Conditions are bluebird, and the midday sun is warming the mountain air high up on the Telluride Resort. On this bright afternoon following one of the biggest dumps of the season, skiers are shouldering their gear and trudging uphill from See Forever to the base of the shuttered Lift Nine. This year, of course, the lift itself has been closed for a high speed upgrade, but the terrain below is open and accessible as a hike-to. Skier David Olsen, catching his breath at the top, says skiing Lift Nine is worth the long trip over. 

“It’s been really cool this year. There’s a different feeling to it, and this hike is pretty quick but working for it just a little bit more keeps people off of it and it keeps it fresh,” Olsen says. “I mean you’ve gotta go from four to five six just to get up here,” Olsen says, referee

Construction to replace the former chairlift with a high speed quad lasted throughout the summer, but various delays hit the construction project and the targeted opening date in Mid-December came and went. Cassidy Craig, who grew up in Telluride, says the closed lift comes with an upside. 

“I mean, we’ve gotta work with the bumps of not having the lift open, but I think it's great, we can still ski, so there’s a silver lining. It looks untracked and amazing, and you gotta earn your turns!” says Craig. 

When I ask skiers Kat Helterline and Ava Halper about the lift’s extended closure, they agree: it’s been no problem at all. 

“It's been absolutely blower! A privilege, honestly. What started out as very annoying news has been a blessing,” says Halper. 

“It's the best I’ve ever skied Nine, and there's no reef on Make’Em. Don’t tell anyone!” adds Helterline.

With the lift closed, skiing down Nine is pretty much a dead end into town at the Oak Street Plaza. Everyone I spoke with at the top was a Telluride resident fitting in their last run of the day. I asked Jake Spaulding if he ended every ski day with a trip down Nine. 

“I mean, I try to,” Spaulding says. “You’d be crazy not to. I’m gonna go over here and ski some bushy trees and find my way. I'm really grateful for the new lift, and if it opens, great, and if it doesn’t…I’ll live!”

Halper adds, with Lift Nine terrain, you can’t go wrong. 

“[I’ll ski] wherever the good snow is. Everything’s been skiing so well because it's very minimally tracked. The Locals know their own spots….the runs that are named are also good,” says Halper. 

The ski area continues to promise that the lift will be open and operational by February. But, from this mountainside poll it doesn’t seem that devotees of Lift Nine terrain are all too anxious for that day to come. Here’s Olsen:

“I mean, I am psyched for it to actually be up and running again. We’ll see if that happens this year, and if it doesn’t, whatever, we’ll be alright.”

Halper and Helterline concur. 

“Thanks, ski patrol, for letting this happen this year. It could’ve easily gone the other way, so we’re grateful,” says Halper. 

“Keep Lift Nine closed forever!” Helterline adds. 

The new Lift Nine, silent and still, though very nearly complete, stands watch, as hikers strap into skis and dive over the edge, into the vast, untrammeled terrain below.