Peak Resorts’ financial footing reportedly worsens amid staff layoffs, reduced operations and spending cuts. The company owns 14 resorts across the Eastern U.S.
Le Relais also has 2 liftsnewly listed (these are being removed to make way for a new six pack.)
LST signs La Plagne to launch the company’s first detachable lift next winter. MND Group CEO Xavier Gallot-Lavallee commented, “We are delighted to announce the initial commercial success of our brand new range of detachable chairlifts. The new contract signed with SAP, a subsidiary of leading ski resort operator Compagnie des Alpes, confirms the benefits of the innovative technology that we have developed and positions MND as a leading market player.”
LST will debut unique new detachable chairs and terminals for a new six-pack chairlift in La Plagne.
Cesar Dockweiler is the General Manager for Mi Teleferico, the growing state-owned gondola network in Bolivia’s capitol city. This week, he’s in Switzerland visiting suppliers working on the Blue and White lines for La Paz, which are about 75 percent complete. Throughout the trip, Mr. Dockweiler has been tweeting updates from CWA and Fatzer to his more than 3,000 followers.
Pictures from CWA show how workers still make gondola cabins one at a time and largely by hand. Because the company builds on demand, even a lift with just four cabins can have its own custom design.
Paso2: las estructuras de lo que serán las cabinas blancas se almacenan esperando su preparación para el pintado. pic.twitter.com/8Yh7eS2ZqI
Apologies for the lack of posts this week, I’m on a ski vacation.
Snowbird granted unanimous approval to build two chairlifts, a new gondola and upgrade the Mineral Basin Express. A zip line will share towers with the gondola in Mary Ellen Gulch.
Boyne Resorts buys 77 acres on Snoqualmie Pass for an improved connection between Summit Central and Summit West that could someday include a new chairlift.
In other Snowbird news, the two-month project to replace the Aerial Tram’s track ropes begins April 18th.
Big Snow America is the latest incarnation of the snow dome at New Jersey’s Meadowlands hoping to be the United States’ first indoor ski slope. The latest plan pegs an opening next year. Doppelmayr CTEC completed two lifts for the project – a quad chair and a platter – back in 2008 that have yet to carry any skiers.
Whistler Blackcomb’s market capitalization surpassed $1 billion last week as its stock reached an all-time high on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Already North America’s largest and most visited ski destination, the company today unveiled a $345 million capital plan, the largest in its history. On-mountain improvements are only part of the initiative which also includes new four seasons attractions, base area revitalization and additional real estate development.
The Magic Chondola will connect Blackcomb base to Base II.
The big lift news is Renaissance Phase One will include a new chondola to replace the Magic Chair connecting the Blackcomb Daylodge to Base II, where a 16,300 square foot waterpark and skier services building will go up. The park and chairlift will be just one component of a new Blackcomb Adventure Park with a mountain coaster and more. The chondola will be open day and night to connect the key destinations at both ends. I suspect W-B will also expand hours on the first section of Excalibur to create a true gondola transit system between the Blackcomb base areas and Whistler Village.
Timberline Lodge & Ski Area on Mt. Hood posted the following statement on Facebook Thursday afternoon after an empty chair fell from one of its high speed quads.
At approximately 1:45pm today there was a mechanical malfunction on the Magic Mile chair lift. A chair detached from the cable on the downhill side of the lift. The chair lift was not occupied. No customers or staff were involved in the incident. All guests were offloaded in a timely manner. The Magic Mile will be closed until further notice, pending a thorough investigation involving the lift manufacturer and a 3rd party lift engineer. Timberline Lodge thanks all guests on the lift for their patience and apologizes the inconvenience. We are compiling all details of the incident, which will be posted as soon as possible.
Poma built the Magic Mile in 1992 to replace a Riblet double. The lift is 5,472′ long, rises 1,089′ and has Poma’s TB-41 grips. Much of this lift operates above tree line, so both its terminals are housed inside buildings that can be buttoned up during storms. Magic Mile also has indoor parking for all its chairs and grip maintenance bays at the bottom terminal.
The Magic Mile operates year-round serving Timberline’s summer ski operation.
Almost exactly a year ago, an empty chair fell from a Doppelmayr detachable quad at Mt. Bachelor in a similar incident which was later blamed on component failure.
Update 4/2/16: Magic Mile has re-opened and Timberline posted the following update this afternoon.
This is a communications update regarding the Magic Mile chairlift malfunction, which we reported on March 31. The lift has been inspected by an independent chairlift engineer along with representatives from the US Forest Service. It was determined that failure of a key component of a carrier grip occurred, resulting in the detachment of an empty chair on the downhill side of the lift.
RLK and Company chairlift technicians followed the recommendations of the chairlift engineer and performed comprehensive inspections and testing on the entire chairlift. It has been determined that the chairlift conforms to industry standards, and is now operating.
Update 5/1/16: We’ve learned Magic Mile’s safety systems worked as designed and this incident was a combination of component failure and operator error.
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