VAIL— —Vail Mountain is on pace to complete the replacement of the Vista Bahn Express lift with a new, state-of-the-art gondola in time for its Nov. 16 opening day.
The new gondola, named Gondola 1 after Vail’s original gondola in the same location, will carry 10 passengers in cabins featuring heated seats and Wi-Fi.
The new ride also will boast a speed of 1,200 feet per minute, the fastest gondola of its type in the world, according to Vail Resorts and Leitner-Poma of America, the gondola’s manufacturer.
Rick Spear, president of Leitner-Poma of America, calls Gondola 1 a “tremendous advancement in lift technology.”
More than half of the gondola will be manufactured at the Leitner-Poma plant in Grand Junction. The cabins and a few other portions of the gondola will be constructed in Europe.
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