I sometimes find myself telling people the classic line that there are only two companies left making ski lifts even though I know reality is far more complicated. Doppelmayr-Garaventa and the Seeber Group (Leitner and Poma) aren’t even the only companies building detachable lifts these days. There is a smaller player called Bartholet Maschinenbau Flums (BMF) that has completed dozens of projects around the world, including even here in North America.
BMF, based in Switzerland, is over 50 years old and completed its first lift in 1977. The firm’s first detachable, a six pack, opened at Val d’Isere in 2007. BMF has also built aerial trams, surface lifts, a funitel and chondola. Some of BMF’s unique designs include chairs that rotate 45-degrees, solar-powered surface lifts and carriers by the Porsche Design Studio. Gangloff Cabins joined the Bartholet Group in March 2014. Gangloff already has a significant presence at US ski resorts including Canyons, Winter Park and Deer Valley.
I was surprised to learn BMF already built three lifts in North America. The first was the Sky Tram at Monteverde, Costa Rica in 2006. Technically a pulse gondola rising 571 vertical feet, it has five towers and can move 432 passengers per hour. BMF built a second rain forest tram in Costa Rica in 2007. The company built the city of Durango, Mexico a 25-passenger aerial tram in 2010. BMF started construction on a second tram in the Mexican city of Puebla in 2013 before construction was halted over concerns about construction impacts in this world heritage site.
Now the question is when BMF will break into the much larger US/Canadian ski market. They already have an agreement to provide detachable grips if SkyTrac gets into the detachable game. I think it will be awhile before we see that happen. This construction season demonstrated how fiercely Doppelmayr will defend its dominance in a limited market. Moreover, BMF’s niche seems to be ultra-high end lifts with Swiss bells and whistles, the exact opposite of what most American resort operators are looking for.
Lift Blog 
Other manufacturers that offer lifts for the U.S. market besides Poma, SkyTrac, and Doppelmayr:
• LST: http://www.lst-ropeway.com/index.php?lang=en (I don’t believe one has been built in the U.S. yet.)
• Harusch: http://www.haruschlifts.com (t-bars)
• Partek: http://www.orangecountyskilifts.com
• Superior Tramway: http://superiortramway.com
• SkyTrans: http://skytrans-mfg.com
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BMF builds all sorts of lifts, not just high end products. See below a comprehensive list with all ropeways that BMF built in Switzerland alone (in German):
http://www.bergbahnen.org/search.php?hersteller=Bartholet&sortieren=Baujahr&richtung=ASC&suchart=erweitert
General information on BMF with pictures (in German):
http://www.bergbahnen.org/lexikon/hersteller/bartholet.php
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LST has a skytrac/lst surface lift operating on the east coast
(somewhere)
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The LST-Skytrac partnership ended really as soon as it began because Leitner-Poma acquired Skytrac. With BMF avoiding the US market, LST is on its own now against the big two.
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