Mixed feelings about chair 10

by mike

Sometimes even I don’t like progress.

I just found out that yesterday was the last day for the highline lift in Vail to run in its old school two seater set up. The highline lift is one of the slowest lifts still out there, certainly for Vail. It also provides access to some of the funnest bump runs in Vail including two of my favorites…Blue Ox and Highline. Blue Ox is pictured above credit to mangler.

These bump runs have been known to locals for years for their long stretches of moguls that start forming day one of the season and get carved to perfection throughout the year. Also, as a local we always knew that the tourists and wanna be’s would be intimidated by the bumps or ticked off by the slow, ancient two seater lift. This was just fine with us and we enjoyed knowing that even on the busiest days we might find a reprieve from the crowds in this secret stash and were less likely to be sitting on the chair next to some bunion of life chatting on his or her cell phone.

Those days are going to be gone next year. Vail, as part of their improvement process, will be replacing this funky old two seater tradition with a new high speed quad. Here come the tourists. Darn.

Now maybe on a Wednesday when the hill is empty I’ll love the quick lift for myself, but after a telemark trip down this hill I might just prefer the few extra minutes to rest the legs. Maybe my feelings aren’t so mixed.