CHEYENNE, Wyo.—The destination ski resort in Jackson Hole is preparing to replace one of its lifts with a faster version and make terrain changes for $5.4 million in improvements before next ski season.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort officials announced Tuesday they will replace the 38-year-old Casper Lift at a cost of about $5 million. The lift begins midway up the terrain and carries skiers up another 1,000 feet to near the top of the mountain.
The existing, three-chair lift carries as many as 1,185 people per hour. The new Casper Lift will have four-passenger, detachable chairs and carry up to 2,000 people an hour.
Detachable chairs enable lifts to move faster than lifts with chairs affixed to the towing cable. The chairs disengage from the main cable at the bottom and top and slow down to enable people to get on and off.
The new lift will be almost three times as fast as the current one, with the one-way ride time reduced from 10 minutes to just 3 1/2 minutes.
“I was having a conversation this morning with somebody that said, ‘That’s a great lift. I get to actually spend a little time talking to my daughter on the way up,'” Jerry Blann, president of the privately owned resort, said in a news conference.
“Well, there will be less time to talk to your daughter, is what I informed this individual.”
The board of the privately owned resort approved the improvements last week. The new lift should be installed and ready for testing in early November, Blann said.
The resort also plans to remove rocks and grade terrain to better accommodate intermediate-level skiers. The terrain improvements will cost about $400,000.
About 30 percent of the resort’s skiers are of intermediate skill.
“That’s where the core really resides,” Blann said. “We’re trying to maximize that terrain on our mountain.”
Grand Junction, Colo.-based Leitner-Poma of America Inc., will supply the new lift. It will debut four years after Jackson Hole Mountain Resort replaced its famous red gondola lift with a bigger, more modern system at a cost of $32 million.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is one of three major ski areas in northwest Wyoming.
Across the valley, Snow King Resort has been on the market since last year after posting season after season of losses on its ski operations. The ski hill caters largely to Jackson locals. Other Snow King operations including lodging are profitable, according to Snow King officials.
Grand Targhee Resort on the other side of the Teton Range is the other major destination ski resort in Wyoming.
