Montezuma Express – Keystone, CO

This Leitner-Poma six-pack replaced an older Doppelmayr high-speed quad in 2017.
The top station and tower 24.
View down the lift line.
Middle section of the lift.
Top few towers.
Lower part of the line.
Bottom terminal with tensioning.
Loading area and maintenance rail.
Towers 1 and 2.
View back down the line.
Arriving at the drive.
The lift shack and maintenance bay were reused from the previous lift at the bottom.
Top station seen from the gondola.
Another view of the top terminal.
Three detachables unload right next to each other!

12 thoughts on “Montezuma Express – Keystone, CO

  1. Jonathan's avatar Jonathan January 19, 2018 / 9:25 am

    Do you know why they have the stop lights instead of a carped and gated. To me the stop lights are a waste of money

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    • Peter Landsman's avatar Peter Landsman January 19, 2018 / 9:30 am

      They abandoned the gates in favor of a stoplight at Ruby too.

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  2. Travis Elmblad's avatar Travis Elmblad January 22, 2018 / 3:50 pm

    While they may seem like a waste, It has helped the beginners in line get accustomed to the “pulse” of the loading scenario. We have reduced loading incidents by 80% on Ruby with these and a straight load instead of the contour load. It has also reduced fatigue on the machine as we are no longer conveying a loaded chair around the contour. I would suggest a straight load to anyone, and send those gates to Europe.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Donald M. Reif's avatar Donald M. Reif February 6, 2019 / 11:05 pm

      Gates are only really needed on lifts with midway load stations (Hence the reason why lifts like the Peak 8 SuperConnect and Quicksilver Super6) or on chondolas (hence why American Eagle and the Centennial Express have them).

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      • Coloski's avatar Coloski January 22, 2021 / 2:49 pm

        kinda funny, I didn’t even notice the stoplight until i saw Johnathan’s comment, just sayin

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  3. Jonathan's avatar Jonathan March 16, 2019 / 5:33 pm

    This lift got an extended parking rail in the summer of 2018

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  4. Joshua Redman's avatar Joshua Redman January 8, 2022 / 6:25 pm

    Where is the extended parking rail? The barn at the bottom or the rail at the end of the terminal?

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    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech January 8, 2022 / 8:19 pm

      Noting that (as of Peter’s photos) the top has no rail, and the bottom has no way to connect to the barn from the old lift, I’d say the bottom :)

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  5. SkiLucas's avatar SkiLucas March 12, 2025 / 3:07 pm

    Why does this start midway up the mountain? Seems like a waste to build a six pack in an area that doesn’t seem like it would need one.

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    • Coloradoskilifts's avatar Coloradoskilifts March 25, 2025 / 6:15 pm

      This lift is vital. It not only allows beginners to not have to ski all the way down to the very bottom of the mountain, it also provides an alternative to the gondola by taking Peru and skiing to this lift. It is a VERY popular spot on the mountain. If you’ve ever been to Keystone, you’d know that this lift is probably one of the most used on the mountain. Making this lift a six-pack was a VERY necessary move. This lift can get really bad lines even now, I can’t imagine what it was like when it was a HSQ

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Coloradoskilifts's avatar Coloradoskilifts April 19, 2025 / 8:07 am

    For the 2024-25 ski season, this lift was marked as a four person on the trail map. Anyone know why?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Tucker's avatar Tucker June 27, 2025 / 11:23 am

      Montezuma was marked correctly on Keystone’s paper maps, physical maps at the top of lifts, and the maps shown online. It was only marked incorrectly as a four person chair on the mini-maps that were put on the chairlift bars.

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