Telluride Gondola Transit Company Selects Lightning Eliminators to Protect Guests and Crew

In the tourism and hospitality industry, the safety of guests and crew are the top priority. Ski resorts and mountain towns in North America operate at high elevations where lightning is not an occasional disruption, but a persistent and predictable threat.

For operators, this creates a dual challenge: maintaining uninterrupted service while ensuring the safety of passengers and personnel in exposed, high-risk conditions.

The Telluride Gondola Transit Company took lightning-related risks seriously and turned to Lightning Eliminators and Consultants (LEC) for a solution.

The Challenge: Lightning Risk Threatened Safety of Guests and Crew at Telluride Resort

The Telluride Gondola Transit Company operates an 8-mile public transit and ski lift system connecting Telluride and Mountain Village, transporting approximately 2.25 million passengers annually.

Located in a high-elevation region of Colorado, the system is exposed to an average of 7,300 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes per year, creating a significant risk to operational continuity and the safety of guests and crew. Prior to mitigation, gondola towers and stations experienced repeated lightning activity posed serious risks beyond downtime, including:

• Direct strike hazard. Passengers riding in gondola cabins and crew working on towers or in stations were exposed to the danger of nearby or direct lightning strikes.
• Step and touch potential. Lightning energy traveling through structures can create dangerous voltage differences, posing shock risks to personnel on platforms, ladders, or within stations.
• System stoppage at elevation. A lightning event could halt gondola operations mid-span, leaving passengers suspended in cabins during severe weather.
• Emergency evacuation risk. Evacuating passengers from towers or lines during or after a lightning event introduces additional safety hazards for both guests and rescue crews.
• Equipment damage leading to unsafe conditions. Lightning-induced failures in control and/or power systems could create unpredictable or unsafe operating scenarios.

Given the system’s importance to both transportation and tourism, these disruptions posed a direct threat to reliability and the local economy.

The Solution: Avoiding Lightning with Lightning Prevention Technology

In 2001, the gondola operator partnered with Lightning Eliminators & Consultants, Inc. to implement a comprehensive lightning protection strategy using its Dissipation Array® System (DAS®) technology.

The installation included:

• DAS hemispheres mounted on gondola towers
• DAS Ridge Arrays installed on station structures
• Chem-Rod® chemical grounding systems deployed across all structures

Unlike conventional lightning protection systems that intercept strikes by attracting into the very areas they are intended to protect; DAS systems are designed to avoid lightning altogether by reducing the electrical potential between ground structures and storm clouds preventing the formation of upward streamers and creating lightning.

LEC engineered the system to withstand the region’s harsh environmental conditions, including high winds, heavy snow, ice accumulation, and constant mechanical vibrations.

Results: Elimination of Lightning Strikes on Critical High-Elevation Infrastructure

Since implementation, the results have been clear and measurable:

• Elimination of lightning strikes terminating on protected towers and stations
• Significant reduction in weather-related downtime, improving system reliability
• Enhanced passenger and crew safety across all operating conditions
• Sustained operational performance despite extreme alpine weather

Beyond operational benefits, the impact extends to the broader community:

• Improved transit efficiency allows visitors to spend more time at their destinations
• Increased uptime supports tourism-driven economic activity
• Greater reliability reinforces the gondola system as a critical infrastructure asset for the region

By proactively addressing lightning risk, the Telluride Transit Gondola Company transformed a persistent operational vulnerability into a long-term reliability advantage. The implementation of DAS technology in combination with other LEC solutions demonstrates how advanced lightning protection can safeguard ski lifts, gondolas, and aerial tramways for protecting guests and crew, and support economic vitality in ski high-risk environments.

Take Control of Your Lightning Risk

Lightning doesn’t have to be an unpredictable threat to your operation. Whether you’re managing hazardous materials, critical infrastructure, or high-value assets, the right protection strategy can make all the difference.

If your facility can’t afford unplanned downtime or environmental risk, it’s time to rethink your approach to lightning protection.

Contact us today to schedule a risk assessment and discover how proactive lightning prevention can safeguard your operations and Keep You Running Through the Storm.