Another lift to get on Vail Mountain?

VAIL - Vail Resorts wants to create a new place for skiers to get on Vail Mountain at the corner of Forest Road and the South Frontage Road, just west of the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort.

It announced plans Thursday to install a high-speed lift there that will connect with Chair 26, the Pride Lift on the Safari Trail, and to build 108 luxury condominiums totaling 195,000 square-feet near the base of the lift. The development will be built by Vail Resorts and managed by Ritz-Carlton.

The new lift, which would be between Lionshead's Chair 19 and the Cascade Village's Chair 20, will bring to five the number of high-speed lifts connecting Vail the town with Vail the mountain. The company said it plans to begin marketing the project in six to 18 months, pending U.S. Forest Service and town of Vail approval, according to Vail Resorts chief executive Adam Aron,.

A permit for a new lift typically takes up to six months, said Dave Ozawa, a Forest Service ranger who oversees activity on Vail Mountain.

"It depends on the degree of controversy. It will require an environmental analysis and public meetings," he said.

By proposing the new lift, the resort company will be increasing the value of already hot slopeside real estate.

All 16 of the nearby Gore Creek Townhomes sold in record time, bringing as much as $1,005 per square foot, Aron said. At the Arrabelle in Lionshead, being built on the old gondola building site, the ski company sold all 67 of the residences.