General Info:
Discover our preferred form of transportation - a free gondola - that transports residents and visitors from Telluride to Mountain Village. The gondola, the first and only free public transportation of its kind in the United States, officially opened December 20, 1996, and was originally built to help improve air quality while expanding the ski area. Grab a front row seat with Mother Nature at 10,500 feet and access biking, hiking and skiing trails as well as shops, restaurants and watering holes. Fun Facts: Approximately 2.61 million passengers ride the gondola annually - and safely - and over 39 million riders have been transported since opening day. The gondola operates roughly 287 days each year with routine maintenance scheduled during our shoulder season months. It takes about 13 minutes to get from the Town of Telluride to the Town of Mountain Village. A cabin travels 11 miles per hour at full speed, which means each cabin travels over 52,000 miles per year. Approximately 50 percent of our cabins are pet accessible. We also have wheelchair accessible cabins. The trip between the two towns is eight miles long whereas the gondola travels three miles between the two towns. If we relied on rubber transportation, it would take 18 50-passenger buses to maintain a 900-people per hour capacity. This would translate to more people on the road and more pollutants in the air. The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association purchases renewable energy credits from San Miguel Power Association, which funds the development and operation of regional renewable energy resources. The cost to build the gondola is $16 million, and revenues to support the operational cost, which exceeds $3.5 million annually and requires over 82,000 man-hours, are realized from a number of sources with the majority of funding from the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association. San Miguel County and the Town of Telluride make a monetary contribution, and the Telluride Ski Resort contributes one percent of lift ticket sales.