When the Segundo ski lift in Colorado was first installed, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and candy bars cost a nickel. It’s finally being replaced, but not before a big retirement party.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
One of the oldest ski lifts in Colorado will spin off into the sunset tomorrow after 71 years. When the lift known as El Segundo first opened, Dwight Eisenhower was president. A candy bar cost a nickel. BJ Leiderman, who writes our theme music, may not have even been born. In advance of the ski lift’s closing, it got its own retirement party. Colorado Public Radio’s Stina Sieg takes us there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKI LIFT RATTLING)
STINA SIEG, BYLINE: Some call it Segundo. Others call it Se-goon-do (ph), but everyone at Sunlight Mountain Resort has a story about the trusty two-seater.
BAILEY LEPPEK: The number of times that I’ve lost a ski getting on Segundo and had to have, like, an 8-year-old carry it up behind me, it’s just part of it, you know?
SIEG: Bailey Leppek is one of many skiers and boarders sliding through slippery spring snow at the first and last Segundo Day, celebrating.
LEPPEK: That thrill when it, like, picks you up and just, like, whoa.
SIEG: Like many ski lifts in Colorado, Segundo has had more than one life. It was installed in Aspen in 1964 but was replaced as that resort became more glamorous and high tech. Segundo’s been at the lower-key Sunlight Mountain Resort since 1973. This ski area stayed relatively affordable – about half the price of the state’s biggest resorts. And Segundo is an artifact from a time when skiing was more rustic and affordable.
NESHAY EVERS: It’s an energetic vibe of the mountain. It’s not going to be the same when it’s not here, honestly.
SIEG: Neshay Evers, a former lift operator here, is hanging out in Sunlight’s parking lot.
EVERS: Tailgating in honor of Segundo.
MARK SALERNO: You hear that grill. All right. You ready for a burger there, Frank?
SIEG: That’s her friend, Mark Salerno.
SALERNO: We’re bummed.
SIEG: With the sharing of food and fond memories, Segundo Day feels like a joyful wake. As music plays in the lodge, skiers in festive outfits drink beers and buy raffle tickets. Segundo will be replaced by a newer, faster triple chair, serving future skiers like baby Oakley, taking a nap in a carrier on her mom, Emily Ipsen. Ipsen got married at Sunlight a few years ago.
EMILY IPSEN: It’s got the family charm, and while it’s being progressive and moving in a great direction, we’re going to miss kind of the rinky-dink nature that is the Segundo Lift.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKIING)
SIEG: Ipsen hands the baby to her husband and skis over to the lift. Even as icy rain starts, she says she’s lucky to see Segundo’s send-off.
IPSEN: Bittersweet. That’s the word for it. It’s bittersweet.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKI LIFT RATTLING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Segundo Day.
SIEG: For NPR News, I’m Stina Sieg at Sunlight Mountain Resort.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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