Arapahoe Basin Goes With Six-Pack for Lenawee Triple Replacement
Updated:
October 13, 2024
Background
Aftertaking initial stepsto make the project happen earlier this year, Arapahoe Basinhas signed a contract with Leitner-Poma to replace the Lenawee Triple chair with a detachable six-pack lift for the 2022-23 season. The project will increase the capacity of the Lenawee lift by 33%, rising maximum throughput from 1,800 people per hour to 2,400. While a quad lift could have provided the same capacity as the proposed six-pack, the A-Basin team says the six-pack setup would provide more stability in high winds and would be “far more effective” in achieving the advertised capacity.
Our Take
Following the Pallavicini and Molly Hogan upgrades, it’s only natural that Arapahoe Basin is moving to upgrade the Lenawee chair next. This lift provides the main access to upper-mountain areas and some of A-Basin’s best intermediate terrain, and the slow, wind-exposed setup of the current triple chair is not enjoyable for guests to ride. On windy days, it’s arguably one of the most excruciating lift rides in all of Colorado.
Just the high-speed experience alone will provide an environment that’s leaps and bounds ahead of the current setup. But what’s interesting to us is A-Basin’s rationale for going with a six-pack rather than a quad—wind stability rather than extra capacity. Other wind-exposed resorts such asPalisades Tahoehave employed similar strategies, but their six-packs sometimes run at lower-than-normal lift speeds, at least when compared to other high-speed chairs. While A-Basin could technically go with a six-pack chair that offers higher capacity, we still expect the proposed setup to offer some crowding relief during the busy peak times (which are still nowhere near as busy as at other Colorado resorts). If needed, it may also be possible for the resort to add additional chairs to the lift for higher capacity at a later date.
Considering a trip to Arapahoe Basin this winter? Check out ourcomprehensive mountain review.In addition, check out ourColorado rankings.
UPDATE 10/13/2021 12:00am:Fast Tracks programs will be in effect at the following lifts:
Killington:K-1 Express Gondola, Superstar Express Quad, Ramshead Express Quad, Snowshed Express Quad, Bear Mountain Quad, Skye Peak Express Quad, Skyeship Gondola Stage I, Skyeship Gondola Stage II, Snowdon Six Express, Needles Eye Express Quad
Snowbird:Peruvian, Gadzoom, Gad 2, Mineral Basin, Little Cloud and Baldy. The Aerial Tram is not included.
Copper:American Eagle, American Flyer, Super Bee, Timberline Express, Storm King, Excelerator, Woodward Express
Mount Bachelor:Pine Marten, Sunrise, Skyliner, Cloudchaser, Outback, Northwest, Summit, Red Chair, Little Pine
Ski resort operator Powdr is launching dedicated fast-access lanes at select ski mountains for the 2021-22 season, as reported bythe Wall Street Journal.For a premium, guests will be able to skip the lines and directly load the lifts at Colorado’sCopper, Vermont’sKillington, Oregon’sMount Bachelor, and Utah’sSnowbird.This is not the first time that Copper has instituted a fast-access lane program, although the resort did not offer one last season. However, the initiative is completely new for the other three mountains.
Daily Fast Tracks passes will start at $49 per day, but prices may be higher during peak times. Passes go on sale November 1.
Our Take
All four of these mountains can get quite crowded; their crowd flow scores range from5to7in our Mountain Scores, with Killington faring the worst and Copper managing the best.
This decision is sure to make money for all the resorts involved. However, we imagine general guests—especially season pass holders who already spent thousands for access—will be annoyed by the potentially longer wait times and feeling of commercialization brought on by the program. It’s unclear how many people will actually sign up for these Fast Tracks passes, so we’ll just have to wait and see how much of an impact these policies have on crowd flow.
It’s worth noting that based on our research and conversations with locals, the crowding impacts from Copper’s old fast-access policy were relatively minor; however, the other three resorts aren’t quite as good at handling crowds as Copper in general. We’ll be sure to stop by these resorts next season to see for ourselves.
For more information on these ski resorts, check out our comprehensive mountain reviews ofCopper,Killington,Snowbird, andMount Bachelor.
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