- Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta will build a second SkyDream gondola system, this time at Vidanta Riviera Maya.
- Sundance auctions chairs from the former Arrowhead triple.
- The team at Craigleith, Ontario wins the inaugural Ski Area Management/Leitner-Poma Rise Up Challenge.
- Four Japanese resorts sign on to the Indy Pass.
- Arizona Snowbowl’s new gondola has been down for two weeks and the ski area moves its entire summer operation to a different base area and the Grand Canyon Express.
- Beaver Creek’s two new quads will be named McCoy Park Express and Reunion.
- The sale price for Blue Mountain, PA is revealed as $31.9 million.
- MND reports annual results with ropeway sales up 32 percent and a firm order backlog of €91.7 million.
- A group continues to push for a West Seattle gondola as a planned rail project gets delayed.
- Squaw Alpine and Leitner-Poma make great progress on the base to base gondola, though they aren’t publicly committing to a completion timeline.
- Citing staffing and fire danger, Mt. Shasta ends its summer season early.
- After missing a year, Searchmont plans to reopen this season with two new triple chairs.
- Manitoba’s Holiday Mountain announces it won’t open in 2021-22.
- Vail Resorts unveils a succession plan with CEO Rob Katz moving to an Executive Chairperson role and Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch becoming CEO November 1.
- Icy Strait Point and Norwegian Cruise Line cut the ribbon on the Transporter gondola with another 8 passenger system set to open later this summer.
- Jay Peak’s former President and CEO will plead guilty to a single charge of providing false statements and other charges are expected to be dropped.
- Keystone posts a big update on the Peru Express replacement project.
- Aspen Snowmass introduces a new brand and logo which is already on some gondola cabins.
- Snowbasin’s Middle Bowl replacement project gets off to the races.
Lift Blog 
I remember the hilariously massive backlash toward Schweitzer’s new green logo, as hundreds upon hundreds of negative comments flooded their social media posts for weeks on end.
To see a region of ski resorts as famous and full of legacy as the Aspen-Snowmass complex change their logo into this new wave of overly simplistic branding and art styles, I wonder how much backlash it will get by comparison.
Don’t get me wrong I think the new logo looks fine, but I have a feeling there will be some ruffled feathers!
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There always is. I personally like the old logo better but SkiCo has their reasons, I’m sure. I was happy when we went back to our old logo so I’m a bit biased.
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Wow MCP has had a rough go last year or 2 at flagship mountains. Agassiz went down with major repairs needed mid ski season before replacement, Purgatory Express has been plagued with problems since January ish and Snowbowl was recently closed with fire restrictions. One can see how it’s hard to make $$$$ running a ski resort unless you have very deep pockets to weather the financial storms that will happen from time to time….
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MCP does not seem to be hampered by budgetary constraints or having to show ROI. I would think that they would do what it takes to make Village Express and Arizona Gondola reliable or replace them with lifts that will be.
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Arizona Gondola is brand new, has even not been operating a full year. It should be extremely reliable. If it’s not that’s on Leitner-Poma. Wonder if MCP will seek compensation or switch to dopp for future lifts. Village express is 20 years old. You’d expect to see problems cropping up.
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Just to be fair, Even brand new Doppies have issues too. These lifts have gone from simple motor driven contraptions with a start/stop button, to advanced computer controlled goodies. Even brand new vehicles by the best manufacturers out there break down unexpectedly.
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According to their Facebook, the Arizona Gondola was struck by lightening several times which is why it has been out of commission. Wonder what got hit.
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If Arizona Gondola was damaged by a lightning strike, I wonder what the plan is for protecting it from future strikes. Do other ski areas have this problem with their top drive lifts?
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I wonder if Leitner-Poma will cover the damage to Arizona Gondola if it was due to a lightning strike. It seems to me that a top drive lift with that exposure would need to be well protected.
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Lightning strikes are an ‘Act of God’ and not usually covered by Manufacturer’s Warranty. Lifts have some safeties built in and some precautions that are recommended to be put in place when the installation is not operating to protect the electrical systems.
Think about it- a large steel object that sticks up in the air and is planted in the ground is the definition of a lightning rod! Typical constructional grounding is not adequate for lightning protection.
Many areas that operate summer lifts have active lightning detection devices and will cease operation and activate whatever protection procedures they have in place when lightning activity reaches a certain distance from the lift.
Doesn’t happen often, but when it does the aftermath can be devastating.
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Línea 2 del Cablebús has started service in Mexico City adding 8.5 KM of travel across 7 stations.
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Just curious did anyone get a middle bowl chair?
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It still allows you to purchase a chair. https://www.snowbasin.com/winter-2021-22-upgrades
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I put my name in the day they posted that link, but haven’t heard anything yet. Season pass holders get first dibs i guess.
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I’m a passholder at Basin and I’ve still haven’t heard anything.
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My dad has put in his name for a chair. we havent heard anything from snowbasin still. We have season passes which means priority.
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The Dutch Draw gate closing is probably for the best. I love slackcountry as much as anyone, but it makes it really easy to get in a lot of trouble. That area is deceptively slidy.
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Lightning-puma is my favorite gondola company; they’re so cute :).
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