{"id":1317613,"date":"2020-01-09T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T03:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer\/"},"modified":"2020-01-09T20:20:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T03:20:00","slug":"forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest Service approves six-pack Big Burn chairlift at Snowmass, can be replaced this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.35\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-992502-740\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"David Krause \/ The Aspen Times | Skiers and snowboarders ride under the Big Burn lift on opening day in November 2019.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Skiers and snowboarders ride under the Big Burn lift on opening day in November 2019.<\/strong><br \/>David Krause \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Skiers and snowboarders ride under the Big Burn lift on opening day in November 2019.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-1-1024x914.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"David Krause \/ The Aspen Times | A sign near the top of the Big Burn lift at Snowmass warns skiers and riders about going into closed areas.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A sign near the top of the Big Burn lift at Snowmass warns skiers and riders about going into closed areas.<\/strong><br \/>David Krause \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/01\/bigburn-atd-011020-1-1024x914.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A sign near the top of the Big Burn lift at Snowmass warns skiers and riders about going into closed areas.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of the first high-speed chairlifts constructed at Snowmass Ski Area is reaching the end of its \u201coperational lifetime\u201d after 33 years and needs to be replaced, the U.S. Forest Service has determined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams approved Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s application to replace the high-speed quad chairlift with a six-pack, high-speed lift. The approval was signed Dec. 20 but just announced Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere is a need for the project because the existing lift can no longer provide reliable and consistent access to popular intermediate terrain at Snowmass,\u201d the Forest Service\u2019s decision memo said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The approval gives Skico the green light to replace the lift in summer 2020. Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle said the company\u2019s intends to install the new lift this summer, if all goes as planned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe area served by this lift is some of the most popular terrain on any of our mountains,\u201d Hanle said in an email. \u201cIt allows intermediate skiers to get an experience on high alpine terrain with sweeping vistas and an incredible variety of options. Having a new, modern lift serving this terrain is critical to the whole Snowmass experience. We are thrilled our partners at the Forest Service align with us on the importance of installing the new lift quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Fitzwilliams granted a categorical exclusion for the project, which means it didn\u2019t need to go through a more extensive review process with an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. The proposed lift was consistent with the 2015 Snowmass Mountain Master Development Plan, the Forest Service determined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the new lift will hold six passengers per chair rather than four, its capacity will be the same as the old lift at 2,200 passengers per hour, according to the review documents. The new lift will have the same alignment but the bottom terminal will be moved uphill about 250 feet, placing it closer to the Ullrhof restaurant. The relocation of the terminal will make loading easier, the Forest Service said. The upper terminal will remain in the same location.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Big Burn lift was among the first generation of high-speed lift that helped transform Snowmass into the modern ski area in the mid-1980s. It was installed at about the same time as the Coney Glade chair. Prior to its installation, there were long lines to ride a slow, fixed-grip double chairlift on the Big Burn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In addition to boosting the capacity per chair to six passengers, the new lift may also be the first at the Aspen Snowmass resorts to have a retractable \u201cbubble\u201d that passengers can use to shield themselves from wind and snow. Skico hasn\u2019t decided yet if it will install the bubbles on the chairs, according to the review documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Forest Service didn\u2019t receive any comments pro or con on the proposal during its public scoping process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/forest-service-approves-six-pack-big-burn-chairlift-at-snowmass-can-be-replaced-this-summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skiers and snowboarders ride under the Big Burn lift on opening day in November 2019.David Krause \/ The Aspen Times A sign near the top of the Big Burn lift at Snowmass warns skiers and riders about going into closed areas.David Krause \/ The Aspen Times Show CaptionsHide Captions One of the first high-speed chairlifts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 05:54:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}