Vail Resorts has formally committed to replacing Park City Mountain’s Silverlode Express with the company’s first eight-passenger detachable chairlift in the United States.
The project is now included among Vail Resorts’ planned 2027 capital investments, according to the company’s fiscal 2026 year-end results. The new lift would replace the existing high-speed six-pack and is intended to increase uphill capacity, circulation and reliability at one of Park City’s busiest on-mountain intersections.
The announcement is significant because the Silverlode replacement has spent years moving through approvals, appeals and legal challenges. Vail Resorts previously said it intended to pursue the project, but placing it in the company’s 2027 capital plan represents a more concrete commitment to actually build it.
Silverlode would carry 3,600 skiers per hour
Silverlode currently operates as a six-passenger detachable chairlift from Miners Camp, near the base of the Quicksilver Gondola.
Under the approved plan, the replacement eight-pack would follow essentially the same alignment while increasing uphill capacity from approximately 3,000 to 3,600 people per hour, a 20% increase. The project received approval from the Park City Planning Commission in May following a lengthy review process, as detailed in our earlier coverage of Park City’s Silverlode and Eagle approvals. Silverlode would be Vail Resorts’ first eight-person chairlift in its U.S. portfolio.
Eagle and Eaglet are also being replaced
Silverlode is only one part of Vail Resorts’ newly confirmed Park City investment. The company also plans to remove the existing Eagle and Eaglet fixed-grip chairlifts and replace them with a six-passenger detachable chairlift featuring a revised alignment and a mid-station unload. Vail Resorts says the project will increase capacity out of Mountain Village while improving access, skier distribution and beginner progression.
Eagle currently serves terrain immediately above the Park City base, while Eaglet is an older lift that is no longer operating. The proposed replacement would extend higher onto the mountain, with the mid-station providing access near the existing terrain-park zone.
Vail Resorts also plans a complete retrofit of the Crescent chairlift aimed at reducing downtime. Together, the Silverlode eight-pack, new Eagle six-pack and Crescent retrofit represent one of the most significant lift investments planned at Park City in years.
The lifts have been tied up in controversy for years
The Silverlode and Eagle projects were originally proposed in 2021 and initially approved for construction ahead of the 2022-23 season.
That approval was successfully challenged by local residents amid concerns about crowding and Park City Mountain’s comfortable carrying capacity, an internal calculation used to estimate how many skiers and snowboarders the mountain can reasonably accommodate. The original approval was ultimately overturned, and the lifts Vail Resorts had ordered for Park City were instead sent to Whistler Blackcomb.
Park City submitted new applications for the projects and received Planning Commission approval again on May 27, 2026. Six area residents appealed that decision, but a city administrative hearing officer denied their challenge.
The dispute did not end there. A Park City resident filed a petition in Utah’s 3rd District Court on Aug. 28 seeking to overturn the approvals or return them to the Planning Commission for further review. The latest publicly reported court challenge centers largely on whether increased lift capacity could worsen crowding and skier-safety concerns. Our August report on the renewed legal challenge examined the arguments surrounding the project. Vail Resorts’ new capital announcement does not by itself resolve that court dispute.
Part of a much larger Park City investment
The three Mountain Village lift projects are only part of a broader series of infrastructure changes underway at Park City.
Vail Resorts pointed to the Silverlode, Eagle and Crescent projects alongside the recently completed Sunrise Gondola and the new Canyons Village Skyway Gondola and parking structure scheduled to be ready for the 2026-27 season. The company described the combined projects as having a “transformative impact” on uphill capacity and the guest experience at the resort.
Park City Mountain spans more than 7,300 acres and has 40-plus lifts, making circulation between its two large base areas and multiple mid-mountain hubs a major operational challenge. Vail Resorts expects to release its complete 2027 capital plan in December. If the Silverlode and Eagle projects proceed on the schedule outlined during Park City’s approval process, the new lifts are expected to serve skiers during the 2027-28 season.
After years of proposals, appeals and court fights, Vail Resorts has now put money and a construction year behind Park City’s long-delayed eight-pack.
