Tom Ross

07-15-2009

Resort Ventures West, master developers of the residential community Wildhorse Meadows, has signed an agreement with Grand Junction, Colo.’s Leitner-Poma of America, Inc., to build the development’s pulse gondola linking the 184,000-square-foot Trailhead Lodge condominium building and the remainder of the 47-acre master-planned development with the base of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Reinforcing Resort Ventures West’s commitment to the original vision of Wildhorse Meadows even amidst today’s tough economic conditions, construction is slated to commence this summer, with operation anticipated for February 2010.
 
“We’re extremely excited to have Leitner-Poma under contract to construct the gondola for the 2009-2010 ski season,” says RVW Chief Financial Officer Brent Pearson. “It fulfills the vision that we’ve committed to our homeowners, creates and enhances the value in Wildhorse Meadows and completes it all two years earlier than expected.”
 
The gondola will cover the 2,000-foot distance to the resort’s base in four minutes and will feature four groups of two, six-passenger cabins for a capacity of 340 people per hour, with the ability to add up to six groups of three cabins for a maximum capacity of 500 people per hour.
 
Manufacturing and installing ropeway systems for the ski, amusement park and urban transport industries, Leitner-Poma is a North American subsidiary of France’s Pomagalski S.A. and Italy’s Leitner Technologies. The company has supplied lifts for four Winter Olympics and maintains strong Colorado roots, designing and manufacturing all of its detachable lift systems in Grand Junction. In 1986, it installed Aspen’s six-passenger gondola; in 1998 it installed Colorado's first six-seat detachable chairlift at Copper Mountain; and in 2005 it built the highest detachable chairlift system in the world in Breckenridge. The Wildhorse Meadows gondola represents the company’s fourth project in Steamboat, joining the Christie Peak 6-pack, fixed-grip Burgess Creek triple and Sundown Express quad.  “We’re thrilled about working with Resort Ventures West on this project and providing yet another great lift for Steamboat,” says Tom Clink, Leitner-Poma’s sales manager for North America.

Resort Venutres West had announced in late winter that it hoped to partner with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp./Intrawest on a high-speed version of the same gondola. However, Intrawest opted not to fund the gondola this year.

Pearson confirmed on May 28, when Intrawest announced its decision, that he understood all along that there was a chance the Steamboat ski corp.’s parent company would pull back from the project.

Pearson said although his company was not obligated to complete a gondola until 2012, it was important to his company to continue with plans to build it sooner so that the gondola becomes tangible to buyers of luxury condominiums and home sites in the project.

“Even though there is money in the bank to build the gondola, we believe it’s extremely important based on our vision for Wildhorse Meadows that we solidify that vision with out buyers and investors in Trailhead Lodge,” Pearson said. “The vision is going to happen, and it’s going to happen this year.”

RVW Development manager Mariana Ishida said in late May that RVW executives see a benefit to completing the gondola in conjunction with the completion of One Steamboat Place so as not to prolong construction activity.