Lift Blog

Garaventa and Big Sky Resort are in the home stretch of a herculean effort to bring modern lift service to Lone Peak, the first new tram built at a North American ski area since 2008. Switzerland-based Garaventa is the same outfit that brought skiers the new Jackson Hole tram 15 years ago, the Snowbird tram in 1971 and the Palisades Tahoe tram before that.

The original Lone Peak Tram, which catapulted Big Sky to the upper echelon of extreme skiing in 1995, will carry its final souls a few weeks from now. The only passengers left to hoist are construction workers and a few lucky spectators touring the progress. With one rope and 15 passenger “beer can” cabins, the tram is more jig-back gondola than a true aerial tram. It was built by Doppelmayr, the Austrian heavyweight which absorbed Garaventa six years after skiers began conquering Lone Peak. Garaventa remains a specialized subsidiary of the Doppelmayr Group focused on aerial trams, funiculars and the Swiss market.

The old tram needed to go. The bottom terminal was built atop a rock glacier and, while designed for it, flowed at least 25 feet downhill over the past 28 years. The lower dock no longer sits level such that water pools in triangles at corners. Erroneous faults occur routinely as the tram completes its final missions to 11,166 feet (it’s not a safety issue, each fault is investigated before the lift is restarted).

This summer’s greatest challenge was not the tram installation itself but rather setting twin tower cranes needed to build the 100 foot intermediate tower and top terminal. Each crane had to be flown in sections weighing up to 9,000 lbs. It took multiple Chinook helicopters weeks with pauses for bad weather and other setbacks. Once the cranes were live and Big Sky’s own employees trained to operate them, the installation team from Garaventa could get to work.

Big Sky and contractors completed micropiles, tiebacks and concrete work last summer, setting the stage for this summer’s steel erection and rope pulling marathon. As of today, three of the four track ropes are on their bollards. A fourth track rope pull is in progress with the haul rope on deck. For each track rope, a helicopter pulled a 10 mm pilot line up to the top terminal and back down. Then crews attached and pulled successively larger 18 mm, 22 mm and 32 mm ropes until finally the smooth 48 mm track rope was up the line. The process is slow and steady with up to 10 Swiss men on headsets and binoculars monitoring every inch of progress for 5-6 days per rope. The 37 mm haul rope will be pulled in similar fashion and spliced into a continuous loop like more traditional ski lifts. The tram will be driven from the bottom station with no counterweight required for tensioning. Redundancy is built in everywhere, from multiple transformers to dual motors, evacuation drives and generators. Frey AG Stans supplied the lift’s state-of-the-art control system, similar to one recently installed on Snowbird’s tram.

This winter, guests will pay per tram ride rather than a daily rate as they did in the final years of the old tram. Big Sky notes the average tram day pass purchaser only rode 1.8 times. The privilege cost $20 to $100 depending on demand and some were riding the tram multiple times solely to feel better about their investment. This added to long lines and detracted from the Lone Peak experience. New tram access will cost less – $10 to $40 per ride – charged automatically to a credit card with each scan at the bottom dock.

Big Sky Ski Patrol will monitor conditions hourly and decide how many skiers and snowboarders to let on the cars, which can hold up to 75 riders. Big Sky will also debut a sightseeing specific line designed to fill excess tram capacity with guests not utilizing limited ski terrain off the summit. Come 2025, foot passengers will be able to ride a new 10 passenger gondola from the Mountain Village right to the base of the new tram. This boarding location lies 700 vertical feet lower than the old tram station, eliminating the need to ride Powder Seeker for a tram lap. Most importantly, it’s below the rock glacier. The new tram will eventually open year round, though summer 2024 will be spent completing glass enclosures around each station.

Once rope pulling wraps up, the tram’s two cabins will be driven up from the village and attached to the haul rope. The CWA cabins will feature automatic doors, a glass floor panel and seating for 12. Acceptance testing is expected to take four to five weeks. Big Sky has been careful not to advertise a grand opening date, but the word December is being thrown around. That month will mark 15 years since the last new tram debuted in this part of the world and 50 years since Big Sky opened.