After a Successful Ski Season, Wyoming Ski Resorts Plan Significant Lift Developments

Wyoming’s resorts saw a lot of snow and a lot of visitors in this ski season, chalking up a historically excellent year all around. Fresh off this success, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee are both planning lift upgrades and improvements set to begin as soon as the lifts stop spinning.

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Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Resort Developments

Jackson Hole recently added a new lift, but they’re not resting on their laurels. Plans are already underway to add a gondola that will open sometime early next season, and to also open a new ski school for kids that will be connected to the new gondola.

The Sweetwater Gondola will be located between the Teewinot High Speed Quad and the Bridger Gondola. The gondola will run from the base area to just past the Casper Restaurant, covering 1,276 feet in total and stopping at Solitude as a midpoint. The eight-person gondola is expected to convey 2,000 people per hour and greatly ease congestion on the mountain during the busy days.

The gondola is also being developed as a safe conveyance for children who will be visiting the new ski school at Solitude, which is also slated to open sometime during the 2016-17 season. The school will be an addition to the existing Kid’s Ranch and will provide more families with the opportunity to take advantage of the regular “kids ski free” promotions that the resort is known for.

Grand Targhee Resort Ski Resort Developments

The Grand Targhee’s longstanding Blackfoot lift is going to be replaced in the warmer months of 2016. The name is not going to change, but the new lift will upgrade the capacity from two to four people, doubling the expected passenger-per-hour rate from just over 900 at present to about 1800 once the lift is complete.

The new lift will also reduce the ride time by five minutes and will now have a standby diesel power unit that is capable of continuing normal operations in the case of an emergency. While visitors undoubtedly have many fond memories of the original lift, it was simply too old to keep up with traffic to the resort during busy seasons like this past winter.

Wyoming ski resorts are doing right by skiers and snowboarders by reinvesting in their popular ski areas.  Surely, anything to get more runs in, is a good thing.  Plan your Wyoming winter vacation now with lots of great information, and more importantly, take advantage of savings on lodging, lift tickets and activities when you book early.

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