The thumping sound echoing through Ketchum in the early morning hours was not a collective hangover, but an audible notification that the heavy lifting in the construction of a new gondola is underway.
An unusual-looking helicopter has been in operation since Monday morning, installing the foundations and towers for the gondola on the River Run side of Bald Mountain.
The helicopter also swiftly removed more than a dozen towers from the Exhibition chairlift, which after more than 30 years of service on Baldy is being sold to Discovery, a ski area near Missoula, Mont.
The single-seat, twin-rotor helicopter, operated by Canada-based HeliQwest Aviation, is able to lift 6,000 pounds and is designed to carry heavy loads by the means of a single cable.
On Monday morning, a group of spectators had crowded on the bike path above Ketchum's snow storage area, just below the Reinheimer Ranch, and were treated to quite a show. In under five minutes, the helicopter would hook a cable harnessed to the top of an Exhibition tower, lift it off its foundation, softly lower it onto the vacant lot, then whisk off to repeat the operation.
On Tuesday, the helicopter carried 4,000-pound loads of concrete, which were poured into the gondola tower holes to secure the foundations.
Dollar Mountain Manager John Madison said the helicopter operations could be completed by the end of the day today, allowing for the resort to resume its summer lift operations by Thursday, in plenty of time for the holiday weekend.
The gondola is scheduled to be completed by mid-November and will be ready by the 2009-10 ski season to take skiers and snowboarders from the River Run Lodge to the Roundhouse restaurant.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com