Anyone who was in the Lutsen Mountain Ski Hill area on Friday, September 20, 2013 was treated to some interesting action as towers for a new ski lift were installed on Moose Mountain. A team from Leitner-Poma of Grand Junction, Colorado, erected the 20- to 47-foot tall towers. The new Caribou Express high-speed chairlift will make getting to the slopes much faster and will enable skiers to enjoy more time on the hills. The new chairlift will be operational when skiing season starts this year.
There is always exciting action at Lutsen Mountains Ski Hill—in the winter there is skiing and snowboarding; in spring, summer, and fall there is the Alpine Slide and Gondola Rides. But on Friday, September 20, 2013, there was an altogether different thrill. Anyone in the vicinity of the ski hill that day was treated to the sight of a helicopter traveling up the shoreline transporting massive steel towers to the Lutsen mountaintops.
The construction helicopter was used to set 13 towers over 20 feet tall, the tallest reaching 47 feet. The helicopter picked up the huge beams from a staging area at the bottom of Moose Mountain and traveled along the shore and then inland to the top of Moose Mountain.
The September 20 installation was the end of a several month long process that began with crews from the ski lift company Leitner-Poma of Grand Junction, Colorado, setting forms on the mountainside, flying cement in by helicopter as well.
On the ground to set the massive towers was a crew of about six people to set the giant towers which will be the backbone of Lutsen Mountains’ new Caribou Express high-speed chairlift.
Lutsen Mountains Marketing Director Jim Vick said it was an amazing process to watch. He said the ground and helicopter crew are in constant communication as the ground crew aligns the tower, tightens the huge bolts that keep it in place and then climbs the tower to unfasten it from the helicopter cable. “The whole process takes about five minutes,” said Vick.
Vick added that it was interesting to see the helicopter hovering motionless that whole time. “That copter doesn’t move an inch,” he said. “These guys are really skilled; really professional.”
The new chair lift will be up and running at the start of the new season, along with two new double black diamond ski runs.
Vick said the new high-speed Caribou Express will get skiers and snowboarders back to the top of Moose Mountain so quickly that their slope time will triple. The new lift provides access to 95 percent of the runs on Moose Mountain and over half of the terrain at Lutsen.
“On a mountain range that stretches 95 runs over 1,000 acres, that means more skiing,” said Vick.
The new Leitner-Poma six passenger high-speed chairlift will replace a two-passenger fixed-grip double chairlift. It triples the lift capacity from the load station and reduces ride time from about 10 minutes to 3½ minutes.
“The new lift will dramatically change time spent on the slope,” said Vick. “With the new lift’s increase in capacity and speed, a skier will enjoy three or four times as many runs in a ski day.”
Lutsen Mountains’ slopes also will include two new double-black diamond runs on Moose Mountain’s North Face. “These new runs add a new level of excitement and challenge to our mountain skiing,” said Charles Skinner, co-owner of Lutsen Mountains. “They add to the options that make Lutsen a great fit for every level of skier.”
The high-speed chair lift and new double-black runs are part of a 10-year makeover of the Lutsen Mountains ski area. During that time, more than $20 million has been spent to improve the skiing and vacation experience.
Skinner, who is co-owner of Lutsen Mountains along with his brother-in-law Tom Rider, is happy to list the enhancements to Lutsen Mountains, including many new runs, including acres of tree skiing, several new terrain parks and new expert terrain. Skinner said the ski hill has new snowmaking equipment that produces more snow in less time with significant reduction in both energy and water consumption. “It also helps to create peak conditions for skiing and snowboarding,” said Skinner.
Investment in the Lutsen streetscape, including a pedestrian bridge, new sidewalks, streetlamps and paved curbside parking, make coming and going a safer and more enjoyable experience for guests, said Skinner.
Skinner said one of the first improvements was the renovation of Papa Charlie’s, creating a slope-side dining and music venue that books first-class local and national acts. Improvements to the Summit Chalet made it possible to offer opulent mountaintop dining with a worldclass view. “It has become a favorite spot for weddings in the summer months,” said Skinner.
Lutsen Mountains also works closely with the Cook County Visitor Bureau to stack the calendar with music, festivals, entertainment and other events. The new events bureau sponsors nightly activities throughout Cook County.
“About two-thirds of winter tourism is tied to alpine skiers in the area,” said Linda Kratt, executive director of the Cook County Visitors Bureau. “An investment of this scale and the impact it will have on the ski experience is expected to translate to millions of dollars for our local economy.”
Lutsen’s four interconnected mountains, 95 runs and 820-foot vertical stand out as a true mountain experience in the Midwest.
“When we purchased the area in 1999, we had a vision for improvements to carry the resort into the future,” said Skinner. “Base facilities, terrain expansion, lodging, and snowmaking capacity along with the less glamorous but equally important projects like storm water and waste water management, roads, parking and public safety are all essential pieces of the puzzle. The high-speed lift has been the number one guest-requested improvement. All these other investments, though, were a prerequisite to supporting the new lift. We are thrilled to be at a point in our development plan to deliver this prized addition.”
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