BIG SKY — A new tram system is set to take its first riders up to Lone Peak in December of 2023 at Big Sky Resort.
Dozens of people involved with the new project along with staff from the resort rode the chair lift up to the Bowl at Big Sky Resort to see the groundbreaking ceremony for the new tram.
Troy Nedved, general manager at Big Sky Resort, spoke at the ceremony amid the snowy-June weather, noting the cutting-edge innovation that will soon be on the mountain.
“It is going to be the flagship of the most technologically advanced lift system in North America,” Nedved said. “The old tram was max capacity, was 850 [people] a day.”
The current tram was built in 1995, 27 years ago, and Nedved said that the introduction of the tram system put Big Sky on the map as a destination for desirable skiing, snowboarding, and recreating.
The new tram is estimated to carry 4.5 times the amount of people that the current tram does, an estimated 3,825 people a day.
The tram cars can hold 75 people, with gear, and Nedved says that even though that’s a large number, the cabins are designed to feel spacious.
“Every time I look at the rendering, I’m blown away—it never gets old,” Nedved said. “Nothing is cookie cutter. This is custom designed, start to finish.”
Construction is underway, despite the snow-covered terrain, starting with the excavation process this summer, moving into the tram equipment installment, then finally the construction of buildings at the top and bottom of the tram.
For the time being, the current tram will remain operational—slated to be decommissioned when the new tram is completed.
