Snowmass to open new chairlift on Friday with ribbon cutting ceremony

Snowmass will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new chairlift, Coney Express, at 10 a.m. Friday at the bottom of the new lift on Fanny Hill.

Beginning across from the Snowmass Mall and ending at the top of the terrain park, Coney Express replaces and extends the footprint of the former Coney Glade chair, which ran from the bottom to the top of the terrain park. The new lift is a high speed-quad with a 7-minute, 30-second top-to-bottom ride. 

Snowmass Mountain Manager Susan Cross said the new lift will reduce ski traffic during busy periods at the bottom of the Village Express, which can be a major choke point for the mountain. 

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“It will reduce the crowding in the base,” Cross said. “(It) will capture everybody coming through the mall or living or staying above the mall (because) they can ride the Coney Express instead of going down to the Village Express.”

Cross said in the past the Village Express endures heavy traffic between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., with lines sometimes winding past the roped area around the lift.

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But park skiers and boarders will miss the old lift. 

X Games halfpipe silver medalist Torin Yater-Wallace attributes the success of his professional freestyle skiing career to the old lift. From Aspen, Yater-Wallace grew up training in the Snowmass park. 

“I definitely felt bittersweet last year,” Yater-Wallace said of when he first heard the news. “That’s the lift almost my entire career is owed to.”

Many park and pipe skiers make it to the professional level because they have access to a fast chairlift lap over a good park, he added. 

“Having such a fast lap on a luxury park — so it was definitely bittersweet,” Yater-Wallace said. 

The new lift will require park skiers to either ski down to the Snowmass Mall to ride the lift, mingling with skiers coming from elsewhere on the mountain and potentially encountering longer lines, or to get on at the lift’s mid-mountain station, which sits next to The Cabin, formerly known as Lynn Britt.

If getting on at the mid-station, park skiers can ski the upper section of the park, hitting most of the rails, the big jumps, and the halfpipe, but will miss the bottom section containing one bigger jump, a set of smaller jumps, and a rail garden, Yater-Wallace said. 

He added, however, that he understands why the mountain made their decision to replace the lift from a business standpoint, as they can load more people at once and distribute skier traffic. The chair also frequently required maintenance because it was 34 years old, which Yater-Wallace said was likely wearing for Snowmass staff.

“I think at the end of the day, it’s a decent compromise for us still being able to have a good, park-lapping chair, getting on halfway,” Yater-Wallace said. 

The lift will usually load every other chair at the bottom station to leave room for those getting on at the mid-station, Cross said. If there’s minor ski traffic at the mid-station, they will load more frequently from the bottom.

The new lift will also open up foot traffic to The Cabin for the first time, according to Aspen Snowmass. 

While skiers and snowboarders will have to ride the Coney Express through to the top if they load from the bottom station, those on foot can unload at the mid-station, either by reserving lunch at The Cabin or attending events at the Spider-Sabich Picnic Area, Cross said. People on foot can also download from the mid-station. 

The mountain will strive to keep people on foot from using the lift during peak morning hours, she added. 

When people get on or off at the mid-station, the lift will slow rather than stop, with chairs disconnecting from the main cable so the rest of the lift can maintain operations at a normal speed, Cross said. 

Given the complexities of the lift, Cross said it will be a new process for everyone. 

“It’s all a work in progress at the beginning because it’s new for everyone,” Cross said. “But I expect it to run smoothly.”

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