“There’s a lot of challenges. The mountain varies tremendously. We’re trying to figure out where the rock is, what we’ve got to do to get there, and then get access to it all. Little knobs can really throw you. But we’ve been able to do it, and it’s a pretty beautiful place to work.”– Ryan Thorne, Project Manager for Condon Johnson.
On Thursday, Big Sky Resort in Montana released its latest construction update for the new Lone Peak Tram. So far this summer, much of the work has consisted of blasting the front wall and two bollards, excavating the summit to work on the future top terminals foundation, drilling the blast holes into Lone Peak for a lift tower while rappelling off of it, and completing foundational work. The goal for this summer is to complete the concrete work.
The top terminal will be situated on a concrete slab, which a twenty-foot concrete wall will hold up. Below the wall will be 23 micropiles, which are nestled fifty to seventy feet into the rocks that make up Lone Peak, and will be able to support 270,000 pounds of weight each. In addition, the top terminal will have 18 piles and two tie-backs to support the three footings around the summit. 
The old Lone Peak Tram will continue to operate for the 2022-23 season. The rest of the construction process will take next summer. During the 2023-24 season, Big Sky will open its new tram to the top of Lone Peak. In the future, a new gondola from the Mountain Village will go to the base terminal of the new tram, but the timeline of this addition has yet to be determined. A video from Big Sky detailing the work that’s been done so far is below.
Image/Video Credits: Big Sky Resort (@bigskyresort)/Skylab Media House (@skylabmediahouse)
