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The much-talked about gondola linking Wildhorse Meadows and the Meadows Lot to the base area will be started this summer and could be carrying skiers by the next ski season.

Originally, Trailhead Lodge and Wildhorse Meadows was to have its own (small) gondola.  It was one of the selling points for Trailhead Lodge because the gondola would make the new development near the Meadows lot practically ski-in, ski-out convenient.

The Steamboat Ski Area later partnered with the developers at Wildhorse Meadows to build a larger, more efficient gondola as a way to eliminate the shuttle busses who make constant loops from the Meadows Lot to the base.

The new gondola will move 1,800 people an hour and take only 3 minutes to drop skiers at the Transit Center.  That’s a huge improvement over the current painfully slow shuttle system.  The busses can move 750 people an hour, and it takes a lot longer than 3 minutes to make the trip–especially on a powder morning.

The lower terminal will no longer be right outside the front door of Trailhead Lodge, but moved about 200 feet closer to the Meadows lot. Wildhorse Meadows and Trailhead Lodge owners and guests will have priority boarding.  Passengers will travel over an easement between the Steamboat Grand and The West before unloading at the upper terminal in the Transit Center.