Top station seen from Apex.View down the very long lift line.This lift has an interesting profile with lots of ups and downs.Lower lift line.Middle part of the line.Tension return station.CTEC Enterprise-model station.Loading area.Early CTEC tower.Riding up.Tower 25 at the final breakover.Drive station.Unloading ramp.
This is a long lift that serves nice, lap-able terrain and also allows skiers from Telluride to have easy access to the heart of the mountain. It should become a detachable quad.
In my opinion this chair is even a contender for the best chairlift in the country under the right conditions, the fact that it’s still a 13 minute long long triple chair holds back the entire resort.
The beauty of having a slow lift is that the terrain is left un-tracked for a long time after a dump. Steep deep and north facing with lots of trees (so skiable even in a storm). This lift is one of the best kept secret of any US resorts.
A counterargument to that is that the need to move people around the mountain more efficiently takes priority over protecting powder stashes. (I remember some people saying that about Vail when they built the High Noon Express lift, and Beaver Creek when they built the Rose Bowl Express lift)
Plunge is only ever really ridden by people lapping it currently, it’s not a pass-through lift at all. It would be a good lift to ride from the town side, but Oak Street never runs, so you have to ride up Coonskin (which is already an unpopular lift) and take the traverse across. In order for Telluride to see an improvement in skier flow with a plunge HSQ, they’d have to also put bars on Coonskin and start running it more often.
This is a long lift that serves nice, lap-able terrain and also allows skiers from Telluride to have easy access to the heart of the mountain. It should become a detachable quad.
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In my opinion this chair is even a contender for the best chairlift in the country under the right conditions, the fact that it’s still a 13 minute long long triple chair holds back the entire resort.
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Telluride’s Master Plan does include upgrading Plunge to a high speed quad with 1,800 to 2,400 pph capacity. https://www.tellurideskiresort.com/uploaded/documents/telluride%20ski%20resort_2017%20master%20development%20plan.pdf
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The beauty of having a slow lift is that the terrain is left un-tracked for a long time after a dump. Steep deep and north facing with lots of trees (so skiable even in a storm). This lift is one of the best kept secret of any US resorts.
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A counterargument to that is that the need to move people around the mountain more efficiently takes priority over protecting powder stashes. (I remember some people saying that about Vail when they built the High Noon Express lift, and Beaver Creek when they built the Rose Bowl Express lift)
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Plunge is only ever really ridden by people lapping it currently, it’s not a pass-through lift at all. It would be a good lift to ride from the town side, but Oak Street never runs, so you have to ride up Coonskin (which is already an unpopular lift) and take the traverse across. In order for Telluride to see an improvement in skier flow with a plunge HSQ, they’d have to also put bars on Coonskin and start running it more often.
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