Stage 3 lift line.Peak 7 – Peak 8.Peak 8 drive station.Peak 8 station.A busy Saturday at the gondola.Peak 7 angle station.Peak 7.Loading area uphill at Peak 7.Shock Hill angle station.Downhill side of Shock Hill Station.Stage II lift line.Poma Omega station with CWA Omega carriers!Shock Hill uphill side.Return station.Stage I.Breckenridge Station.Loading area in the parking lots.
I think that Leitner-Poma didn’t use Sigma this time because I don’t believe that they had bought Sigma yet when the gondola was built. I do wish they would upgrade them to cabins that would be more non-tilty? Because I always find that the worst aspect of the lift.
During the end of the day rush, I would say that the alternate routes to the gondola are faster at getting you down, and they’re definitely faster than waiting for a bus if the gondola is closed for whatever reason. If you’re transiting from Peak 8 over to the Peak 7 base resorts, it’s faster to take the Rocky Mountain SuperChair and ski down Claimjumper to Fort Mary B. And if you’re parked in the south Gondola Lot, it’s easier to take the Colorado SuperChair or Lift 5 and then ski down Four O’Clock to the Gondola Ski-Back.
Even faster too just to take a little gondola ride back over to 8 and then out. My families method all the time because of the tourists who get jammed up at 8 after getting the kids from ski school among other things. Now shush. don’t want people to know the secret.
I would say that part of the reason why the Colorado and Rocky Mountain SuperChairs have closing times of 4:15 pm during peak periods is to encourage people to use them instead of taking the gondola.
Honestly surprised that Breck hasn’t invested more into building other gondolas as well. In the future once the quicksilver chair has aged, they’d benefit from installing a 10 person LPA with a mid-station at ten mile and then take the lift all the way up to either beaver run top station or mercury’s and then either remove beaver run or build a newer lift since its been around about the same as the old American eagle at copper which was removed a couple years ago.
That’s not gonna happen at all. I will say that Quicksilver is the sort of lift that would be ideal for a chondola, as it’s a double loading lift and there are chondolas in Europe that use separate loading areas for chairs and gondola cabins. Some work would be necessary to convert the second loading area into a gondola cabin loading area, while leaving the first loading area for chairs. But the top terminal would have to be replaced entirely.
As for running such a hypothetical gondola further up Peak 9, well…to have a second stage up to the top of the Beaver Run SuperChair would require such a gondola to cross over both Lift A and the Mercury SuperChair. Crossing Lift A wouldn’t be a problem, but it would have to have very tall towers to cross the Mercury SuperChair, leaving the upper part very much exposed to wind.
And the Beaver Run SuperChair isn’t going to be removed yet. For starters, it serves a vital function in providing top to bottom lift service on Peak 9. And while it’s probably due for replacement, that won’t be for at least another five or so years, especially seeing as Breck takes good care of it. It received new chairs in 2014, and the upper terminal was repainted in 2017 (although I’ll admit I think the top terminal looked better when painted in Beaver Run orange).
I like that idea. However, I would leave Quicksilver in place just to serve beginners and just add the gondola as a second option out of Peak 9 base. Then, I would have its angle station at Beaver Run Base and have the second stage replace Beaver Run, allowing Beaver Run Base to retain its existing lift access. Skiers would still be able to easily lap the upper half of Peak 9 even with Beaver Run as a gondola because Mercury and C Chair are better lifts to lap anyway (should C go detachable and be used full-time, which it is supposed to do).
The Beaver Run SuperChair works better as a chairlift in some form or another. Making it a gondola would make lines longer at the Mercury SuperChair because lapping skiers on the trails south of Sundown would mostly go to it rather than take their equipment off after each run. Upgrading Lift C to a high speed quad wouldn’t do much to mitigate this since it only laps American and the three trails north of it, while the Mercury SuperChair laps all eleven trails on upper Peak 9.
At most, I can see it maybe going the way of a chondola. Though more likely, a six pack.
Also, a two-stage gondola with a midstation at Beaver Run might run into some difficulties because some of the buildings at Beaver Run Resort would be in the way.
And since Peak 9 is no longer the center of attention that it was prior to 2008, I think it’s one area where Breck is unlikely to add any gondolas. I think the whole fact that the Beaver Run SuperChair and Mercury SuperChair complement one another necessitates the Beaver Run SuperChair stays a chairlift. The former provides direct base area access to upper Peak 9, and also is used for lapping the Highway Nine Terrain Park on lower Bonanza (since that’s below where Bonanza skiers have to peel off if going to the Mercury SuperChair); the latter is for lapping the upper Peak 9 trails. I would even say a Beaver Run SuperChair replacement is no less than a decade off, simply because as is, the Peak 9 high speed quads have a combined capacity of 5,600 pph, which would become 7,000 pph if Lift C becomes a high speed quad.
I’m hearing the gondola was evacuated yesterday. Not sure what exactly happened, but interesting. I’m assuming this uses a similar evac system to Red Pine at PC.
If you stay in Shock Hill, is it easy to find an open gondola to hop on a weekday morning (going in mid-March) at the Shock Hill mid-station? Feels like it’s either extremely convenient if they’re sending empty gondolas up every now and again, or frustrating if every gondola coming from the base is already full.
Anything else to plan for if we want to use that as our primary form of getting to and from the resort?
Appreciate the post and any advice. This is very interesting and helpful to see all the detail you’ve documented.
Lift Blog 
Are those CWA cabins? Why didn’t Leitner-Poma use Sigma?
LikeLike
I think that Leitner-Poma didn’t use Sigma this time because I don’t believe that they had bought Sigma yet when the gondola was built. I do wish they would upgrade them to cabins that would be more non-tilty? Because I always find that the worst aspect of the lift.
LikeLike
This lift was built before Doppelmayr bought CWA, and when Poma Still used CWA
LikeLike
Doppelmayr acquired CWA in 2001. The last Leitner-Poma gondola with CWA cabins was built in 2008.
LikeLike
Was this Revelstoke’s lower gondola?
LikeLike
During the end of the day rush, I would say that the alternate routes to the gondola are faster at getting you down, and they’re definitely faster than waiting for a bus if the gondola is closed for whatever reason. If you’re transiting from Peak 8 over to the Peak 7 base resorts, it’s faster to take the Rocky Mountain SuperChair and ski down Claimjumper to Fort Mary B. And if you’re parked in the south Gondola Lot, it’s easier to take the Colorado SuperChair or Lift 5 and then ski down Four O’Clock to the Gondola Ski-Back.
LikeLike
Even faster too just to take a little gondola ride back over to 8 and then out. My families method all the time because of the tourists who get jammed up at 8 after getting the kids from ski school among other things. Now shush. don’t want people to know the secret.
LikeLike
It’s more scenic to just take the Independence SuperChair and ski down to Peak 8 base.
LikeLike
I would say that part of the reason why the Colorado and Rocky Mountain SuperChairs have closing times of 4:15 pm during peak periods is to encourage people to use them instead of taking the gondola.
LikeLike
Honestly surprised that Breck hasn’t invested more into building other gondolas as well. In the future once the quicksilver chair has aged, they’d benefit from installing a 10 person LPA with a mid-station at ten mile and then take the lift all the way up to either beaver run top station or mercury’s and then either remove beaver run or build a newer lift since its been around about the same as the old American eagle at copper which was removed a couple years ago.
LikeLike
That’s not gonna happen at all. I will say that Quicksilver is the sort of lift that would be ideal for a chondola, as it’s a double loading lift and there are chondolas in Europe that use separate loading areas for chairs and gondola cabins. Some work would be necessary to convert the second loading area into a gondola cabin loading area, while leaving the first loading area for chairs. But the top terminal would have to be replaced entirely.
As for running such a hypothetical gondola further up Peak 9, well…to have a second stage up to the top of the Beaver Run SuperChair would require such a gondola to cross over both Lift A and the Mercury SuperChair. Crossing Lift A wouldn’t be a problem, but it would have to have very tall towers to cross the Mercury SuperChair, leaving the upper part very much exposed to wind.
And the Beaver Run SuperChair isn’t going to be removed yet. For starters, it serves a vital function in providing top to bottom lift service on Peak 9. And while it’s probably due for replacement, that won’t be for at least another five or so years, especially seeing as Breck takes good care of it. It received new chairs in 2014, and the upper terminal was repainted in 2017 (although I’ll admit I think the top terminal looked better when painted in Beaver Run orange).
LikeLike
I like that idea. However, I would leave Quicksilver in place just to serve beginners and just add the gondola as a second option out of Peak 9 base. Then, I would have its angle station at Beaver Run Base and have the second stage replace Beaver Run, allowing Beaver Run Base to retain its existing lift access. Skiers would still be able to easily lap the upper half of Peak 9 even with Beaver Run as a gondola because Mercury and C Chair are better lifts to lap anyway (should C go detachable and be used full-time, which it is supposed to do).
LikeLike
The Beaver Run SuperChair works better as a chairlift in some form or another. Making it a gondola would make lines longer at the Mercury SuperChair because lapping skiers on the trails south of Sundown would mostly go to it rather than take their equipment off after each run. Upgrading Lift C to a high speed quad wouldn’t do much to mitigate this since it only laps American and the three trails north of it, while the Mercury SuperChair laps all eleven trails on upper Peak 9.
At most, I can see it maybe going the way of a chondola. Though more likely, a six pack.
Also, a two-stage gondola with a midstation at Beaver Run might run into some difficulties because some of the buildings at Beaver Run Resort would be in the way.
LikeLike
And since Peak 9 is no longer the center of attention that it was prior to 2008, I think it’s one area where Breck is unlikely to add any gondolas. I think the whole fact that the Beaver Run SuperChair and Mercury SuperChair complement one another necessitates the Beaver Run SuperChair stays a chairlift. The former provides direct base area access to upper Peak 9, and also is used for lapping the Highway Nine Terrain Park on lower Bonanza (since that’s below where Bonanza skiers have to peel off if going to the Mercury SuperChair); the latter is for lapping the upper Peak 9 trails. I would even say a Beaver Run SuperChair replacement is no less than a decade off, simply because as is, the Peak 9 high speed quads have a combined capacity of 5,600 pph, which would become 7,000 pph if Lift C becomes a high speed quad.
LikeLike
I’m hearing the gondola was evacuated yesterday. Not sure what exactly happened, but interesting. I’m assuming this uses a similar evac system to Red Pine at PC.
LikeLike
The gondola was not rope-evacuated, they just ran the gondola and unloaded everyone on it.
LikeLike
If you stay in Shock Hill, is it easy to find an open gondola to hop on a weekday morning (going in mid-March) at the Shock Hill mid-station? Feels like it’s either extremely convenient if they’re sending empty gondolas up every now and again, or frustrating if every gondola coming from the base is already full.
Anything else to plan for if we want to use that as our primary form of getting to and from the resort?
Appreciate the post and any advice. This is very interesting and helpful to see all the detail you’ve documented.
LikeLike