Towers 25-27 at Miner’s Camp.Cabin parking rail with half cabins.Return terminal on the Park City side.Loading area and lift shack.Doppelmayr Uni-G return terminal.View of the line from King Con.The comline goes under the haul rope for the big span over Thaynes Canyon.View up the line from tower 14.Mid-station with angle.Minimalist mid-station.Looking down towards White Pine Canyon.Side view of the angle station.Skiers can unload in either direction here.Unloading area on Pinecone Ridge.View down towards Miner’s Camp.Breakover towers from below.Depression tower 18.T21-T23Riding over the canyon.Pinecone Ridge.Mellower line on the Canyons Village side.Tower 6.Drive terminal in The Colony.Towers 1-2 and lots of sheaves.View up the Canyons line.CWA Omega IV’sCabin maintenance building and gen-set.
If you wish to see this area in the summer, the “mid mountain trail” crosses the line of Quicksilver fairly close to the mid-station. That trail is used by both mountain bikers and hikers — pretty busy on weekends.
Did you take these pictures when the gondolas were getting off/on their parking rail? The view from king con looks like they are putting the last of the cabins on the haul rope.
Some of them were taken a day after a big storm, the first time cabins were ever taken off. It took Park City the entire day to relaunch them. So I had to go back another day for the rest of the photos.
Is there a reason for which this gondola uses Europe-style stations and tower on the Park City side, and American-style stations and tower on the Canyons side?
Anybody have any idea why Vail Resorts didn’t put up a covered cabin parking facility? The gondola was pretty expensive, and you would think Vail Resorts would want to protect the cabins from the elements. They did the same thing with the Breck Connect Gondola, only a small maintenance garage, and the cabins are very worn and sometimes full of snow in the morning after a storm
A gondola evacuation over thaynes canyon looks fun…. Really fun…. Is there a special evacuation procedure for thaynes canyon or do they straight up lower you down by rope?
I don’t know if this is accurate, but I’m guessing most people riding towards the Canyons side tend to unload at the midstation to get some extra skiing on Blaise’s Way and Golden Spruce to get down to Dreamcatcher, rather than unload at the Colony terminal, While everyone headed towards Park City gets on at the Colony terminal since that’s the only point accessible from Iron Mountain or Flat Iron.
Fewer people unload at the midstation than you might think. When riding over from PCMR, I usually unload and ski down from there. I’ve had people surprised that I’m unloading there before; I just don’t think people realize it’s an option. They could add signage explaining this if they wanted. They closed the off ramp trail from the midstation, I’m not entirely sure why. I wonder if it was related to why Flat Iron was so delayed in opening this year.
Correct. Unless you are able to ski double black terrain, you would ride the gondola to the Park City (Miners Camp) terminal. If you are riding towards Canyons, it is best to unload at the mid station because it is mostly flat at the colony station.
Honestly I really think this double black terrain goes super underappreciated. In my opinion if you are an expert and the conditions aren’t super cruddy you should ski from the midstation. The terrain there is actually really fun even without a hike.
I think that’s what most people who know of the mid-station do. We usually ski down The Highway, but Blaises way is good too. Sure beats staying on the gondola all the way down
I personally do this. It is a good way to avoid the catwalk you need to take after getting off at the canyons station. It doesn’t avoid it but you get some speed to get past it. But most people do not get off at midstation as they believe it is difficult terrain.
Silverlode opens earlier. I’ve seen it open as early as late November before. Typically opens early December after they’ve made enough snow on the trails.
Are there runs on both sides of the mid station? If so, is there a path between the two sides of the mid station so you can access the terrain on either side?
There’s also the pinecone ridge terrain going into the park city side. However, since it’s south facing, conditions can be variable, and it requires a decent snow depth to be worthwhile. In the right conditions Limelite/Lite’s out can be great. You can walk around the angle station and access the runs on either side.
I absolutely love those trails and they’re severely underskiied. The bowl under the gondola is the best first expert run at pc in my opinion other then 94 turns. It’s similar to McConkey’s but wider and no moguls. If the lower section is too steep for you the catwalk is also an option which services a ton of gates with great skiing and I actually don’t mind doing the skating because if how peaceful it can be up there. I remember going on a day when there hadn’t been snow for over a week and this terrain had been open the entire time. After the first gate I was the second person who had been there.
Does anyone know why PC didn’t garage the gondolas during the summer this year? I went biking up there recently and noticed they weren’t parked. Seems strange as they have a parking area for the cabins and there would be less stress on the cable. Also, I’d think they’d at least park the cabins due to wind (many times I’ve been stranded on one side of the resort or the other because quicksilver was closed due to wind). Idk if these problems are as bad as they seem, but can someone please explain the reason for not parking them? Thanks!
I absolutely love those trails and they’re severely underskiied. The bowl under the gondola is the best first expert run at pc in my opinion other then 94 turns. It’s similar to McConkey’s but wider and no moguls. If the lower section is too steep for you the catwalk is also an option which services a ton of gates with great skiing and I actually don’t mind doing the skating because if how peaceful it can be up there. I remember going on a day when there hadn’t been snow for over a week and this terrain had been open the entire time. After the first gate I was the second person who had been there. The conditions were great.
Lift Blog 
Does this gondola run in the summer?
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No. Unlikely it ever will due to the remote locations of all three stations.
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If you wish to see this area in the summer, the “mid mountain trail” crosses the line of Quicksilver fairly close to the mid-station. That trail is used by both mountain bikers and hikers — pretty busy on weekends.
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You can also use Armstrong trail from Silver Star. It starts there goes up to King Con and continues to the mid station.
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Not sure if you responded to this exactly 2 years after the original comment was posted for the suspense, but if so, I applaud your patience haha
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Did you take these pictures when the gondolas were getting off/on their parking rail? The view from king con looks like they are putting the last of the cabins on the haul rope.
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Some of them were taken a day after a big storm, the first time cabins were ever taken off. It took Park City the entire day to relaunch them. So I had to go back another day for the rest of the photos.
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Is there a reason for which this gondola uses Europe-style stations and tower on the Park City side, and American-style stations and tower on the Canyons side?
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Line gauge is wider on the Park City section because of the big span.
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For those curious, the mid-station is an Agamatic design, an Italian lift manufacturer which Doppelmayr acquire before merging with Garaventa.
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There are a couple Dopp return stations with this design.
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(Agamatic)
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-euro-agamatic-7422.html
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Why did they use the agamatic midstation instead of a regular Uni-G midstation?
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Maybe space? I don’t know much about lift mechanics and that side of things but I’m pretty sure the Agamatic mid station is smaller.
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Anybody have any idea why Vail Resorts didn’t put up a covered cabin parking facility? The gondola was pretty expensive, and you would think Vail Resorts would want to protect the cabins from the elements. They did the same thing with the Breck Connect Gondola, only a small maintenance garage, and the cabins are very worn and sometimes full of snow in the morning after a storm
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does anyone know
how long the gondola is?
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A gondola evacuation over thaynes canyon looks fun…. Really fun…. Is there a special evacuation procedure for thaynes canyon or do they straight up lower you down by rope?
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Yet Sugarbush still says they can’t run Slide Brook because there is “not enough snow for evacuation”. They literally admit that it is their policy.
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Get a razor with chains on it that will do the trick.
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I don’t know if this is accurate, but I’m guessing most people riding towards the Canyons side tend to unload at the midstation to get some extra skiing on Blaise’s Way and Golden Spruce to get down to Dreamcatcher, rather than unload at the Colony terminal, While everyone headed towards Park City gets on at the Colony terminal since that’s the only point accessible from Iron Mountain or Flat Iron.
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Fewer people unload at the midstation than you might think. When riding over from PCMR, I usually unload and ski down from there. I’ve had people surprised that I’m unloading there before; I just don’t think people realize it’s an option. They could add signage explaining this if they wanted. They closed the off ramp trail from the midstation, I’m not entirely sure why. I wonder if it was related to why Flat Iron was so delayed in opening this year.
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I think PCMR should put up the signage, since there are alternative routes to Dreamcatcher that are really only accessible from the midstation.
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Correct. Unless you are able to ski double black terrain, you would ride the gondola to the Park City (Miners Camp) terminal. If you are riding towards Canyons, it is best to unload at the mid station because it is mostly flat at the colony station.
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Honestly I really think this double black terrain goes super underappreciated. In my opinion if you are an expert and the conditions aren’t super cruddy you should ski from the midstation. The terrain there is actually really fun even without a hike.
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thats what we did when we visited. a lot do it, but I was surprised that some didn’t. huge ass mountain.
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I think that’s what most people who know of the mid-station do. We usually ski down The Highway, but Blaises way is good too. Sure beats staying on the gondola all the way down
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I personally do this. It is a good way to avoid the catwalk you need to take after getting off at the canyons station. It doesn’t avoid it but you get some speed to get past it. But most people do not get off at midstation as they believe it is difficult terrain.
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Does the gondola run from the start of the season, or is it a delayed opening?
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The Quicksilver Gondola typically opens mid to late December.
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Thank you! Does Silverlode open at the same time, or generally earlier?
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Silverlode opens earlier. I’ve seen it open as early as late November before. Typically opens early December after they’ve made enough snow on the trails.
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Are there runs on both sides of the mid station? If so, is there a path between the two sides of the mid station so you can access the terrain on either side?
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There’s The Highway and Blaise’s Way, both of which take you to Dreamcatcher before ending at the base of Iron Mountain.
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There’s also the newly added “Mimi’s Way” which connects The Highway and Blaise’s Way
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There’s also the pinecone ridge terrain going into the park city side. However, since it’s south facing, conditions can be variable, and it requires a decent snow depth to be worthwhile. In the right conditions Limelite/Lite’s out can be great. You can walk around the angle station and access the runs on either side.
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I absolutely love those trails and they’re severely underskiied. The bowl under the gondola is the best first expert run at pc in my opinion other then 94 turns. It’s similar to McConkey’s but wider and no moguls. If the lower section is too steep for you the catwalk is also an option which services a ton of gates with great skiing and I actually don’t mind doing the skating because if how peaceful it can be up there. I remember going on a day when there hadn’t been snow for over a week and this terrain had been open the entire time. After the first gate I was the second person who had been there.
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Does anyone know why PC didn’t garage the gondolas during the summer this year? I went biking up there recently and noticed they weren’t parked. Seems strange as they have a parking area for the cabins and there would be less stress on the cable. Also, I’d think they’d at least park the cabins due to wind (many times I’ve been stranded on one side of the resort or the other because quicksilver was closed due to wind). Idk if these problems are as bad as they seem, but can someone please explain the reason for not parking them? Thanks!
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I absolutely love those trails and they’re severely underskiied. The bowl under the gondola is the best first expert run at pc in my opinion other then 94 turns. It’s similar to McConkey’s but wider and no moguls. If the lower section is too steep for you the catwalk is also an option which services a ton of gates with great skiing and I actually don’t mind doing the skating because if how peaceful it can be up there. I remember going on a day when there hadn’t been snow for over a week and this terrain had been open the entire time. After the first gate I was the second person who had been there. The conditions were great.
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