Sandia Peak Proposes Base-To-Summit Chondola

Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) may construct its second chairlift/gondola hybrid lift at Sandia Peak, its latest acquisition near Albuquerque.

The Telemix system would directly replace Chair 1, a Stadeli double which dates back to 1963, and effectively replace Chair 3, a Riblet double constructed in 1980. MCP acquired and reopened Sandia Peak earlier this year and quickly reactivated two of its four chairlifts that had sat idle for several seasons. Chair 1 was not among them and has been inoperable since 2017.

The new lift would closely resemble the Arizona Gondola which Leitner-Poma built for MCP at Arizona Snowbowl in 2020. Sandia’s Telemix would travel 7,400 feet in 7.5 minutes, half the time of the old lift.

It could operate in both winter and summer for skiers as well as foot passengers coming from the independently-owned Sandia Peak Tramway. Although specific chair and gondola sizes weren’t specified, the lift would transport 2,400 guests per hour.

Sandia Peak Ski Area, originally La Madera Ski Area, is a ski resort located in the Sandia Mountains in northeast Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, immediately northeast of the city of Albuquerque. It is part of a Special Use Permit Zone in the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. It is New Mexico's first ski area, opening to skiers in 1936. It features Sandia Peak Tramway, which was until 2010 the longest tramway in the world, and remains the longest in the Americas. The resort includes 35 ski runs and a terrain park, and also serves as a site for summer recreation. It is one of the few ski resorts in the US that can be directly accessed from a major city.