View up the line from the Gondola Plaza.Lower terminal building.Departure side at the bottom terminal.Inside the bottom terminal building.Tire contour.Euro-style tower 6.Lower section of the line.Epic views of Lake Tahoe.T17.Mid-station unload.The midstation only serves up-bound cabins.Breakover towers with a CWA Omega cabin.The entire mid-station with cafe and viewing platform is built above-grade.Imagine a gondola terminal split in half and placed end to end.Leaving the mid-unload.Upper lift line.Towers 19-21.Upper terminal with vault drive.The drive terminal building has maintenance bays.Depression towers at the top.Transfer rail to cabin parking.Half towers above the mid-station.View down to South Lake Tahoe.Tower 9.T7.Arriving back at the bottom.Arrival side of the bottom terminal.The top breakover before the middle station.The short downhill section after the observation deck.A tower near the summit.View down to the top terminal with Tamarack Express in the background.The high point of the lift.Another view of the summit towers.View down towards the mid-station.View up towards Tamarack Lodge.Split towers above the observation deck.Tower 26.25 and 24 in two different colors.Underside of the middle station.A downbound cabin passes the mid.The entire middle station.Another view of the two sides passing.A cabin over Lake Tahoe.View down the steepest part of the line.Cabins over South Lake Tahoe, California and Stateline, Nevada.Monster combination assemblies.Lower part of the lift line.Tower 12.View up the face of Heavenly Mountain.Towers near the bottom terminal.View down the first stretch of the line.View up at tower 8.Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.Doppelmayr Worldbook entry.
This is probably biggest and most expensive lift that Otten installed anywhere. He always rushed into things and tried to come up with the biggest grandest plans for all his ski areas. His fatal flaw was thinking it was all about him and his image as an industry leader, doing whatever Intrawest and Vail were capable of. Unfortunately, he was a bit too greedy, and his company crumbled under a crushing debt load, but many of his former resorts got some really good lift investment out of the deal.
Where does the railing on the top terminal go? Is it to pull cabins off for maintenance? I figured that there was no parking, I have never seen those cabins off the cable. Its a beautiful machine, too bad Vail has not spent much in California the past decade. Comet was down for two days again this past weekend.
At the top terminal the rail is just a stub. It can clearly be seen in the photo. There is only room for a few cabins.
The original plan was grand and first class. I saw the plans. This rail was to lead to a cabin conveyor which would transfer all 138 cabins downstairs to a massive basement parking garage.This garage was to spread out toward Tamarack and Von Schmidt with all the needed food outlets, retail and level access to Tamarack chair on top. Those light duty stairs that bring you down from the top station were only intended to be temporary.
If the current top station design appears hap-hazard it’s because 20 years later it is still incomplete!
As the summer of 2000 progressed it became increasingly obvious that ASC was running out of money and the original plans began to get cut, including the legendary “J – chair” which was to provide direct access from base of Sky to top of Gondola. 20 years on, access to the Gondola from California is still a pain and “J chair” is still just an idea.
> Thanks, I knew about the ramp not being built to tamarack but had no idea the original design called for a cabin barn, that is too bad, I wonder how much use it would get with gondola running both summer and winter. It seems like it’s offline for only a few months out of the year and during windy storms, how long would it take to put them into storage and bring them out. Loading the chairs back up on sky express seems like a good two to three hours. I was also sad that the original north bowl / Olympic chair with the angled mid station was never installed, but I recall that being more a trpa issue than money. > >
That is a fantastic run, I skied it after the big snows of 2017 and it is up there for my favorite all time runs. Long vertical with no crowds, amazing lake views, impressive gondola, what’s not to love!
I’m not gonna lie that actually kind of impressive. Do you always ski those extreme lift lines (When conditions allow) to get those sick AF photographs.
There is a backcountry gate for those feeling adventurous behind the mountain coaster. The Forest Service supports public access to public land. I had a great run!
As it’s non-patrolled terrain, even if it’s accessed from a resort, always follow backcountry safety procedures. :) Beacon, probe, shovel, partner, etc. Slackcountry is amazing if you do it right.
Yes it runs pretty much all year, except for some downtime for maintenance during spring and fall. The full restaurant and observation deck are open when the gondola is running.
This gondola will always hold a special place in my heart! It is the first gondola I have ever ridden in my life, I was ten at the time! Back then I wasn’t nearly as knowledgeable about aerial ropeways, and assumed when looking at the trail map prior to visiting, that it was going to be like an aerial tramway. Little me was so thrilled to see what in my mind was the middle ground between a detachable chairlift and aerial tramway!
There is some evidence that this person got on the gondola AFTER the last group of employees got on it for the ride down. It was then shut down when the last employees exited for the day, leaving her stranded.
Not making excuses, but if true, she bears at least some responsibility for this debacle. Who gets on ANY lift if there are NO employees around, and in this day and age, who drains their phone’s battery to zero while still on the hill? On the other hand, why wasn’t the upper station closed up or locked down, or at least a BIG SIGN displayed stating the gondola was closed for the day? The whole thing sounds pretty fishy to me.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I think any reasonable, UNIMPAIRED person would look at a situation like this (i.e. no customers and NO employees around, and deduce that getting stranded was a possibility, however slight. I would have checked at Tamarack Lodge to try and find someone, and if no one was there, would have taken it to mean that I was the last person up there, and that the situation was dire. Even if I had to break into the Lodge, it would have been far better spending the night in the Lodge rather than possibly freezing to death in a gondola car.
Not making excuses, but if true, she bears at least some responsibility for this debacle. Who gets on ANY lift if there are NO employees around, and in this day and age, who drains their phone’s battery to zero while still on the hill? On the other hand, why wasn’t the upper station closed up or locked down, or at least a BIG SIGN displayed stating the gondola was closed for the day? The whole thing sounds pretty fishy to me.
And I’m sure if this individual tries to pursue legal action against Heavenly, Heavenly’s lawyers will probably counter with an answer to that effect: “this woman’s situation was a result of her own negligence.”
Because yeah, it’s irresponsible to not do a spot check and realize that the gondola might be closed because there’s no employees around, even if the cabins are still moving. And it’s irresponsible to not, say, carry at least a battery bank that can recharge your phone enough for you to contact emergency services if something should happen to you.
Totally disagree with the responsibility being on the Gondola Rider. This was probably a first time guest and she had no clue. The lack of Gondola supervision lies totally on the ski area. They do this day in and day out. You can’t turn your back on a lift in operation. Eventually it will bite you and it did.
Kirk is correct. Best practice is to keep employees watching each station until the lift is stopped. There are other ways for the employees to get down the mountain, i.e. ski or snowmobile. At my mountain certain employees even spend the night at stations to ensure the lift is unloaded safely then started in the morning.
In my opinion it would depend on the state of the top station: If the woman had to duck ropes or go past signage indicating the lift was closed, I would lean more towards it being her personal responsibility. But if the only thing different than operating hours was the lack of an attendant, that’s definitely the resort’s shortcoming.
The idea of a gondola emanating from the casino core is not a new one.
I came across a prospectus from 1959 proposing a new, ski area, simply called “East Peak”, that would start with a gondola to be built in the area between the current Forest Inn and the rear of Harrah’s parking lot and continue to the top of East Peak. It was proposed by a company called The Stateline Aerial Tramway Corporation of Sacramento, who were offering 600,000 shares to “bona fide California residents” at $1/share(!) Their ambitious plans called for building the gondola and associated structures by the following year, 1960, the year Heavenly’s then 3-year-old plan to build a second chair (Waterfall) came to fruition, and a third chair (Ridge) only one year after that. So, it’s possible that even at this very early stage, Chris Kuraisa, et.al., along with attorney Hugh Killebrew, were already envisioning Heavenly eventually going into Nevada, and were somehow able to put the kibosh on the whole thing. The paperwork also states they had already awarded a $450,000 contract to Heron Engineering of Denver to build the gondola. Heron built Heavenly’s first 6 chairs as well as the first Aerial Tram.
Have to remember that in 1959, Heavenly consisted of one chair (Gunbarrel) and three rope tows at a base area that was a couple of miles removed from this newly proposed resort. The third photo from the top (Departure side at the bottom terminal) the lift line cut for this proposed lift can be clearly seen to the left of the current gondola line. This cut has been called “Firebreak” by locals for decades, even though it was NOT intended to be a firebreak at all. It proved to be utterly worthless as such shortly after the Gondola opened in 2002, and someone threw a cigarette out the window and causing a huge fire resulting in a massive burned-out area on both sides of the ridge now commonly referred to as “The Burn”.
Had this new ski resort come to pass, it no doubt would have developed into the area now known as The Nevada Side. They probably would have eventually merged, anyway, especially after Vail came on the scene. Nevertheless, it’s still kind of fun to speculate what “woulda, coulda, shoulda” happened had Heavenly started out as two separate and distinct ski areas way back then.
Lift Blog 
This is probably biggest and most expensive lift that Otten installed anywhere. He always rushed into things and tried to come up with the biggest grandest plans for all his ski areas. His fatal flaw was thinking it was all about him and his image as an industry leader, doing whatever Intrawest and Vail were capable of. Unfortunately, he was a bit too greedy, and his company crumbled under a crushing debt load, but many of his former resorts got some really good lift investment out of the deal.
LikeLike
He skimped on the cabin parking though and they’ve been hanging on that line now for 18 years!
LikeLike
I think there is cabin parking below the top terminal.
LikeLike
Nope, sorry, I worked there for many years and a cabin storage garage was never built.
LikeLike
Where does the railing on the top terminal go? Is it to pull cabins off for maintenance? I figured that there was no parking, I have never seen those cabins off the cable. Its a beautiful machine, too bad Vail has not spent much in California the past decade. Comet was down for two days again this past weekend.
LikeLike
At the top terminal the rail is just a stub. It can clearly be seen in the photo. There is only room for a few cabins.
The original plan was grand and first class. I saw the plans. This rail was to lead to a cabin conveyor which would transfer all 138 cabins downstairs to a massive basement parking garage.This garage was to spread out toward Tamarack and Von Schmidt with all the needed food outlets, retail and level access to Tamarack chair on top. Those light duty stairs that bring you down from the top station were only intended to be temporary.
If the current top station design appears hap-hazard it’s because 20 years later it is still incomplete!
As the summer of 2000 progressed it became increasingly obvious that ASC was running out of money and the original plans began to get cut, including the legendary “J – chair” which was to provide direct access from base of Sky to top of Gondola. 20 years on, access to the Gondola from California is still a pain and “J chair” is still just an idea.
LikeLiked by 4 people
> Thanks, I knew about the ramp not being built to tamarack but had no idea the original design called for a cabin barn, that is too bad, I wonder how much use it would get with gondola running both summer and winter. It seems like it’s offline for only a few months out of the year and during windy storms, how long would it take to put them into storage and bring them out. Loading the chairs back up on sky express seems like a good two to three hours. I was also sad that the original north bowl / Olympic chair with the angled mid station was never installed, but I recall that being more a trpa issue than money. > >
LikeLike
Does the mid station have spacers in it? Does park city’s Orange bubble have them too? Both lifts have half mid stations.
LikeLike
What do you mean by “spacers”?
LikeLike
The system that spaces out the chairs/gondolas evenly in the terminals. Im wondering if the mid stations have them too.
LikeLike
The “Mid Station” is only on the uphill side…and since you can unload and reload there, yes- it has spacing…or synchronization.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is so much snow in Tahoe right now that I was able to ski the entire lift line for photography purposes. This is such a badass lift!
LikeLiked by 3 people
That is a fantastic run, I skied it after the big snows of 2017 and it is up there for my favorite all time runs. Long vertical with no crowds, amazing lake views, impressive gondola, what’s not to love!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not gonna lie that actually kind of impressive. Do you always ski those extreme lift lines (When conditions allow) to get those sick AF photographs.
LikeLike
How could you possibly ski under the gondola?
Heavenly does not allow it as you will have to cross the ski area boundary to ski under it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There is a backcountry gate for those feeling adventurous behind the mountain coaster. The Forest Service supports public access to public land. I had a great run!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh cool.
So can I just ski through the gate or do I have to get special permission?
LikeLike
When I was there, no special permission was required.
LikeLike
As it’s non-patrolled terrain, even if it’s accessed from a resort, always follow backcountry safety procedures. :) Beacon, probe, shovel, partner, etc. Slackcountry is amazing if you do it right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Does the observation deck and corresponding cafe operate in winter?
LikeLike
Yes it runs pretty much all year, except for some downtime for maintenance during spring and fall. The full restaurant and observation deck are open when the gondola is running.
LikeLike
This gondola will always hold a special place in my heart! It is the first gondola I have ever ridden in my life, I was ten at the time! Back then I wasn’t nearly as knowledgeable about aerial ropeways, and assumed when looking at the trail map prior to visiting, that it was going to be like an aerial tramway. Little me was so thrilled to see what in my mind was the middle ground between a detachable chairlift and aerial tramway!
LikeLike
This is one beautiful gondola!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The lifties are gonna be in trouble, a woman had to spend the night in one of the cabins.
https://www.powder.com/trending-news/snowboarder-stuck-in-heavenly-gondola
LikeLike
There is some evidence that this person got on the gondola AFTER the last group of employees got on it for the ride down. It was then shut down when the last employees exited for the day, leaving her stranded.
Not making excuses, but if true, she bears at least some responsibility for this debacle. Who gets on ANY lift if there are NO employees around, and in this day and age, who drains their phone’s battery to zero while still on the hill? On the other hand, why wasn’t the upper station closed up or locked down, or at least a BIG SIGN displayed stating the gondola was closed for the day? The whole thing sounds pretty fishy to me.
LikeLike
Hindsight is 20/20, but I think any reasonable, UNIMPAIRED person would look at a situation like this (i.e. no customers and NO employees around, and deduce that getting stranded was a possibility, however slight. I would have checked at Tamarack Lodge to try and find someone, and if no one was there, would have taken it to mean that I was the last person up there, and that the situation was dire. Even if I had to break into the Lodge, it would have been far better spending the night in the Lodge rather than possibly freezing to death in a gondola car.
LikeLike
Not making excuses, but if true, she bears at least some responsibility for this debacle. Who gets on ANY lift if there are NO employees around, and in this day and age, who drains their phone’s battery to zero while still on the hill? On the other hand, why wasn’t the upper station closed up or locked down, or at least a BIG SIGN displayed stating the gondola was closed for the day? The whole thing sounds pretty fishy to me.
And I’m sure if this individual tries to pursue legal action against Heavenly, Heavenly’s lawyers will probably counter with an answer to that effect: “this woman’s situation was a result of her own negligence.”
Because yeah, it’s irresponsible to not do a spot check and realize that the gondola might be closed because there’s no employees around, even if the cabins are still moving. And it’s irresponsible to not, say, carry at least a battery bank that can recharge your phone enough for you to contact emergency services if something should happen to you.
LikeLike
Totally disagree with the responsibility being on the Gondola Rider. This was probably a first time guest and she had no clue. The lack of Gondola supervision lies totally on the ski area. They do this day in and day out. You can’t turn your back on a lift in operation. Eventually it will bite you and it did.
LikeLike
Kirk is correct. Best practice is to keep employees watching each station until the lift is stopped. There are other ways for the employees to get down the mountain, i.e. ski or snowmobile. At my mountain certain employees even spend the night at stations to ensure the lift is unloaded safely then started in the morning.
LikeLike
Seems like the resort did the right thing, as Peter and Kirk suggested: https://www.powder.com/trending-news/heavenly-exec-takes-blame
In my opinion it would depend on the state of the top station: If the woman had to duck ropes or go past signage indicating the lift was closed, I would lean more towards it being her personal responsibility. But if the only thing different than operating hours was the lack of an attendant, that’s definitely the resort’s shortcoming.
LikeLike
Holy Moly! That is one long SpaceJet!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How do you get back on at the mid-station?
LikeLike
The cabin slows down, people get off…people get on, the cabin speeds back up. Continuing in the uphill direction only. :-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
The idea of a gondola emanating from the casino core is not a new one.
I came across a prospectus from 1959 proposing a new, ski area, simply called “East Peak”, that would start with a gondola to be built in the area between the current Forest Inn and the rear of Harrah’s parking lot and continue to the top of East Peak. It was proposed by a company called The Stateline Aerial Tramway Corporation of Sacramento, who were offering 600,000 shares to “bona fide California residents” at $1/share(!) Their ambitious plans called for building the gondola and associated structures by the following year, 1960, the year Heavenly’s then 3-year-old plan to build a second chair (Waterfall) came to fruition, and a third chair (Ridge) only one year after that. So, it’s possible that even at this very early stage, Chris Kuraisa, et.al., along with attorney Hugh Killebrew, were already envisioning Heavenly eventually going into Nevada, and were somehow able to put the kibosh on the whole thing. The paperwork also states they had already awarded a $450,000 contract to Heron Engineering of Denver to build the gondola. Heron built Heavenly’s first 6 chairs as well as the first Aerial Tram.
Have to remember that in 1959, Heavenly consisted of one chair (Gunbarrel) and three rope tows at a base area that was a couple of miles removed from this newly proposed resort. The third photo from the top (Departure side at the bottom terminal) the lift line cut for this proposed lift can be clearly seen to the left of the current gondola line. This cut has been called “Firebreak” by locals for decades, even though it was NOT intended to be a firebreak at all. It proved to be utterly worthless as such shortly after the Gondola opened in 2002, and someone threw a cigarette out the window and causing a huge fire resulting in a massive burned-out area on both sides of the ridge now commonly referred to as “The Burn”.
Had this new ski resort come to pass, it no doubt would have developed into the area now known as The Nevada Side. They probably would have eventually merged, anyway, especially after Vail came on the scene. Nevertheless, it’s still kind of fun to speculate what “woulda, coulda, shoulda” happened had Heavenly started out as two separate and distinct ski areas way back then.
LikeLike