The 2024-25 season is shaping up to be a big winter at Snowmass.
The Aspen Times reports that Snowmass Village approved a proposal that will replace the Coney Glade chairlift, which opened back in 1986, with a modern detachable high-speed quad. The chairlift proposal still needs to go through the USFS NEPA process and an unlicensed review period. This follows the news of the Snowmass Master Development Plan being approved back in January. Their goal is to install the new lift next summer, with it potentially opening during the 2024-25 season.
The bottom terminal for the new chairlift will begin where the Burlingame lift once commenced. The top terminal will be around where the Coney Glade lift currently concludes. The detachable quad will have a length of 7300 feet. Traveling at a speed of around 1000 feet per minute, it will likely have a ride time of a little over seven minutes. The lift will provide easier and quicker access to Snowmass’ famous terrain park.
Susan Cross, who is the Snowmass Mountain Manager, described the importance of this new chairlift:
“This lift will take pressure off of the Village Express and the Elk Camp Gondola, especially during the morning rush, and give guests a third alternative for accessing the upper mountain. Operationally, this is a key project and the perfect first step for the new mountain master plan.”
This isn’t the only project that was part of Snowmass’s proposal though. The Cirque surface lift is being replaced by a new surface lift. It will have a capacity of 1000 people per hour, doubling its capacity compared to the current lift. The lift will be realigned to take out a bend that has caused issues for the current Cirque lift, and the base terminal will be 100 feet west of its predecessor.
Three other projects are a part of the proposal. A new Blue Grouse connector trail would link the Blue Grouse run and Snowmass’s halfpipe. Secondly, a 970-foot mountain biking trail will be molded in the Elk Camp and Meadows terrain pods. Lastly, a new 5,840-foot hiking route would replace the existing Summit Hiking Trail.
The timeline for the Cirque lift, along with other projects in the proposal, has yet to be determined by the Aspen Skiing Co.
Image Credits: Aspen Snowmass
