- More new trail maps are out with new lifts on them: Brian Head, Jackson Hole, Montana Snowbowl, Schweitzer, Revelstoke and Windham.
- Sea to Sky Gondola turns its parking lot into a drive in theater while rebuild of the lift continues.
- “Boyne is looking at replacing a lot of lifts throughout the whole company and we’re on that list,” says Karl Strand of Sugarloaf in an annual fall update. His wish list includes replacing Timberline, Double Runner, Sawduster and West Mountain.
- Mike Solimano at Killington also has a lift replacement wish list for Powdr.
- Arapahoe Basin plans to replace both Pallavicini and Molly Hogan next summer.
- Sunrise Park says a replacement for the decommissioned Cyclone lift would cost more than $10 million but is a long term goal.
- Hunter will convert its D triple to a double with Partek chairs.
- The Forest Service tentatively approves Arizona Snowbowl’s proposed Agassiz Telemix project.
- An Orlando TV station plays some 911 calls from the night the Disney Skyliner broke down two weeks ago.
- Seven months after an announced sale of Granby Ranch, the ski area still hasn’t changed hands.
- Montana Snowbowl’s long-awaited expansion lift on TV Mountain will be called Snow Park and open in December.
- Sugar Mountain puts the finishing touches on its first high speed quad.
Lift Blog 
Given Cyclone’s length, I’d say that the ideal way to replace it would be to do the same thing Silver Star did when they built the Powder Gulch Express to replace the Putnam Creek HSQ: run a HSQ from the bottom up to the mid-unload station, then have a T-Bar run the flat leg from midway to the top.
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For Cyclone- what exactly needs to be replaced? I’d assume the towers are still ok. So new haul rope? Carriers? Bottom station/top station? Is the 10 million price tag for a fixed grip, or HSQ? I wonder if Sky Trac could work some magic to bring that price down with one of their retrofits. I’m sure this has all been thought out though, so just me wishing to see an old lift brought back to life or get something else in there that works. Yes, 7000ft is a long long lift. Maybe a high speed triple or even double.. ah well.
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They’re not very specific as to what sort of lift they’re eying to replace Cyclone. Given the length, 8,000 feet, a high speed quad would be more practical. I don’t know what the cost of HSQs is vs. FGQs or FGT….
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At the Sugarloaf annual meeting they also made mention of a major project they couldn’t talk about yet. I’ve seen it claimed, by a source of unknown authority, that it involves moving the SuperQuad to West Mountain to replace the insanely long fixed-grip double there, and replacing it with a bubble six-pack.
With regard to Timberline, they also talked about starting it lower so it could be accessed from Bullwinkle’s.
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Bubble lifts for Loon (Kancamagus), Sunday River (Barker) and Sugarloaf (SuperQuad) would make Boyne King of New England!
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I’m actually pretty happy about the D Lift “upgrade”, when I rode it this past ski season, the chairs were in very rough shape. Considering the low traffic that it receives I’m fine with the double conversion.
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I have a feeling either B or F (or both) will get an upgrade soon, leaving D as solely a race lift and a backup to B and the Flyer. And D needed new chairs for a long time. It has been a safety concern for years now, after a fatality in 2015. I’m glad the chairs are getting replaced now.
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I agree that F should receive an upgrade, but B is fine the way it is. A fixed grip quad is fine for the terrain it serves. I foresee F getting upgraded to an LPA fixed grip quad.
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Seems like a T-bar or rope tow could be done to put people where the top of the Cyclone lift was at a fraction of the cost. Run it up “farm springs” or “cyclone alley”. https://skimap.org/data/549/1923/1447610278.jpg
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Chairs from the old Pallavacinni lift will likely sell for top dollar since it is such a legendary lift. It seems the most wise replacement for the Hogan would be a carpet of some sort since the lift is so short and not heavily used. I am still hoping they might relocate Lenawee to replace Pallavacinni and install a detachable 6 pack in Lenawee line…
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I believe Al said on his blog that it would be a brand new double with safety bars so that they would not increase capacity for that area but I always thought Len’s triple would be a good replacement for Pall w/HSQ for the Len’s line.
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Exciting news about Arapahoe Basin. And a little sad too.
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This year’s Brian Head trail map looks exactly like last year’s, even down to identifying Navajo as a triple! I assume someone at the resort just made a mistake in file names, and hopefully we’ll get to see the new map soon!
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