The new, high speed quad chairlift that will be constructed this summer at Arapahoe Basin has found a name – Black Mountain Express. Alan Henceroth, COO of A-Basin, put a call out to A-Basin aficionados to help name the lift. He received hundreds of suggestions from “Quadzilla” to “Chairway to Heaven.” After much contemplation and days of looking through suggestions by A-Basin management, some of them very entertaining, “Black Mountain Express” won the crown.
Mark La Flamme of the Arapahoe Basin’s Snow Maintenance Department was the first to submit the winning designation. Mark won a $300 gift certificate at Arapahoe Sports for his winning name. Since Mark is getting married this summer, the award is timely enough to buy his lovely wife-to-be a wonderful gift from the retail shop.
The new lift will replace the Exhibition fixed-grip triple chair located in the base area, which was installed in 1978. The new lift will have a capacity of 2000 people per hour, a length of 2877 feet and have a vertical rise of 719 feet. The ride time will be just under three minutes, half the time of the current lift ride from base area to mid-mountain.
Construction is scheduled for mid-June and will not impact the current season’s closing date (tentatively scheduled for June 6, 2010) or opening date next fall. The top terminal of the new lift will be slightly realigned uphill and to the west away from Black Mountain Lodge. The lower terminal will remain in the same location.
Track the new lift’s progress at:
http://www.arapahoebasin.com/ABasin/mountain/lift-construction.aspx | 
