Crystal Mountain has rescheduled a targeted opening from Dec. 10 to Dec. 22 for its new Mt. Rainier Gondola, the first gondola lift in Washington state.
Crystal Mountain ski resort Thursday announced a new targeted opening date of Dec. 22 for its Mt. Rainier Gondola, the first gondola ski lift in Washington.
The ski area earlier had planned a grand opening of the gondola for this Friday, but installing the new equipment has taken longer than anticipated since construction began eight months ago.
A Chinook helicopter placed final towers in early November. The haul rope and cable were strung and spliced last week and the top and bottom terminals are near completion, ski area officials said in a news release Thursday. A gondola cabin made its first trip Monday, traveling 2,500 feet from Crystal Mountain’s base area to the 6,856-foot summit.
“This has been an exciting and intense project for us, with crews working incredibly hard since construction started. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said spokeswoman Tiana Enger.
Most Read Life Stories
Plans now are for all gondola cabins to be attached within the next several days, with crews fine-tuning the gondola in preparation for a planned load test and final inspection on Dec. 20. Buckets full of concrete, simulating the weight of people, will be carried in the cabins during the load test.
For more information on the gondola, see www.mtrainiergondola.com.