Steamboat Implements Virtual Gondola Line to Mitigate On-Site Crowding

A view of the long line for the Steamboat Gondola from inside a cabin in March 2019. The lift has seen a substantial renovation since then, but it still functions as a major AM chokepoint.

This past weekend, Steamboat introduced a virtual waiting room that allows ticket and pass holders to join the Steamboat Gondola line remotely. This virtual line will exist alongside the lift’s normal, physical line, and guests can add themselves to the queue each day starting at 7:30am by texting “gondola” to 970-436-4116.

More information on the new program can be found here. It’s worth noting that riders who arrive before their boarding time will not be allowed to get on the gondola early, although those running late can text “M” to request more time. A maximum of 8 guests can join the virtual line under one name.

Our Take

Steamboat suffers from one of the worst crowd flow setups of any resort we’ve been to, and the gondola, which provides the only convenient access from the base to upper mountain areas, is a huge chokepoint in the morning. With reduced capacity inside gondola cabins due to COVID, we can only imagine how horrendous the lines have been up to this point.

This virtual queue comes across as an excellent idea to mitigate physical crowding at Steamboat’s base. The program was originally supposed to be a three-day trial from 12/24 to 12/27, and based on the fact that it’s still up, we presume it piloted successfully. Perhaps some other lifts we’ve been on, such as Stowe’s gondola, Killington’s K1 gondola, and essentially all trams, could benefit from a similar system.

Considering a trip to Steamboat? Check out our comprehensive mountain review.