- Mi Teleférico announces it will transport its hundred millionth commuter in early December, three and a half years after opening La Paz’s first urban gondola. Eight gondolas now operate with two more forming the Orange Line set to debut September 29th. The White Line will follow in the first quarter of 2018 and the network will transport some 50 million passengers next year.
- Waterville Valley receives approval to build a T-Bar this fall in place of the High Country double. It’s the second North American project for LST Ropeways, the French company that collaborated with Skytrac to build the Valar T-Bar at nearby Cannon Mountain last year (an arrangement made before Leitner-Poma bought Skytrac.)
- Saddleback begins removal of the Rangeley double in preparation for its replacement. The Cupsuptic T-Bar will now be repaired rather than replaced, providing access to the Kennebago quad until Rangeley is complete. “The scope of this project is partially what drove the decision to repair versus replace the T-Bar,” Saddleback says. “If we had replaced both, there is a chance that there would not be any skiing this year if early snow arrived.”
- LST’s first detachable lift, which opened on July 29th in La Plagne, closed August 17th, apparently so adjustments can be made before winter.
- Gould Academy’s new T-Bar on Locke Mountain at Sunday River will cost an estimated $750,000 and serve up to 1,200 racers per hour, rising 815 vertical feet.
- Sugarbush’s two new Alpen Stars are coming right along.
- Jackson Hole’s Sweetwater Gondola cabins are going inside this winter.
- Could a gondola from Windsor, Ontario help Detroit land Amazon’s second HQ?
- Now’s your chance to weigh in on New York’s proposed Capital District Gondola.
- The latest from St. Maarten, where a chairlift-based adventure park was slated to open just days after Hurricane Irma hit:
Lift Blog 
Interesting video on the construction of the point helbronner cable car. I ran across this vid a couple of years ago (maybe on this site? I don’t remember) on the construction of the aiguille du midi cable car back in the 1950s. I hope to go up one of the two this winter and ski down the vallee Blanche
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That mid station on sweet water is massive, do you know why they didn’t do one of the half mid stations like in Canyons? it doesn’t appear to turn at all.
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There’s no turn but both sides need to detach for downloading purposes. Doppelmayr offered a cheaper tunnel-style station like Park City’s Quicksilver has but the full UNI-G is better maintenance wise. The tires, belts and switches are covered and heated. With the tunnels, the only way to access machinery is to lift up a cover and then everything is exposed to the elements. Not ideal in Wyoming. Le Massif in Quebec made the same wise choice on their gondola.
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Grip profile switches would be really hard to find in the cheap tunnel style terminal ?
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Good one, Mike…
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Is there a link missing on the St. Maarten item?
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It’s a Facebook attachment below the text.
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Here it is as a link: http://www.facebook.com/rainforestadventuresxm/posts/1520867774633428
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Ahh … that link doesn’t appear for me, for some reason (weird, huh?)
Hopefully their facilities survived without much damage.
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Hey Peter, have you seen the new Kingsmen movie? Skyway Monte Bianco is used for a big action sequence in it.
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No, I will have to check it out now.
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