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Show purgatory Opens AJew lift Tis Winter . ,..tt to local skiiru Mnnnt-im a o . 0f interest to liK-al skiing ,huSiasts is the completion j Purgatory's fourth double irlifl,. which will be ready L'opewtion this season. 'rjStened the Twilight k Chairlift. it opens an Srional 50 acres of terrain four new ski slopes, and "divides rapid access from the L of the mountain. Twilight Peak Chairlift ,,ends over 5,000 feet and 1,000 vertical feet. Ling'at the base area, it ds to a central point on I mountain which allows iiers to go to the loading lations of the Engineer Mountain and Grizzly Peak Lifts. Skiers may also choose to return to the base area along the new trails or only go as far as the midway loading ramp. This gives the beginning begin-ning skier the chance to ski the gentle slopes of the upper mountain. Another purpose of the new high-capacity lift is to get more people on the mountain in a shorter time. It will relieve much of the traffic on the Spud Mountain Chairlift, which serves some of the area's best advanced runs. The Twilight Peak Chairlift increases Purgatory's Pur-gatory's comfortable capacity to 3,000 skiers per day, an increase of 500 skiers. There will now be two loading stations at the base area, which should alleviate long lines. Work remained on schedule throughout the summer. The key was that the tower "stubs" of the 34-tower chairlift were cemented 8 feet into the ground before the heavy summer rains fell. After this, the 30-foot towers were set into place over the stubs. The lift was constructed by Purgatory's lift crew, under the direction of Lift Manager Keith Blackburn. A different approach was taken in building the Twilight Peak Lift. Because of the rocky cliffs, most of the holes for the tower stubs had to be blasted. This same steep, rocky terrain prevented a crane from driving into the area, so a helicopter lifted six 2,000 pound towers into place. This was the First time Purgatory used this , method in setting towers. By using new techniques in constructing the lift, consider able amounts of time wee saved, so that the lift is nc ready to go. Four new trails add to he excitement of the opening of the new lift. They are Li'l tot, Divinity, The Bank, and Columbine, and they opn an additional 50 acres of irrain and provide easier acess to the base of the mounfcn. Divinity and Columine are beginner's trails whih provide prov-ide access to the midway loading ramp on thnew lift. Li'l Toot is a short xpert run and is located on tb lift line of the Twilight Peak 1ft. Paralleling Paralle-ling Li'l Toot is The Bank, which is ranked itermediate. All the trails'start at the summit of the pv lift. Skiers wishing to px;eed to the Engineer Montain Chairlift will ski on Artel's Tread; and those wishirj to reach the base of the -Jrizzly Peak Lift will ski dow Salvation. Removal f the poma lift has created ar additional access run to theJase area. A freerope tow has been relocate and will run up Lower temon for first-time skiers.,' few runs here, and the arage skier can ski Divini for the rest of the day. Ea; accessability, warmth and .-tremendous view of the San-Juan Mountains have ma Purgatory Ski Resort ne; Durango, Colo., a popul-arirea. popul-arirea. Snow conditions in Sithwest Colorado are one of ti main reasons for Purgat-(y's Purgat-(y's popularity. An average f 300 inches of snow falls each eason, but for the powder-hound, powder-hound, there are runs where snow-packers seldom tread. |