- Here’s the latest on construction of the first MND/Bartholet detachable in the USA.
- A wide-ranging interview with the Director of MND Ropeways reveals the strength of the North American market, the war in Ukraine’s affect on European steel prices and the latest on the MND/Bartholet partnership. If the alliance winds down post-2023, MND would build detachable lifts in house.
- Despite efforts to save it, the Tulsa State Fair announces removal of its VonRoll skyride, citing maintenance and safety concerns.
- The Austrian gondola known as “Old Lady” will be shipped to Alaska at the end of June for installation at Eaglecrest.
- Loveland offers season passholders a chance to own retired Lift 6 chairs.
- Jared Smith will be the next CEO of Alterra Mountain Company as Rusty Gregory steps away from day-to-day management duties.
- Vail Resorts posts Epic Lift Upgrade updates from Attitash, Boston Mills and Mount Snow.
- Stowe’s Epic Lift Upgrade project is finally approved and construction is underway.
- A legal battle continues over whether Christchurch Adventure Park was negligent spreading a wildfire by running a chairlift with plastic seats during a 2017 blaze.
- A Swiss ski resort plans to build one of the world’s steepest tramways with a maximum inclination of 159.4%.
- 49 Degrees North says so long to Bonanza.
- Schweitzer plans to build at least one new lift from its master plan in 2023.
- A report finds corrosion, wear and inadequately monitored twisting led to the failure of a socket on an Italian tram last year and 14 deaths.
- Israel’s supreme court green lights construction of an urban gondola in Jerusalem.
- A 2030 Vancouver Olympics may see Whistler and Sun Peaks as venues.
- The Forest Service needs more time before deciding on Lutsen Mountains’ proposed expansion.
- Fire reaches within a half mile of Sipapu but officials express confidence that containment will hold.
- Mt. Rose’s Lakeview triple heads to Dodge Ridge.
- Maine’s Hermon Mountain hits the market.
- Cockaigne will open next year despite being for sale.
- An Alberta T-Bar will be used to transport alpine coaster vehicles and riders.
- Lenawee Express is the name for A Basin’s first six pack.
- Happy re-opening day to Big Snow American Dream!
Charles Skinner to Acquire Michigan’s Big Snow
The owner of the largest ski resorts in Minnesota and Wisconsin will expand his portfolio to include one of the biggest ski areas in Michigan. Located in the Upper Peninsula, Big Snow Resort’s Blackjack and Indianhead mountains together feature more than a dozen lifts across 1,000 acres of land. Wisconsin developer Art Dumke has owned the mountains since 2014.
There’s no word yet whether Lutsen Mountains, Granite Peak and Big Snow will be combined onto a single pass product but that seems likely. “We are thrilled that these two historical, Upper Michigan ski areas, known for their prodigious powder snow, will be joining our legendary family of resorts in Minnesota and Wisconsin,” said Charles Skinner in a press release. “The current owner and his excellent staff have done a terrific job honoring the legacy of Indianhead and Blackjack and combining them into the largest ski area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We intend to build upon this work by investing in new lifts, snowmaking, and base area infrastructure at Big Snow.” Specific plans for investments at Big Snow will be announced later this summer. The two mountains currently feel like museums with most lifts and buildings dating back to the 1960s and ’70s.
Skinner also announced construction of a Leitner-Poma six place chairlift at Lutsen Mountains for the 2023-24 season. The second such lift there will run alongside Bridge chair, a 1972 Riblet double on Eagle Mountain.
The Big Snow sale is expected to close by the end of July, subject to financing and due diligence completion.
Instagram Tuesday: Springtime
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Chances for Chairs
- Sipapu is threatened by New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire.
- Other New Mexico ski areas postpone summer operations due to National Forest closures.
- Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania has 247 double chairs for sale.
- Ditto for Cascade Mountain, Wisconsin.
- Steamboat will auction chairs from Christie III along with retired gondola cabins next week.
- Heavenly’s rescheduled North Bowl chair sale will take place June 3-4.
- Aspen Snowmass forges the Silver Queen Gondola’s old haul rope into anniversary tokens.
- Snowbird provides a tram modernization project update.
- Park City won’t issue a building permit for Park City Mountain’s new lifts until at least June 8th, when an appeal will be heard. Vail Resorts tells me it still intends to complete the projects ahead of the 2022-23 season.
- Stowe also remains committed to replacing the Mountain triple this summer despite approval still pending.
- The Caribbean island of Dominica plans to build one of the world’s longest gondolas from a cruise port to a mountain lake.
- Tenney Mountain’s new owner plans to reopen next season.
- Beartooth Basin won’t open this year due to low snow.
- Kimberley and Leitner-Poma work to get the Northstar Express back operational 5 months after being idled by arson.
- The Sierra-at-Tahoe rebuild may include new lifts.
- New York’s Cockaigne won’t operate this summer and is listed for sale.
- Big Sky and Garaventa begin building Lone Peak Tram 2.0.
- Silver Mountain Lift Maintenance rescues a lost goat and gives him a gondola ride.
- Here come the terminals for Palisades Tahoe’s base to base gondola.
Instagram Tuesday: Special Deliveries
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Best Ever
- The Bud Light Seltzer SkyView gondola at Hard Rock Stadium becomes the Heineken High Line for the Miami Grand Prix.
- A chairlift which rotates between two fairs in California and one in Arizona now also goes to Texas.
- Granite Gorge is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction next month.
- A Swiss paper interviews Roland Bartholet about his company being acquired by HTI. The brand will remain separate from Leitner and Poma, will focus on new products and help the group compete with Doppelmayr Garaventa.
- Indy Pass signs six more resorts as affiliate partners; redemptions totaled 125,000 this season.
- Gore Mountain signs with Leitner-Poma for the North Creek Ski Bowl detachable.
- Doppelmayr proposes a $200 million urban gondola system in Auckland, New Zealand.
- Bottineau Winter Park fundraises for a new T-Bar.
- Friends of the Tulsa Skyride say the only lift in Oklahoma may be removed in the next few weeks.
- The United States sets an all-time skier visit record – 61 million – with 11 more ski areas operating than last season.
- NSAA says offseason capital improvements will also set a record this year at $728 million.
- A big urban 3S opens in France.
- Doppelmayr’s latest Bike Clip carriers will make their North American debut at Loon Mountain.
- Mt. Rose’s first high speed quad will be called the
Tahoe Express. Update: Lakeview Express - A tram breakdown makes the news in Palm Springs.
Instagram Tuesday: Heavy Metal
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Hurdles
- Four people file appeals seeking to halt construction of Park City’s new lifts.
- Doppelmayr, Poma and Leitner all release annual brochures featuring lifts built last year.
- The former owner of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain is sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $8.3 million in restitution.
- The Tenney Mountain property is sold.
- Grouse Mountain formally applies for a development permit to build a new gondola.
- West Mountain looks to break ground in 2023 on a $140 million real estate project which includes a high speed quad.
- Whistler’s chair and gondola sale is live now.
- Heavenly to sell North Bowl triple chairs beginning today (update: the sale has been postponed for unspecified reasons.)
- With multiple projects in planning, Canada may beat the United States to the urban gondola party.
- Maine’s Quoggy Jo loses key funding.
- A preliminary timeline for the Timberline Lodge gondola construction: 2028.
- Juneau will spend $845,000 to transport the used 15 passenger gondola it purchased for Eaglecrest, more than double an initial estimate.
- Mount Roberts Tramway operator Goldbelt downplays its involvement in the Eaglecrest gondola project.
- Preliminary lift work begins begins at Mayflower.
- In case you missed Doppelmayr Insights, here’s a replay.
- Bartholet prepares to build Flem Xpress, the first Ropetaxi with autonomous gondolas and multi-station selection.
- Big Snow is on track to reopen May 27th.
- County officials approve Mt. Shasta’s Gray Butte expansion and construction begins.
Instagram Tuesday: Cruising
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Fresh Designs
- Poma introduces new station and tower elements in Europe with an eco-friendly focus.
- Doppelmayr now offers a third D-Line station design.
- Sugarbush proposes replacing Heaven’s Gate with a fixed grip quad.
- Chairs from Big Red and cabins from Creekside will be sold to benefit the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation.
- Doppelmayr to host the second annual Insights virtual event on May 4th.
- Ski Sawmill, Bluewood and Kelly Canyon become the latest resorts to sign on to the Indy Pass; Marmot Basin leaves after just one year.
- Snow King Mountain joins the Powder Alliance.
- Vail reports a season-to-date 12.5 percent increase in skier visits.
- A new Doppelmayr Wir is out with features on Big Sky and Loon Mountain.
- The first urban ropeway trade show will be held in June in Germany.
- Powder Ridge, Minnesota to sell chairs from a retired double chair.
- Two new lifts are approved for Park City.
- A May deadline looms for 100,000 Vail Resorts employees to join or opt out of a class action lawsuit regarding labor practices.
- Boyne Mountain will sell Disciples chairs on May 2nd to benefit a local charity.
- A public hearing is scheduled regarding the Moosehead Lake resort project.
- Eaglecrest staff visit the gondola they bought in Austria; all systems are go for bringing it to Alaska.
- Seventh Heaven at Stevens Pass closes for the season early for “maintenance/evaluation.”
- Icy Strait Point opens its big Mountain Top gondola for the first time.
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