New Sheer Bliss lift for Snowmass

New quad will take skiers farther, faster

Aspen Times Staff Report
Aspen, CO Colorado
April 16, 2008

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SNOWMASS — Aspen Skiing Co. is celebrating a successful year by digging into its savings account to replace the ancient Sheer Bliss chairlift at Snowmass.

The Sheer Bliss fixed-grip double chair will be replaced with a high-speed detachable quad. That will significantly speed up the ride on the east side of the Big Burn.

The Skico brass hadn’t planned on a lift replacement this summer, but a favorable deal evolved through the chairlift manufacturing company Poma that was too good to pass up, according to Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle.

“Somebody ordered this lift and backed out of it,” Hanle said.

New chairlifts usually have to be ordered well ahead of when they are needed because of planning and manufacturing. But Poma officials approached the Skico recently about the availability of this chairlift. Details were nailed down when Skico officials traveled to Europe with Poma officials in March.

“The trip sealed the deal,” Hanle said.

He was uncertain if the $7 million price of the chairlift was a bargain rate.

The lift will be constructed this summer on a new alignment that will provide access to the entire Big Burn and Sheer Bliss areas of the mountain — nearly 700 acres of terrain in all, according to the Skico.

The new lift will nearly double the carrying capacity of the current Sheer Bliss double chair, built in 1975. The quad will carry 2,000 people per hour, compared to 1,010 on the current lift, according to the Skico. The new lift will offer a ride time of slightly more than nine minutes, carrying riders 2,212 vertical feet — 155 feet farther than the current chair, which had a ride time of 16 minutes.

The new upper terminal will be to the west side and above the bottom terminus of the Cirque lift, providing access to the Cirque lift as well as direct access to Sneaky’s run on the Big Burn.

“We have been looking at replacing the Sheer Bliss lift for sometime,” said Rich Burkley, Skico vice president mountain operations, in a press release. “It seems that sometime has finally arrived. This new lift will open up the midmountain and give people increased access to the Big Burn from either side of the mountain.”

The Skico also is constructing a new restaurant at the top of Sam’s Knob this summer. In all, the company is spending more than $16 million in on-mountain improvements before next winter at Snowmass.

Closing day for Snowmass, as well as Aspen Mountain, was Sunday, April 13.