Crystal Mountain, WA – In the latest phase of gondola construction, which began last April, a Chinook helicopter is flying 11 towers from B lot to their footing locations on Washington State’s Crystal Mountain ski resort this morning. The heavy-lifting Chinook helicopter is required to lift the 10,000 to 15,000 pound towers for what, at $5.5 million, is the Pacific Northwest’s costliest ski resort improvement this winter.n”This is a very ambitious project to complete in just seven months. The construction crews have worked countless hours to get to where we are and it’s exciting to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Tiana Enger, Marketing Director at Crystal Mountain. “I’m looking forward seeing a growth in business especially during the non-winter months as we have a lot of new plans in the works to make Crystal Mountain a year round destination for outdoor recreation, with some of the comforts and luxuries found in the city.”

The Grand Opening Celebration for the Mt. Rainier Gondola is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 10, weather permitting. Guest speakers followed by a ribbon cutting will begin mid-morning.

The Mt. Rainier Gondola is the first gondola at a ski resort in Washington. It will whisk foot passengers and skiers alike to the summit of Crystal Mountain to access not only the resort’s ski and snowboard terrain, but also breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier and the Summit House restaurant at elevation 6,856 feet in less than 10 minutes. The lift will have a vertical rise of 2,456 feet, and the trip will take just over nine minutes to complete. With an initial uphill capacity of 600 people per hour, an option to add another 13 cabins the the lift’s initial 23 can boost hourly capacity to 900 passengers.