Twenty one years ago this December, a first-of-its kind gondola system opened between Telluride and Mountain Village in one of the world’s great mountain towns. The 3-stage Garaventa CTEC gondola cost $16 million to build but is completely free to ride. Thirty-nine million passengers later, this unique system operates 275 days each year and 19 hours per day. The lift features three haul ropes and cabins interline between sections 1 and 2, from Oak Street to Station St. Sophia and Mountain Village. Section 3 further connects Mountain Village Center to Station Village Parking. The Town of Mountain Village owns and operates the gondola (at a cost of $4 million a year) with funding from Telluride Ski & Golf, the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association and San Miguel County. The parties in 1999 agreed to fund the gondola through 2027, but with over 100,000 operating hours the existing machine may not last until then.
To give you an idea how critical this transportation link has become to people who live, work and visit Telluride, dates of operation are announced three years in advance and a fleet of buses replaces gondola service whenever down time reaches 30 minutes or more. Custom lightning protection on towers maximizes up-time year round. The gondola’s aggressive operating schedule makes upgrading an aging system challenging. A $6 million overhaul completed in 2007 and 2008 replaced many of the systems moving parts in phases.
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation agreed to fund an engineering study of the gondola due to its crucial role in public transportation. Not surprisingly, Doppelmayr submitted the winning bid to perform the study and released their findings last fall. The 239-page report looked at adding system capacity, transitioning to level walk-in boarding, replacing major components and/or rebuilding the entire system. Russ Oberlander of Doppelmayr concluded ultimately that, “past and continued maintenance, along with the capital replacements and upgrades of the Mountain Village Gondola system could allow the system to run indefinitely.”
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