Lift Blog

Just two days after opening a new factory in Utah, Doppelmayr christened another gleaming building in Quebec yesterday. The 152,000 square foot Saint-Jérôme plant brings together staff from three dated buildings and builds on nearly 50 years of history for Doppelmayr Canada. The investment totals CA$60 million, including a $3 million contribution from Canada’s federal government.

Like in Salt Lake, Michael Doppelmayr first gave the gathered crowd a history lesson. His grandfather Emil Doppelmayr first came to Canada when planes had to stop in both Iceland and Greenland to make the trip. Doppelmayr chose to set up shop Canada before the US in part due to exchange rates. Like with Doppelmayr USA, the northern subsidiary’s major break came in 1985 with the first detachable quads at Mont Sutton, Saint-Sauveur and Nakiska. Saint-Jérôme has been a detachable powerhouse ever since. What started as a joke on a tradeshow floor became the world’s first six pack at Mont Orignal in 1991. The Quebec plant soon built its first cabriolet at Tremblant and the region’s first chondola at Mont Orford. Over 49 years Saint-Jérôme built hundreds of lifts, including towers for Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak Gondola, components for people movers in Las Vegas and even lifts for China.

Members of Doppelmayr’s board, employees, elected officials and partners joined to cut the ribbon on the shop floor. Michael Doppelmayr presented Doppelmayr Canada CEO Luc Guy with an Austrian bell and challenged the sales staff to ring it every time they sell a lift. “Ring it so loud I can hear it in Austria,” he said. He then revealed Craigleith Ski Club in Ontario signed that morning. Luc rang the bell, and shots of schnapps were served for everyone to celebrate.

Saint-Jérôme builds UNI-G detachable terminals, drive platforms, hydraulic systems, evacuation drives and sheave assemblies. The goal for the new facility is not just more space but to produce lifts efficiently with a modern working environment for employees. Unlike dry Salt Lake, a higher percentage of the complex is walled in rather than just covered. The goal is to store 80 percent of raw materials inside, not out in the snow. The vast new production line includes two final assembly jigs for UNI-G station tunnels, up from one previously. There are 27 cranes for moving large components around the factory and outside. Doppelmayr bought the same large plasma cutter as Salt Lake and Wolfurt and expects to take delivery soon on a $5.5 million CNC boring and milling machine. There are several vertical lift modules for storing parts and tools. The plant was fairly empty with moving still underway but we got to see components destined for Mont-Sainte-Anne, Bromont and the Getty Museum automated people mover in Los Angeles. Saint-Jérôme runs two shifts and now has immense capacity to produce UNI-G machines.

Like Salt Lake, everyone is now under one roof including engineering, service, HR, accounting and sales. There’s room for Doppelmayr to perform more service work such as gondola cabin restoration. Upstairs lies an even bigger training room than Salt Lake and another gym. Most of Doppelmayr’s 150 Canadian employees attended the party and seemed stoked with their new home.

Doppelmayr cut the ribbon today on a brand new US headquarters, located right next to the old one in Salt Lake City. The investment makes SLC one of Doppelmayr’s largest facilities worldwide, bringing together production, sales, engineering, parts, service, training, back office, and construction under one (very large) roof. The 160,000 square foot building nearly doubles Doppelmayr’s footprint with ample room for growth. Austria-based Doppelmayr said recent investments in new facilities in Salt Lake, St. Jerome, Quebec and China will total $150 million.

Doppelmayr USA CEO Keith Johns, Chairman of the Board Michael Doppelmayr, Managing Director Gerhard Gassner, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox presided over the festivities. They invited 27 employees with more than 20 years’ experience at the company to join them as they cut the ribbon. Johns also presented GSBS Architects and R&O Construction with traditional Austrian cow bells for their efforts bringing the project to life.

Michael Doppelmayr explained his family’s company has operated in the US for over half a century, but its first big break came in 1985 with a contract for four detachable quads on Vail Mountain. Thus Doppelmayr originally landed in Golden, Colorado before merging with Garaventa and inheriting a Utah office in 2002. In the run up to the Salt Lake Olympics, Doppelmayr partnered with the Holding Family to rebuild Snowbasin’s lift fleet, a relationship which continues to this day. The Utah and North American markets have steadily strengthened ever since. The company’s biggest current project worldwide is right here in the USA at Newark Liberty International Airport. Non-ski projects like Newark now make up one third of the Group’s worldwide sales.

This felt like a ski industry homecoming, however, with representatives from Alterra, Vail, Boyne and many others in attendance. Dignitaries got to see lifts in various stages of production destined for places like Marquette Mountain, Michigan and Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. With a larger plant here, Doppelmayr will strengthen competitiveness and shorten supply chains for North American customers.

Salt Lake will continue to specialize where it always has: bullwheel and tower fabrication, fixed-grip terminals, electrical control systems and operator houses. One big addition is conical towers, the type used on marquee D-Line and Uni-G machines. Doppelmayr USA just completed its very first one, destined for Yellowstone Club’s new Lodge lift next summer. In the past these were manufactured in Wolfurt, Austria and containerized for the US market. The Salt Lake factory will utilize US steel and specialize in large components that are expensive to ship over the Atlantic. A new welding robot can produce cylindrical towers also, the first of which is headed for Sainte-Anne. This machine reduces welding time by 40-60%, though some welds will still require human craftsmanship.

The new machine shop, where one tech said “subtractive manufacturing” occurs, houses four CNCs, three mills and two lathes. This shop regularly produces 3,000 different parts with tolerances of a thousandth of an inch. Doppelmayr’s goal is to build as much in house as possible. Galvanizing will still take place off site, though painting can be done in a new onsite bay. Once parts are finished, they’ll be grouped together in a new laydown port, where trucks can drive through and load by crane before departing for mountains.

Doppelmayr produces operator houses for most projects in the United States and Canada in Salt Lake. In a typical year, Doppelmayr USA builds 35 operator houses, though the record is 53. Metal bones are fabricated in house and later filled out with wood. Customers can choose from five different shack sizes, three finishes and any color in the rainbow. Today we saw houses destined for Snowland’s new T-Bar as well as a project not yet announced. Prior to a few weeks ago, the operator house crew worked outside in the snow and heat.

On the electrical side, Doppelmayr USA’s 15 electrical technicians are enjoying their new home. A new system called Eplan automatically calculates the length of wires then cuts, crimps and labels them. Wires will go into 533 different electrical control panels this season, both for new installations and modernizations. Parts and Construction departments will also utilize automation in the new building. Each got a Modula vertical lift module that stores tools and spare parts vertically to maximize space, similar to something you’d see in an e-commerce fulfillment center.

On the service side, Doppelmayr completes roughly 30 projects per year in Salt Lake, including 600 detachable grip rebuilds. We saw grips all the way from Bromley, Vermont being rebuilt by expert staff in a controlled environment.

Doppelmayr is launching a brand new US training center capable of hosting 25 people at a time. In addition to a classroom, it features a full Doppelmayr Connect control system, a hydraulic system and various Doppelmayr grips for students to learn on. Classes can also be held virtually.

The building itself is gorgeous with everything from indoor bike storage to EV charging, a gym, locker rooms and showers. A top secret swag room requires badged RFID access. White noise even comes out of the ceiling to mask jets taking off from the airport and Union Pacific trains.

The Governor said this facility, along with a new Stadler Rail factory nearby, will provide high-quality jobs for Utahns in the trades. He noted providing work education and apprenticeships at a younger age is a top priority for the state. Doppelmayr presently employs some 300 people in the US and expects to continue to grow. “Employees, you’ve done a wonderful job here,” noted Michael Doppelmayr. “Now fill it up and make it a success,” he said.

Correction: this story was updated to reflect the $150 million investment includes new factories in Salt Lake, Quebec and China – not just Salt Lake.