Keystone Resort Gondola Progress

The new gondola is coming along rapidly. Much work needs to be completed prior to the start of the 2008-2009 ski season. See the progress throughout the construction right here!

The New Plan

Keystone Resort announced on Dec 21st, 2007 that a new gondola was to be built in River Run, replacing the old one with a newer, faster 8 person lift. The new gondola will have higher capacity, a mid-mountain station and be able to shuttle people much faster than ever before.

Some of the new features include:

Closer to River Run by more than 100 yards.
Floor to ceiling windows for better views.
Loading and unloading onto heated platforms.
Level walk-in cabin for easy access for strollers, wheelchairs and bikes.
Skis and snow boards carried outside the cabin.
Mid-mountain terminal for loading and unloading either direction.
2400 passengers per hour capacity.
Energy minded design with efficient motors and low profile lift towers.
Length: 9586 Feet
Vertical Rise 2307.5 Feet
Trip Time: 11.78 minutes
Capacity: 8 people per cabin

Construction begins

The after after closing (April 13th, 2008) the crews were busy dismantling the old River Run Gondola. At that point, crews had already demolished the old ski school building to make space for the new gondola base area. A week later, the gondola cabins were moved into the montezuma parking lot on the North side of River Run for storage.

May 2, 2008 Main demolition of the old ski school building and dismantling of the old gondola. Old cars are being moved the the Montezuma parking lot for storage.

Cabins in Montezuma parking lot	Demolished ski school in River Run
May 7, 2008 The old base building is starting to come down. The windows were removed and next comes the complete demolition.

Ski school gone	Old gondola building no windows
May 15, 2008 The demolition is pretty much complete and construction is underway.

New concrete anchor for lift	Gondola building gone

Gondola building gone
May 27, 2008 The bottom section of the construction is well underway. A crane is visible at the top of the mountain ...probably upgrading the existing building since it would be very expensive to replace the entire building.

New bottom anchor completed	New lift parts ready to go

New concrete anchor	Old gondola destroyed

New base for first lift tower
June 4 , 2008 The concrete anchors for the base are complete and construction is about to begin on the new building at the bottom. Lift tower anchors are being poured along the hillside and work being done at the top of Dercum Mountain is underway.

3rd lift tower anchor poured	2nd anchor ready for tower

Looking towards base from 3rd tower	Excavators on the hillside

Crane at the top of Dercum Mountain	Staging area of all lift parts
June 16-18 , 2008 The helicopter finally arrives to lift the old towers out and lift the new towers in. The Helicopter was the most expensive component of the entire lift construction at a whopping $200 per MINUTE! Thanks to Steven Straight for the helicopter pictures.

Helicopter hauling lift towers	Helicopter hauling lift towers
June 21 , 2008 The old gondola cars are packed up and shipped off. Not sure where they went, but there they go! There re rumors that they will be used again in the futre for a surface gondola connecting the River Run area to the Lakeside Village area. We're taking bets!

Old gondola cars being packed up
June 24, 2008 The old base area now has a single tower replacing the old building. These shots are of a crane truck installing the new tower. This is one of the only level spots in Keystone where they could use a truck instead of the Helicopter which was extremely expensive.

Crane lifting the top part of the tower into place	Crane truck installing new base tower

Old tower parts stored at Mountain House parking lot	Old building in the scrap yard

Construction at the top of the mountain	Construction of the mid-mountain station

Dirt work completed for mid-mountain station
July 1, 2008 The lift is taking shape, but there is much more work to do to have it ready by a November 11, opening date.

Concrete anchor at the bottom with the lift operator shack	The spool of cable is delivered and set into place

The old gondola building is replaced by an information shack for the summer season.
July 4, 2008 The crews reach a major milestone with the new gondola. All areas of the lift are now well underway with dirtwork nearly complete and concrete being poured for all the anchors.

The base work area early in the morning	Concrete forms being poured at the mid-mountain station

Mid-mountain station construction	Mid-mountain station construction

Top of Dercum Mountain with the old building destroyed	Destruction of the old station at the top of Dercum Mountain

All new lift parts at the top of Dercum Mountain	Concrete forms at the top of the mountain
July 9, 2008 The base station frame work is complete and now for the small parts and shell

View up the hill from the base. The spool of cable is mounted on a huge steel rack.
July 26, 2008 Within 2 weeks, the base station is taking shape and the shell is nearly complete. The loading and unloading mechanisms are being installed.

Base area as viewed from The Springs
August 1, 2008 The mid-mountain station is now heavily underway and beams are being set into place. Most of the construction has now moved to the mid mountain station and the top of Dercum Mountain.

Crane at the mid-mountain station	Bottom station nearly complete

Loading mechanisms installed and cable spool ready to go	Mid-mountain mechanisms being installed
August 14, 2008 The old buildings at the ottom are being ripped out or renovated by crews for the upcoming season.

The old lift ticket sales and bar building being gutted and renovated	The final stages of the base station being completed
August 23, 2008 Crunch time in Keystone! The new lift progress is going well and on schedule. The old buildings around the lift are being gutted and renovated for the upcoming ski season. The new ski school will be in a huge temporary tent this year until new buildings can be built next summer. Keystone undertook a huge project and it's looking good!

Foundation for the new ski school tent near the gold bug parking lot	The old bar at the base of River Run being gutted and renovated

The base area taking shape. Utility lines for One River Run installed	Mid-mountain station construction
September 10, 2008 It is now believed that the Dopplemeyer crews are working 24/7 since there seems to be activity at the top of the mountain all day and all night. The new gondola cars were delivered to the Mountain House staging area and will be installed as soon as the cable is installed on the lift. The new card carry 8 people instead of 6 and are very sharp looking.

New gondola cars in the staging area	New gondola cars at the Mountain House base area