Teton Village, WY –Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) announced on Wednesday that its Board of Directors has approved a plan that will replace the ski area’s Casper triple chairlift with a new high speed detachable quad chair this summer. Along with the lift installation, the Casper trail network will be enhanced for intermediate skiing and riding with summer grooming and widening of several trails in the area.
“The Casper area is the heart of our intermediate skiing. Not only are we installing a state of the art lift but we will be doing summer grooming and expanding existing trails to make them much more attractive to intermediate skiers,” stated Jerry Blann, President of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
This expansion of intermediate terrain is part of an overall plan to attract more intermediate skiers and riders and help the resort, which is best known for its hair-raising expert terrain, retain more of its guests. Intermediate skiers and snowboarders are the largest segment of the United States skiing and riding population.
“To grow winter visitation we need to appeal to more intermediates,” added Blann.
The base of the new Casper lift will be in the same location as the current lift, however the top terminal will move northward to the opposite side of the Lift Line trail.To be manufactured by Leitner-Poma, the new lift will rise 1,050 vertical feet with a haul length of 3,450 feet, statistics nearly identical to the fixed grip triple installed in 1974 that it will replace. The ride time will be cut from ten to 3.5 minutes, and uphill capacity will be increased from 1,185 to 2,000 riders per hour.
Trail improvements associated with the lift construction call for eliminating the rollover on Lift Line near the intersection with Easy Does It, widening the existing Amphitheater Traverse, and removing rocks from the upper portions of Wide Open while regrading the run’s lower sections. All told, when combined with the new lift JHMR plans to spend $5 million on the project this summer.
This is not the only recent investment targeted for intermediates. The grooming fleet was upgraded and increased this past summer with the purchase of six new grooming vehicles, including another winch groomer. Future plans call for adding even more vehicles to the grooming fleet. Snowmaking over the past two years has been expanded and capabilities increased which has helped the resort open more terrain early in the season and also allows for more extensive grooming. Additionally, the new Marmot Lift, installed last summer, services intermediate terrain from the top of the Gondola to the base of the Thunder lift.
“This is an aggressive move by the resort and the Kemmerer Family and shows the continued willingness to invest in the resort,” continued Blann. “Since taking ownership of the resort, the Family has invested over $124 million, $13 million of which has been invested since the installation of the new Tram, which was completed in December of 2008 at a cost of $31 million. These last investments were made in a down economy and shows the commitment and belief the Kemmerer’s have in Wyoming and the Jackson Hole region, and all investments have been for on mountain services and improvements.”
This announcement follows a strong January which saw skier visits at JHMR exceed January 2011 levels. This is especially impressive as last January benefited immensely from record snow levels and a season that opened top to bottom, wall to wall right from the start.