Nearly 500,000 pounds of concrete dropped by helicopter for new Snowmass lift

Helicopters shouldn’t fly. 

That would be the takeaway if one was faced with a multi-ton Black Hawk — known by its owners as “The Lorax” — hovering overhead with 4,000 pounds of concrete in its grasp, its blades kicking up 35-mile-per hour winds and turning an otherwise pleasant summer morning into a violent, stick-ensued dust bowl.

“When my downwash hits you it can actually make you light on your feet,” Timberline Helicopters Pilot and Director of Operations Adam Stockland said of the helicopter’s rotor wind. This brief came in the 7 a.m. safety meeting Monday as he prepared to transport a total of 125 cubic yards of concrete — equivalent to 475,000 pounds — above the blooming slopes of Snowmass Ski Resort. 

With a top speed of 167 miles per hour, the helicopter laid nine new lift tower foundations throughout the day, a step toward the six-seater replacement of the existing Elk Camp quad. As a six-seater, the capacity of the new lift will increase by 50% from its four-seater, 30-year-old predecessor. 

At the base of each empty dirt pit — a soon-to-be tower foundation — Leitner-Poma of America crews of six waited as the helicopter brought unloaded bucket after bucket. Leitner-Poma, a lift installation company, was hired by Aspen Skiing Company to replace Elk Camp Lift.   

But 4,000 pounds of concrete doesn’t descend into a crew’s hands without its fair share of liability. 

“Keep your eyes on your fingers and your fingers on your hands,” Leitner-Poma Project Manager Bryce Meinzer told his crews at the Monday morning safety briefing.

He warned crew members not to get stuck in between the bucket and — anything — as it is lowered toward the ground.

“That’s probably the biggest pinching and crushing concern of the day,” he said. 

After first delivering concrete to an upper tower, the Black Hawk transitioned to the mid-lift around 9 a.m. to begin spreading the foundation “slab,” a 10-cubic-yard concrete base of the tower foundation.

After each foundation was laid with a slab, the helicopter released additional concrete for the foundation column, which protrudes upward from the slab and will connect to the tower itself. The slab will be completely buried by dirt once the foundation is functioning. 

Each foundation will support an 8,000-pound steel tower. Meinzer estimated the tower and the load from cables and chairs could be around 16,000 pounds. 

Monday was the only time the crews will need the helicopter for lift tower foundations, according to Meinzer. The remaining foundations will be accessible by vehicle and finished in August, Meinzer predicted. Meinzer estimated the company will install the lift towers of the new Elk Camp Lift in September. The lift will be ready for the 2025/26 ski season, according to SkiCo.

Unlike most lift installments, SkiCo is keeping the existing Elk Camp Lift running for mountain bikers until Aug. 4, when they will begin lift deconstruction. SkiCo sold Snowmass Bike Park season passes for $200 rather than $364 this summer due to the shortened season. Elk Camp Gondola bike access will remain open through September.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.