Hybrid lift

A hybrid lift is a new type of ski lift that combines the elements of a chairlift and a gondola. First introduced by Poma, who refers to them as Telemix, they have since been copied by most lift manufacturers who refer to them by a variety of names; Doppelmayr refers to them as combined installations, while the more generic terms chondola and telecombi are also common.

Both chairs and gondolas have advantages for lift operations. Gondolas are heavier and have lower wind restrictions, but offer protection from the elements and are particularly useful in rain or very cold. They can also be used during the summer for walk-on guests, cyclists or wheelchairs, and in the winter for snowshoers. In the winter, gondolas require skiers and snowboarders to remove their equipment and walk into the cabin, which can slow the speed of operation at the ends of the lift and requires the riders to stand for the duration of the lift. Chairs are lighter and can be operated in higher winds, while also generally being more comfortable and easier to board for skiers.

A hybrid lift allows cabins and chairs to be used on the same lift line, changing them as the rider load, season and weather conditions demand. To allow safe loading and unloading, stations have separate areas for the different carrier types, resembling a gondola station followed by a chairlift station, or vice versa. The overall length of the boarding area can be reduced by folding the station so that the gondolas are loaded on the "downhill" side of the ends of the lift, and the chairs on the uphill side. On most hybrid lifts, there will usually be more chairs from cabins, i.e. Sunday River (Maine)'s Chondola has 64 chairs and 16 cabins, with four chairs in between each cabin.

Hybrid lifts offer year-round versatility, increasingly important as ski resorts add summertime activities like downhill cycling and nature hiking trails.

Installations around the World

France

In France, Poma has installed at least seven hybrid lifts, and Doppelmayr three. One being the "Mont Rond", which consist of one eight passenger gondola cabin, and three six passenger chairs. "Le Grand Cerf" in Les 7 Laux, France consists of a six passenger chair and an eight passenger gondola.

United States

Most recently, the Sunday River Resort has built one of these lifts, dubbing it the chondola. This particular lift consist of four six passenger chairs, followed by one eight passenger gondola cabin, four more chairs, another eight passenger cabin, and so on.^[1]

Chondolas also exist at Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe (hybrid between a high speed six pack and a high speed eight person gondola) and at Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado (hybrid between a high speed quad and a four person gondola).

Also in the United States are several lifts that can be converted as needed into gondola operations, e.g. Winter Park Resort in Colorado has a high speed quad that can run gondola cabins at night. The main lift at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana runs with all chairs in the winter but runs with chairs and cabins during the summer.