inspection considering it spans US6 and the parking lot?
Mothball maintenance probably includes spinning the lift once a year, riding the line and listening for bad bearings, and doing a quick visual on the carriers. I doubt there’s much they need to do. If they were to reopen it, they’d of course need to do a full summer maintenance schedule.
I was told by a mechanic when I asked if they had to NDT the grips, that they can’t physically spin the lift because there isn’t a gearbox in the vault. I was also told that the drive has been stripped, so there isn’t anything to power it.
Lift 10 will start at top of 8 and extend toward the location the ridge cat drops off. I will probably be too old to enjoy it once #10 gets built but the runs are sure fun (currently accessible by ridge cat). Ptarmigan is technically lift 2B. Lift 5 was an interesting ride, it really made the ski area seem a lot larger when it ran in the 80s and 90s…and they didn’t have 8 or 9 during a lot of that time period either…
I remember riding this lift when I was a kid maybe like 6 or 7. It was nice to go back and forth but was a lengthy ride, although not as long as chair 2 in its original format. I can’t imagine any plan to resurrect the lift as it’s ~50 years old already and if they’ve already stripped the drive. Too bad since the 15 person shuttles can’t really keep up on busy days when the use the valley lot for overflow parking.
Hopefully they will revive number five soon. Parking was very challenging during spring break with so many beginners using lift 3 (causing excessive stops) at the Valley in addition to #7 which is the actual beginner lift. It would have been very helpful to have #5 available to shuttle people to the basin who had to park at the Valley side instead of the bus needing to make multiple stops in the valley parking lots before finally going to the basin. Lift 3 does actually have some decent runs for intermediate/ advanced and having #5 in service would provide a greater continuity between basin and valley. Any time I have sent a comment such as this to the resort though, I don’t think it goes very far but at least it is in the master plan now. Maybe Skytrac could replace the drive terminal and the haul rope could be replaced and the grips could be refurbished as needed and reuse as much of the equipment currently in place. Maybe the folks at Powderhorn or Mary Jane might be able to help since they run lifts similar to this one almost every day. It will be interesting to see what the future holds but hopefully something good that improves the experience.
I think the reasoning has already been mentioned before. The shuttle doesn’t have the cool factor that the lift does, but it just makes more economic sense. The lift needs 4-5 people to operate, whereas the shuttle requires less. The shuttle is also faster than the lift as well. If the shuttle gets too busy, it is still a lot simpler and more economical to add another driver into the rotation. Even if they had to purchase another shuttle to make that happen, they’d still come out ahead going that route, versus refurbishing the lift. I’d love an opportunity to ride the chair, but I just don’t see that happening.
We have a lot of (institutional) Heron knowledge as well; we had five at one point although we’re down to just the one. Considering ours is the same age as chair 5, if they do decide to tear it down we’ll take anything they’re willing to send our way!
This lift needs to go. I drove past Loveland today, and one of the towers that held the nets was beginning to tilt. It may not be an issue, but it seems like a safety hazard if it fell on US6. I don’t know if Loveland is planning to remove it, but it seems like it needs to happen soon.
There was a plan for Lift 5 to be replaced with another lift, but that was from 2013.
There is some sort of iconic character when looking at the abandoned Lift 5…….. In a way, I kinda appreciate the static atmosphere it gives off when booting up in the parking lot there.
Lift Blog 
Why doesn’t this lift run anymore?
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I don’t know. Probably because how slow the lift is compared to Shuttle buses
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Skiers hate taking shuttles. It would have been nice to keep your skis on.
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I asked this question at Loveland and was given a very reasonable answer. The lift requires 4 people to run 2 on each end. The bus requires 1 person to run and is faster. Even on the busiest days they only run 2 buses and they have to have a bus and driver to shuttle employees from Denver.
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That is what I heard as well. It is also cheaper to run a shuttle. I think they should upgrade to a 6 or 8 passenger gondola and the guests would have a better experience traveling between the Valley and the basin.
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Na, maybe a cabriolet lift would work because they are simple and people could stand in the cabin.
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And the nice thing about a gondola, is that an automated one only requires a single employee to run it. That’s a huge capital expense though. Buying 1 or 2 gondola cabins would be about the same as buying an extra shuttle bus. I’m guessing Loveland isn’t rolling in dough, given that their one and only detachable wasn’t installed until 5 years ago.
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I feel like a pulse gondola like Wildhorse at Steamboat would be more practical, considering this is not a very popular ski resort and wouldn’t need a very large capacity. It could run from the base of Lift 2 to the base of lift 6, meaning this lift could finally be put to rest. It’s kind of an eyesore right now, just seeing this poor thing rust away at Loveland, so the least they could do is just remove it.
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That seems to be a mix of Yan and Heron Poma towers.
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I wonder what’s keeping the ski area from replacing 5 with a new lift.
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From what I have heard, they don’t plan to replace it anytime soon because a bus is cheaper to operate. You need 4 dirvers for a very high capacity between the mountains. On this lift, you need 4-5 people to operate the lift and there is less capacity. Busses are cheaper to maintain and the alignment on this lift is bad because the beginners would just go up Chet’s Dream instead of Lift 2 which has more beginner terrain for them. Also, they keep this lift standing because it crosses a highway and the forest service would never allow a new lift that would run over a highway.
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Lift is still standing. On Lovelands master plan they show it shortened on the Valley side ending atop the beginner area where they also show a new chairlift.
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I think a pulse gondola would be practical for this sort of alignment.
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Peter, you should mark this as “Standing”, not “Removed”. On some abandoned areas, you use that to say the lift is in-operational. Removed means it is not there anymore. This is still standing, just not running anymore.
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It counts as “removed” because it’s not on the map. Just like how Outrigger at Winter Park was removed from the map after the 2003 season, but was not REMOVED removed until the relocation to Eagle Wind in 2006. Same for Crested Butte’s defunct Twister, or the abandoned lifts at Arizona’s Sunrise Park.
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Do they still maintain the Liftline? These pictures show the Liftline looking pretty clear. 18 years of this lift sitting abandoned with very little growth on the line Doesn’t seem practical.
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Looks like it, to a degree.
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That’s probably similar to railroads. There is a railroad track that goes over Tennessee Pass that hasn’t had a train in probably 20 years, but in order to abandon it, they’d have to offer it for sale first, and the only potential buyers would be another railroad, so technically it is still an active mainline, despite a rockslide damaging the tracks, multiple roads paved over it, etc. Probably a similar case for Loveland. CDOT would never allow a new chairlift over the highway if Chair 5 was removed, so they probably maintain the right of way, even though they don’t use it.
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I wonder when Colorado State is going to tell loveland to disassemble this lift, as it’s law to take down all abandoned lifts. It depends on what this classifies as. It would be cool to see maybe a pulse gondola or something here. People don’t really go back and forth between loveland basin and loveland valley, so a pulse would probably work. It should be between base areas though.
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The reason Loveland will most likely never dismantle this lift is because it crosses a state highway and it would be impossible to get approval to build a new lift in the same alignment once they remove it. I don’t think the state cant tell Loveland to remove something Loveland owns. The state likely signed off on the lifts location years ago and if the state removes the lift, Loveland could sue. I think that law is more for abandoned resorts which have lifts that won’t run again. If it is law, Loveland can still say ” we plan to run it in the future” and they probably don’t have to remove it.
Also, Loveland will not replace this lift for a long time to come because it costs more money and requires more people to operate. A lift requires at least 4 people operate; two at the top, and two at the bottom. The shuttle service only requires two drivers (one for each shuttle) and the ride takes about 2-3 minutes from the valley to the basin. Just from the looks, the lift would take about 8+ minutes to ride, and it would be a long, cold, windy ride. And as you said “People don’t really go back and forth between loveland basin and loveland valley” so the shuttle bus makes more sense with capacity and time.
Another thing to take into account is where the lift drops off. Loveland Valley serves mostly green terrain and Lift 5 drops off at Chet’s Dream which serves more difficult blue and black terrain. Beginner skiers will either hike to Lift 2 (many don’t want to) or just hop on Chet’s Dream which gets them on terrain that’s too hard for them. The station at the valley isn’t very well placed either. It’s in the middle of a slope and if the lift was open, many skiers would miss the station.
If we saw a replacement, I would like to see the lift drop off at the top of Lift 7. On the basin side, it would be cool to see if they could to a turn similar to the one on the Supreme Lift at Alta so the lift would be re-directed into the middle slot between Chet’s Dream and Lift to. I’d doubt they could do a turn since it would take up too much parking space and parking is already a problem at Loveland. Maybe the lift would go over the base of Chet’s Dream and go uphill a ways. For a replacement, a pulse gondola isn’t too bad of an idea, but wind is a problem up there and I think a Cabriolet Lift would work well in that alignment.
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A cabriolet running directly from the base of 7 to the base of 2 would be doable.
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Do they actually enforce that law? For years the old double lift at Idlewild stayed standing and tensioned. The area closed in 1986, and the lift was still standing until at least 2008. Not sure when it was removed after that. The old t-bar on Dallas Divide remains standing, and it closed in 1976.
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Everyone saying the state would never approve a lift running over a highway seem to have forgotten the Riverfront Gondola at Beaver Creek.
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They’ve also forgotten about how the BreckConnect Gondola crosses over a bunch of roads.
But maybe there’s different standards for running a gondola across an active roadway vs. a chairlift.
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Sunshine Express at Telluride runs over multiple active roads, so no it should not be a problem. I think there may be issues with running one over an interstate highway (I-70 for instance), which may be why the current alignment exists and not a base-to-base option. Regardless, a replacement would probably work better as either a pulse gondola or cabriolet gondola. A liftline from the base of Chet’s Dream to the top of Chair 7 would not be a bad alignment to allow access for all types of skiers. If they really wanted to be fancy, which I doubt because this is Loveland not Vail, they could make it a two-stage gondola, with the second stage replacing Chair 7 as a beginner lift, as beginner gondolas are the new trend (Taos, Beaver Creek) and this would be a true base-to-base option.
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This lift doesn’t go over I-70, it crosses over US-6 Loveland Pass.
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It is probably a case by case basis. Both the gondolas at Breck and Beaver Creek run over CDOT maintained highways, but those stretches of road are also bypassed far more easily than Loveland Pass is. When I-70 shuts down, Loveland Pass becomes a major alternate route, and is the primary route for trucks carrying hazardous cargo, so a damaged lift would have significant implications, compared to an issue at either Beaver Creek or Breckenridge. And of course we are all speculating too. Maybe CDOT would be fine with a gondola over the same alignment as Chair 5, but I don’t see them allowing a new chairlift on the same alignment.
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I’m drawing a blank on an aerial lift running over a Federal Highway (like US 6) or Interstate (like I-70). There are lifts spanning busy, divided highways, like the Disney Skyliner (World Drive) and Roosevelt Island Tram (FDR Drive). But neither of those are *federal* highways, they are state highways. The proposed Dodger Stadium gondola would not cross any federal highways either. There are open chairlifts crossing state and local roadways, and one active train line in Vermont.
That said, I doubt it’s explicitly banned, and there are tons of other structures crossing or cantilevered over US highways and interstates.
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The Portland Aerial Tram crosses Interstate 5. Technically Interstates aren’t federal highways though. They’re still owned and operated by states. Lots of lifts cross actual federal roads in the form of Forest Service roads though.
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I guess I was considering design requirements more than ownership. But an active tram over I-5 is a clear precedent.
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The Riverfront Gondola in Beaver Creek goes over the same US-6 that Chair 5 does, although a far less important section of it. The Breck Connect gondola in Breckenridge travels over State Highway 9 immediately after leaving the bottom terminal. As a side note, Loveland also has a skier tunnel that goes under I-70, from the bottom of Chair 8, back to the base.
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In the current time of masks and distancing, etc maybe a pulse cabriolet would be a good replacement for #5? Maybe some of the original equipment could be used or skytrac could replace any needed equipment, it is/ was nice to have valley and Basin connected by lifts. Using the shuttle is a huge hassle, that shuttle has become crowded too. Although, to counter, nearly all of the best terrain for intermediate and advanced is at the Basin and the valley gets heavily used for race training. I once suggested Ptarmigan should be designated #5 and if/when current abandoned #5 is restored it should get a name since it doesn’t serve any actual runs and lift systems with missing numbers and a mixture of names and numbers are not good for my OCD symptoms but they said no🙂
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If the infrastructure is still in good shape, I don’t think they need to replace the lift, Just use it again.
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I don’t believe it has been run in 20 years. I’m sure they’d need to replace a bunch of stuff. I always wanted to ride it as a kid. I’d see us pass under it on our way to Keystone or something. I just don’t think it is economical for Loveland. Like someone pointed out, it takes 4 people to run, but a shuttle bus only needs 1-2 people, and can handle a higher capacity.
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I thought Ptarmigan was lift 10?
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Dumb question – but what type of maintenance is done on this lift? Like said, if it hasn’t run in years, to what degree do they still have to do some type of maintenance or inspection considering it spans US6 and the parking lot?
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Mothball maintenance probably includes spinning the lift once a year, riding the line and listening for bad bearings, and doing a quick visual on the carriers. I doubt there’s much they need to do. If they were to reopen it, they’d of course need to do a full summer maintenance schedule.
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I was told by a mechanic when I asked if they had to NDT the grips, that they can’t physically spin the lift because there isn’t a gearbox in the vault. I was also told that the drive has been stripped, so there isn’t anything to power it.
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I’d say they must’ve cannibalized the drive to use for parts on other lifts.
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You would think they would have taken the chairs off first, before they removed the drive.
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Lift 10 will start at top of 8 and extend toward the location the ridge cat drops off. I will probably be too old to enjoy it once #10 gets built but the runs are sure fun (currently accessible by ridge cat). Ptarmigan is technically lift 2B. Lift 5 was an interesting ride, it really made the ski area seem a lot larger when it ran in the 80s and 90s…and they didn’t have 8 or 9 during a lot of that time period either…
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Does anyone know of or have a video of the lift, especially a ride? If so, please share it, that would be very nice to see.
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I doubt it. When it went out of service, making personal videos of lift rides wasn’t very popular.
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I remember riding this lift when I was a kid maybe like 6 or 7. It was nice to go back and forth but was a lengthy ride, although not as long as chair 2 in its original format. I can’t imagine any plan to resurrect the lift as it’s ~50 years old already and if they’ve already stripped the drive. Too bad since the 15 person shuttles can’t really keep up on busy days when the use the valley lot for overflow parking.
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When was this lift shut down and the connecting bus service started?
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The whiteboard in the photos suggests 2001. The date says March 18th.
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Thanks so much for your information. Rick
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This lift is not removed, I passed here a couple days back and it remains standing.
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yes it does, but something is going to be done to it soon.
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Hopefully they will revive number five soon. Parking was very challenging during spring break with so many beginners using lift 3 (causing excessive stops) at the Valley in addition to #7 which is the actual beginner lift. It would have been very helpful to have #5 available to shuttle people to the basin who had to park at the Valley side instead of the bus needing to make multiple stops in the valley parking lots before finally going to the basin. Lift 3 does actually have some decent runs for intermediate/ advanced and having #5 in service would provide a greater continuity between basin and valley. Any time I have sent a comment such as this to the resort though, I don’t think it goes very far but at least it is in the master plan now. Maybe Skytrac could replace the drive terminal and the haul rope could be replaced and the grips could be refurbished as needed and reuse as much of the equipment currently in place. Maybe the folks at Powderhorn or Mary Jane might be able to help since they run lifts similar to this one almost every day. It will be interesting to see what the future holds but hopefully something good that improves the experience.
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I think the reasoning has already been mentioned before. The shuttle doesn’t have the cool factor that the lift does, but it just makes more economic sense. The lift needs 4-5 people to operate, whereas the shuttle requires less. The shuttle is also faster than the lift as well. If the shuttle gets too busy, it is still a lot simpler and more economical to add another driver into the rotation. Even if they had to purchase another shuttle to make that happen, they’d still come out ahead going that route, versus refurbishing the lift. I’d love an opportunity to ride the chair, but I just don’t see that happening.
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We have a lot of (institutional) Heron knowledge as well; we had five at one point although we’re down to just the one. Considering ours is the same age as chair 5, if they do decide to tear it down we’ll take anything they’re willing to send our way!
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If the motor is indeed gone, then this lift is not going to run again.
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This lift needs to go. I drove past Loveland today, and one of the towers that held the nets was beginning to tilt. It may not be an issue, but it seems like a safety hazard if it fell on US6. I don’t know if Loveland is planning to remove it, but it seems like it needs to happen soon.
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There was a plan for Lift 5 to be replaced with another lift, but that was from 2013.
There is some sort of iconic character when looking at the abandoned Lift 5…….. In a way, I kinda appreciate the static atmosphere it gives off when booting up in the parking lot there.
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