Steamboat Resort unveiled the new Wild Blue Gondola this past Saturday, December 10th, showing off the gorgeous, 10-person royal blue cabins to the world. While the second leg of the lift isn’t expected to be ready until the 2023/24, the first leg already travels 4,267 linear feet in 3.6 minutes according to the Steamboat Pilot.
“It’s going to be a game changer for moving our snow sports school on the hill and limiting some congestion in the base area, and it’s another people-mover to get people out of the base, too.” – Maren Franciosi, resort communications manager
The area’s Sprung Structures building, initially located outside of Rendezvous lodge, has been moved to Greenhorn Ranch, and will be used as the resort’s ski school meeting place. For now, lessons will continue to meet at the base of the mountain, but, later this season, lessons will begin at Greenhorn Ranch. Parents and guardians of ski school students will be allowed to ride Wild Blue Gondola for free as foot passengers.
Upon the completion of the second leg, the gondola will bring skiers from the mountain’s base or Greenhorn Ranch to the top of Sunshine Peak, becoming the longest in North America as well as the fastest 10-person gondola in the United States. In total, it’s expected to travel 3.16 miles in just 13 minutes.
“It’s the biggest, baddest lift installation that you can build. We expect it to perform better all-around. We will have uphill capacity of 3,200 people per hour.” – Resort Vice President of Operations, Dave Hunter
The first leg is currently in a 30-day commissioning process for inspection purposes, and staff members are currently being trained for the lift’s operations. Late December will see barrels of water loaded into the cabins for a multiple day safety inspection.
Featured Image Credit: Steamboat Pilot & Today via YouTube
