New Ski Lifts Are Changing U.S. Slopes With Shorter Lines and Faster Rides

Telluride Ski Resort, Colorado: Plunge

Plunge lords over some of the best terrain in North American skiing, with steep and consistent north-facing slopes covering 2,100 vertical feet. The top of Plunge, also known as Chair 9, nears 12,000 feet and gives skiers a bevy of choices: some of the most sustained steep bump runs in North America, groomed runs sheer enough to slow the sharpest of experts and forested terrain that twists between subalpine firs and Engelmann spruce. The old Plunge lift, a fixed-grip triple chair that was a local favorite, had been turning since 1985. The new detachable four-seater will increase uphill capacity by 70 percent to 1,800 skiers per hour and cut a ponderous 13-minute ride almost in half.

Steamboat Ski Resort, Colorado: Wild Blue Gondola

Anybody who has spent a prime weekend or holiday skiing at Steamboat has spent healthy chunks of time in its gondola maze. At Steamboat, the existing gondola forms the main artery up the mountain; avoiding it takes time and multiple chairlifts — and often other lines. The new Wild Blue Gondola, which will augment current lifts, will be the longest in North America, at 3.16 miles when complete, and one of the fastest 10-person lifts in the United States. With Wild Blue in place, Steamboat will be able to move 10,000 people per hour up and out of the base area compared with 6,000 previously. The lower leg of the gondola will open this winter, helping curb lines at Steamboat’s base.

Sunday River, Maine: Jordan 8

Maine’s flagship ski resort has designs on expansion in the future and the start of those plans includes the Jordan 8, which replaces the Jordan Express. While riders in the old chair could be whipped by winds and New England squalls, Jordan 8 will be enclosed by a red-tinted bubble and offer individual heated seats for up to eight passengers. The chairs will weigh more than a ton each, but newer technologies from the Austrian lift manufacturer Doppelmayr will make this among the fastest chairs in North America, moving up to 3,200 people per hour.

Vail Ski Resort, Colorado: Sun Down Express No. 17

Vail’s wide-open backside terrain has been a draw for skiers in Central Colorado for 60 years. Getting into the mountain’s natural bowls has always been easier than getting out, with lines that can stack up at the High Noon Express No. 5 lift, among others. The new Sun Down Express chairlift offers relief to the bottleneck, with skiers now having two ways of getting out of the popular…