The new High Noon Express Lift (Chair 5) at Vail opens a week from today, right after next week's Snow Daze events. The high-speed quad chair replaces the old fixed-grip triple, cutting the ride from twelve minutes down to just under six and increasing the lift's capacity by about 70 percent. Translation? Bye-bye, lift lines! The lift serves the Sun Up and Sun Down bowls and High Noon Ridge, and opens next Friday at at 9 a.m., with the ceremonial first chair going to Pepi and Sheika Gramshammer (Pepi was one of the first to ski the High Noon terrain in the early 1960s before Vail opened its back bowls to the public in 1962).

Via press release:

To celebrate the lift's debut, guests are invited to gather at the top of the lift for complimentary cookies, hot cocoa and commemorative lapel pins while supplies last.

"There is nothing on earth like Vail's Back Bowls on a powder day, and with 70 percent more capacity and half the ride time of the old lift, the new Chair 5 will allow our guests to move quicker up and around the mountain and get even more out of their days," said Chris Jarnot, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain.

Editor's note: In error, we said earlier today that the High Noon Lift was opening today; in fact, it opens a week from today. The mistake has been corrected, and thanks to a reader for pointing it out to us.

• Outdoors