- Wolf Creek opens tomorrow, Arapahoe Basin Sunday.
- Carrabassett Valley Academy looks to build a T-Bar at Sugarloaf next summer for race training.
- Powdr plans to operate Fast Tracks express lanes at 31 Copper Mountain, Killington, Mt. Bachelor and Snowbird lifts.
- Bogus Basin eyes an expansion to meet rising demand.
- A map shows Sunday River’s Merrill Hill may eventually include a second lift.
- Lots of new trail maps are out: Big White, Crested Butte, Devil’s Head, Keystone, Snow King front and back.
- Under construction Wasatch Peaks Ranch faces a legal challenge.
- The latest Mayflower schedule has the first lift in 2023 with more to follow in ’24.
- Bromley spends over a million dollars upgrading the Sun Mountain Express.
- After four months of work, the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram is back in action.
- Whitefish Mountain Resort previews next summer’s big six pack project.
- A sobering fire update from Sierra at Tahoe acknowledges big challenges and uncertainty surrounding this season.
- Massanutten will build its first detachable quad in 2023, replacing Lift 6.
- The Chamonix Grand Montets cable car, destroyed by fire in 2018, will be replaced with a €110 million 3S gondola featuring stations designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
- MMG Equity Partners takes full ownership of Tamarack Resort, buying out two other shareholders.
- Incoming Vail Resorts CEO Kirsten Lynch says lift capacity and speed are key to managing crowding.
Lift Blog 
How about some pics of the new base to base in squaw?
Steve
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The Palisades Tahoe webcams paint an accurate picture. Rumor has it that last minute design changes led to permit issues. Towers have been placed along the line. The Red Dog bottom terminal did not get moved uphill to accommodate the Squaw bottom terminal. Rumors of a new Red Dog lift for 22/23. The base of Alpine Meadows is currently a mess / active construction project. The wall at the southern border may get completed before this worthless albatross.
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Fast Track is turning skiing into an even more elitist sports having a “pay extra so I can cut the line: ticket is just wrong. The only way Powder Corp will get the message is if Joe and Jane Average Skier take them to task and hit them in the pocketbook as it is clear, that is their only concern.
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I agree. This isn’t like first class air travel where all the passengers take off and land at the same time and where most air travelers feel it’s just a silly indulgence. Fast track holders will be cutting the line in full view of everyone else. I can see the potential for on-hill harassment and hazing. Bad idea.
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The one thing everyone here is missing on this FAST TRACK issue, is that it is like first class on the airplanes, and if you think standing in line waiting for 30 mins is fine then enjoy it. My self I enjoyed FAST TRACKS when it was at PARK CITY, and loved every minute of it. And anyone in the other lines NEVER EVER SAID ONE WORD IN THE LINES TO THE FAST TRACK PEOPLE. If you can afford it enjoy it, if you can’t figure out how to do it and then enjoy the fruits of your labors!!!! I paid a ski pass for skiing on the mountain, NOT TO STAND IN LINE!!!!!
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I could afford it. I just don’t want to look like a douche when I’m skiing
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stop worrying about your appearance and just get out and ski. If you don’t want to pay for the extra privileges then don’t. You can wait in line with everyone else. These resorts are in business to make money and they will continue to do so as long as the demand is there.
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The issue with this is that it’s making an already tough to afford sport even worse for the average American. Now the lines will get even worse because they’ll be letting fast tracks skiers go before anyone in line. If I already have to pay $150 for six hours of skiing, I should at least get an equal shot as everyone else for it.
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I disliked the ‘BeeLine or Premier’ passes when they were introduced at Copper years ago.
Now it’s a non-issue. Very lightly used. With their past design, they allow by-passing only part of the line.
Most regular lift lines to reach the terrain desired by experienced skier/riders don’t/didn’t have special access lanes. Who knows if it will change.
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Where is the proposed Bogus Basin expansion located? I can’t find any maps for it.
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I asked them for more information and will update if I hear back.
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The video give some description, be sure to watch if you didn’t already. Not sure if they still have it, but at one point they had a 3d mockup of a bunch of possible expansions in the base lodge.
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It looks like it will be off the back side of Deer Point with 1 green, 5 blues, 2 blacks and a bunch of tree skiing. No word on what type of lift though but I assume it will be a detach quad.
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By Uncle Brad’s gestures, it’s not off the backside of 1 into upper Dry Creek, but off skiers’ right of 4, into upper Clear Creek, basically between 4 and 6. Good intermediate terrain, which Bogus will definitely benefit from. There’s also some good steep northerly terrain below the Ridge Road, which in typical Boise Front fashion is a little short. Here’s hoping they are further along in the process. The Boise NF seems to be a little slow, given the pace of dirt trail building on NSF land vs private land.
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*NFS land.
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Also, yes, they did still have the dream board upstairs in the lower lodge in March of ‘020. It was closed last winter to give employees a way out of the Idaho Covid Party, so that’s my most current infos.
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Vail’s new CEO stating that the best way to move more people is through more and/or upgraded lifts while Powdr says the best way to move more people is to charge a premium for line skipping. Vastly different approaches.
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As for Fast Tracks in itself: I do not actually think it is a bad idea or concept if done correctly. Many mountains, including Copper, already have similar programs, and there are relatively few complaints. The reason is that quantities are extremely limited. Lines for the priority lanes are really small and typically nonexistent, which keeps those customers happy, and their overall numbers are so small and negligible that <2 groups total are put ahead of normal customers while they are waiting, which keeps everyone else happy. My only concern is that the prices are low enough and advertising is large enough where the number of passes sold is too high. This could be a result of Powdr's PR department completely botching the announcement, but it could also be a sign of the program itself being a disaster waiting to happen. We shall see.
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If they limited it to 100 passes a day that may be a good amount.
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Copper has had the Beeline/fastlane type pass since 1998, the passes had proved to be more a tool to sell lodging than a stand alone product as most are sold bundled in vacation packages. Working lifts it was not uncommon to see a line for the Beeline and an empty maze during slower periods, go figure. I also remember it not being an envious job policing the cut line during busy days, so all in all I was never a fan, it just made more work and possible negative guest interactions. Optics are a thing and this looks more like a money grab vs a solution to crowding I’d say their marketing kinda miffed it.
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We have a similar product offered at Palisades Tahoe but for a vastly different price. They advertise to take a private guide to skip lines on powder days. You pay the same price as a private lesson, get a TNF jacket, and get to skip lift lines. The price keeps the numbers of people doing it down and most people in lift lines are understanding of what’s happening. It blew my mind when I heard about it, but after seeing my first 200yard long KT22 line I understood why.
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I’m definitely more a fan of the CWA cabin offerings than the Sigma ones. To me the diamond cabins just look kind of ugly. Anyone else feel the same way?
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Agreed,
It is going to be unfortunate when Aspen Mountain installs the lift 1A replacement because it will definitely have Sigma Cabins instead of the CWA cabins the rest of the Aspen/Snowmass gondolas have (since they were installed before Leitner-Poma started using Sigma Cabins).
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Slightly confused why A-Basin is waiting till Sunday to open. Looking at the webcam, it looks like High Noon is groomed and ready to go as I am typing this.
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There could be thin spots, there may have been a delay in getting the licence for BMX, any number of things.
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What does a license for BMX mean?
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Most races require race licenses, and BMX is no different. Here in the states it’s either USAC or a state cycling org, like OBRA in Oregon.
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I’m not talking about a race. BMX is Black Mountain Express, and it too needs a licence to operate, granted by the state tram board if it passes inspection. Because of filing delays and paperwork snafus, I’ve definitely taped the licence to the window of a lift shack at 0800 on the day the lift is supposed to operate.
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They could be trolling Keystone by giving Wolf Creek the day, too. I don’t know anyone in charge down there, so I like making up stories. This is my hope.
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Instead of the fast tracks, couldn’t they just put in higher capacity lift or parallel reliever lifts? these big resort chains clearly have the money just based on how much they charge, and this seems like a much better way to tackle the issue without angering 98% of their customer base
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Addtional lifts would just mean everybody pays extra instead if just those who wish to. This “feature” Powdr is offering isn’t due to overcrowding, it’s likely to gin up some cash by providing a “premium experience”. In the abstract, this policy offends me, but as people keep pointing out, it is minimally intrusive. Lastly, all four ski resorts have competition, and we are all free to patronise those folks instead.
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I can’t speak for the other three areas, but here at Copper we already did install higher-capacity lifts. They work well. As my bro Joe states, it’s a way to provide a ‘premium’ experience while not becoming a premium ski area as a whole, like Deer Valley or such. And (again, speaking only for my place) there has been some version of this here for over twenty years and it hasn’t made the regular skiers’ experience any worse. It’s not a zero-sum game.
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And they definitely reinforced the premium idea by making the American Flyer a bubble lift and the American Eagle a chondola.
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