Kachina Peak – Taos, NM

The Kachina Peak lift was constructed in 2014 and only opens occasionally as conditions permit.
The bottom terminal is a Skytrac Monarch model.
Loading area.
Lift line seen from the bottom terminal.
Skytrac towers and chairs.
Tower 1.
Upper terminal seen from below.
There are a dozen towers total.
Upper half of the lift.
The lower station seen from Highline Ridge.
Top station and breakover towers.
Most of the lift line.
The entire lift.
Breakover towers.
Top unload ramp at 12,400 feet.
Top station overview.
View from the summit.
Looking down Main Street.

12 thoughts on “Kachina Peak – Taos, NM

  1. Paul Manafort July 11, 2019 / 11:58 pm

    Steeper than Chair 6 at Crystal?

    Like

    • Donald Reif July 12, 2019 / 1:27 pm

      I think Gold Hill at Telluride would be a better lift to be making comparisons to.

      Like

      • Will June 25, 2020 / 12:37 am

        Why? Chair 6 is plenty steep, and also a Skytrac.

        Like

        • Somebodyelse August 13, 2020 / 8:50 pm

          Only the upper half of C-6 is steep (very steep). The bottom half is pretty average. Consequently, the overall is less than you’d think.

          Like

  2. Upper Dynamo September 22, 2019 / 12:01 pm

    The vertical rise of the lift divided by its line length makes for an admittedly imperfect measure of steepness, but is useful nonetheless.The higher the number the “steeper” the lift. The Kachina is a .46, among the highest I’ve seen. Crystal Mountain’s #6 checks in at .36-substantially less steep. Telluride’s Gold Hill lift is a.40, and is slightly bested by Telluride’s Revelation at .43. I guess it’s stating the obvious that any flat spots along a lift’s rise is a killer for the steepness rating!

    Like

    • Donald Reif September 22, 2019 / 1:20 pm

      The shorter the line length and the greater the vertical rise, the steeper the lift is on average. (e.g. the Beaver Run SuperChair is a .17 on that scale, and the Kensho SuperChair is a .25; the latter is 3,100 feet shorter than the former in distance traveled)

      Downhill spots might also factor into the steepness rating.

      Like

  3. Upper Dynamo September 22, 2019 / 1:04 pm

    Of course now this is top of mind…
    Lone Peak Tram at Big Sky is a .51. No towers certainly an indicator there!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. wolf February 2, 2021 / 2:11 pm

    What about Pine Creek Express at Bogus Basin, ID? That is steep. Or the triple chair at Anthony Lakes, Oregon.

    Like

    • Utah Powder Skier May 9, 2021 / 3:27 pm

      Pine Creek is a .37 and Anthony Lakes is a .25. Not quite a .46 in vertical.

      Like

  5. Myles Svec May 9, 2021 / 2:41 pm

    Is this unofficially the highest operating triple chairlift in the world?

    Like

  6. Muni February 5, 2022 / 1:01 pm

    I’m not sure if the Nakiska platter is a data issue, but per Peter’s stats, Kachina would be the 11th steepest lift of any kind with at least 500′ of slope length:

    1. Goldbelt Tram, (Mt Roberts, AK, Tram 60) — 0.564
    2. Platter, (Nakiska, AB , Platter) — 0.537
    3. Blue Skyride, (Grouse Mtn, BC, Tram 44) — 0.53
    4. Lone Peak Tram, (Big Sky, MT, Tram 15) — 0.513
    5. Sulfur Mountain Gondola, (Banff, AB, Gondola 4) — 0.51
    6. Honeycomb Return, (Solitude, UT, Quad) — 0.504
    7. Red Skyride, (Grouse Mtn, BC, Tram 100) — 0.496
    8. Jasper SkyTram, (Jasper, AB, Tram 30) — 0.484
    9. Headwaters, (Big Sky, MT, Double) — 0.483
    10. Scott, (Palisades, CA, Triple) — 0.475
    11. Kachina Peak, (Taos, NM, Triple) — 0.47

    If we limit to chairlifts:

    1. Honeycomb Return, (Solitude, UT, Quad) — 0.504
    2. Headwaters, (Big Sky, MT, Double) — 0.483
    3. Scott, (Palisades Tahoe, CA. Triple) — 0.475
    4. Kachina Peak, (Taos, NM, Triple) — 0.47
    5. Tye Mill, (Stevens Pass, WA, Triple) — 0.467
    6. Chair 5, (Mt. Baker, WA, Quad) — 0.465
    7. Deep Termerity, (Aspen Highlands, CO, Triple) — 0.464
    8. Eagle, (Park City, UT, Triple) — 0.459
    9. Chair 1, (Mt. Waterman, CA, Double) — 0.442
    10. Double Diamond/Southern Cross, (Stevens Pass, WA, Triple) — 0.435

    (#10 i think is an average across the two sides)

    Like

    • Muni February 5, 2022 / 1:02 pm

      Double checking photos … I think Eagle at Park City is a data issue.

      Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s