Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Instagram Tuesday: Still Building
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Lift Blog 
Just two ski resorts left operating in North America as of March 24th: 49 Degrees North in Washington, and Teton Pass in Montana. Everyone else is shuttered, and I’m not sure how much longer these two will last.
https://www.onthesnow.ca/north-america/open-resorts.html
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49 Degrees North is now closed by order of the Governor. Lookout Pass says it will be open tomorrow. Teton Pass Friday.
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Teton Pass Ski Resort in Montana just pulled the plug…https://www.tetonpassresort.com/
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And then there was one…
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I think Lonesome Pine in Maine still intends to run as usual (Wednesday nights, Friday nights, and weekends).
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I’m surprised the Yellowstone Club closed down due to the outbreak. Once apparent in the United States, they could have easily closed access to its members and quarantined anyone who might have been a risk. However, then again, it’s employees don’t live on-site.
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Yeah, but it would have been safe only until the first flight of NYers fleeing the city arrived.
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Speaking of construction . . . what are you hearing about North American lift construction this year? On the one hand, it can start early because of the early closures. On the other hand, how much construction (and off-site fabrication) can be done?
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I think it will be delayed because the manufacturing plants have been closed down in Austria and Switzerland.
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*cough cough* Kanc 8
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I think a bigger question is whether resorts that have ordered lifts (or were about to) are in financial positions to continue making payments and complete such large capital projects. It’s not like old lifts that were being replaced are gone already and they have no choice but to continue. There are probably difficult conversations going on behind the scenes about what can be deferred. I’ve seen enough already to assume new lifts will probably be way down from the last few years. I hope I’m wrong but the timing is just horrible for the lift manufacturers.
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Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens, both due to manufacturing being shut down and all the resorts loss of income. Even the bigger players like Alterra at Mammoth, if there are only enough lift parts already manufactured for one six pack but not two I could see them replacing Chair 16 this summer but leaving Chair 1 for next season.
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Rumor has it no new lifts for Mammoth,time will tell.
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I know Stratton has already started clearing snow from certain trails on the mountain in an effort to get ahead on mountain bike trail construction and snowmaking maintenance/improvements. Due to the Vermont governor’s new order, this all stopped today, but it does give a sense of how Alterra is pursuing its non-lift summer work.
I understand Vail postponing projects more than Alterra/Boyne. Vail is public and has strong market-based incentives to slow spending. Alterra/Boyne, being private, can absorb the lower revenue without having to risk a shareholder revolt, and I would not be surprised if any Alterra/Boyne cancellations are due to manufacturers have a lower output rather than less capital being allocated towards improvements.
While there is definitely a large dent across the board in margins due to the early cancellation, it definitely has a lower impact on the northeast mountains. They make a large share of their revenue during only a few peak days (Christmas through New Years, MLK weekend, President’s Day weekend), and their seasons typically dry up around the end of March. Plus, in a below-average winter like this one, the crowds disappear earlier. The biggest hit is that they spent a ton of money making snow that will now go unused. Western mountains can still make a lot of money through April.
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I wonder about cutting or glading trails like the new expansion at steamboat that is coming.
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This is more around the topic of lift maintenance rather than constructing new lifts, but I found this cool video that shows how chairs with their grips woven into the cable (such as Riblet lifts) are removed for maintenance:
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Link:https://www.facebook.com/BearValleyResort/videos/469722583612830/
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