More Capacity for Imperial Express Chairlift

The line at Breckenridge's Imperial Express SuperChair has been moving faster these days, but it's not because there are fewer people waiting to ride the resort's newest lift.

In mid-February, Breckenridge doubled the number of chairs on the high-speed quad from 15 to 30.

"The whole idea was to find out what the right capacity for the terrain was, so we wanted to start with a lighter number and see how that worked," said director of lift operations for Breckenridge and Keystone, Jon Mauch.

"It's quite a popular project and a lot of people are enjoying that, so we felt like we needed to increase the capacity."

When the lift opened last December, it had the capacity to service 600 riders per hour. Now it handles 1,200 people per hour and can be upgraded to serve 1,800 people per hour, Mauch said.

Mauch said he doesn't anticipate taking the lift, which zips skiers and riders to the top of Peak 8 in two-and-a-half minutes, to its full capacity this season.

The number of chairs can be lowered back down to 15 when snow conditions aren't ideal, he said.