Vail Ski Resort - Skyline Express lift

The Skyline Express lift was built by Poma in 1999 as part of the Category III / Blue Sky Basin expansion at Vail Ski Resort.

Category III was Vail Resort's next major project at the ski area after the Eagle Bahn Gondola. While
Category III was in the area's master plans for quite some time, it was
never aggressively pursued. During the 1990's, the Canadian lynx was
reintroduced into Colorado. Category III's terrain was deemed suitable
for lynx by department of wildlife officials, but actual lynx sightings were
never documented. Despite extreme opposition from local and
nationwide environmental groups, Vail Resorts obtained permission by the
USFS to install three new high-speed quads for the 1999-00 season. Some of this opposition included that of the Earth Liberation Front, ELF, who torched Two Elk Lodge on October 14, 1998.

Nonetheless, in 1999, Blue Sky Basin opened, with the Teacup Express, Skyline Express, and Earl's Express lifts. The following season, Poma came back to install a third high speed quad in Blue Sky Basin, the Pete's Express lift. This chairlift opened four additional trails on the eastern part of Pete's Bowl.

When the Skyline Express opened, it and the Teacup Express lift had fewer chairs than they do today. Within a year or two of opening, the lifts received a capacity increase that resulted in additional chairs being added to each of them. This means that while all of the chairs are of Poma's Omega style, some chairs have the newer Omega style plates instead of the older Falcon style chair number plates.

Skyline Express statistics:
Constructed: 1999
Ride time: 8 minutes
Towers: 26
Chairs: 157
Vertical rise: 1,924 feet

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Vail
• Ski
• Resort
• Skyline
• Express
• lift
• Blue
• Sky
• Basin
• 1999
• chairlift
• ski
• ride
• Colorado
• Resorts
• Beaver Creek
• Breckenridge
• Keystone
• Vail Mountain
• Back Bowls
• China Bowl
• High Noon