A fault which stopped the San Diego Zoo Skyfari for two hours today was no accident, police say. A witness told the San Diego Union-Tribune four patrons were “swinging their gondola from side to side and knocked it off a rail or cable, forcing an automatic shutdown.” The San Diego Fire Department responded just after 2:00 pm but no evacuation was needed and approximately 100 passengers were safely offloaded under the lift’s own power. “Some patrons may need medical evaluation,” the department said in a 4:30 pm tweet. The San Diego Police Department later said it arrested four men, ages 20 to 24, on suspicion of felony vandalism.
SDFD crews at the Zoo assisting patrons who were stuck on the Skyfari ride for about an hour. Now unstuck & patrons safely exiting gondolas on their own. Some may need medical eval. SDFD crews remaining until all are on the ground. #sdzoopic.twitter.com/LdSudI7AOE
Vail Resorts Executive Chairperson Rob Katz joins the Storm Skiing Podcast to talk about remarkable growth of the company and this season’s challenges.
Gore Mountain unveils a $30 million redevelopment plan for the North Creek Ski Bowl including replacing the Hudson triple with a longer detachable quad.
A Colorado county passes on partnering with Florida developers to reopen Cuchara.
Authorities in South Korea say a rollback at the Bears Town ski resort involved approximately 100 people. The mountain’s base-to-summit detachable quad went backward at approximately 3:00 pm today and at least 20 chairs stacked together in the bottom terminal. Some riders jumped or fell from the lift while others were pinned in the station. At one point, video of the incident shows guests grabbing on to chairs in an attempt to stop the lift. Police say numerous skiers jumped or fell while firefighters rope evacuated others after the ropeway stopped. At least one child was taken to the hospital.
오늘 베어스타운 스키장에서 리프트 역주행 사고 발생했다고 하는데 모쪼록 다친 분들이 많지 않길 바랍니다. 헌데 저런 상황을 겪으면 설령 신체적인 부상은 없다고 해도 다들 얼마나 놀랐을지… pic.twitter.com/g6vyN40krK
Rollbacks of modern lifts are exceedingly rare and a detachable lift rollback is even more unusual. The quad where the incident occurred is called Challenge and appears to have been built by Poma some time around the early 1990s.
Bears Town opened in 1985 and is situated just 45 minutes from the South Korean capital of Seoul. “Our sincere apologies to the customers and their families who were affected by this accident,” the resort said in a statement. “Bears Town plans to immediately suspend all lift operations in the ski resort in addition to the lift that caused an accident, and to begin an immediate safety inspection,” the statement continued. “We will actively cooperate with the fire authorities and related agencies and take measures to prevent reoccurrence. Currently all employees in Bears Town are focused on rescue work and customer communication with the victims as a priority.”
Vail Resorts expects to save millions of kilowatt hours of electricity annually by installing heat controls on 40 Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek lifts.
A quad chairlift is rope evacuated by firefighters at Earl Bales Park, Ontario.
Timberline President Jeff Kohnstamm says a Government Camp gondola is still a number of years out but would include a mid-station, direct drive and 10 passenger cabins.
Holiday Valley Resort in Western New York plans to debut its first six place chairlift in 2023. The Doppelmayr detachable will be built over two years and replace the Mardi Gras Xpress, pictured above. The new flagship will transport up to 3,000 riders per hour, increasing the resort’s total uphill capacity to 25,650 people hourly.
🚨 Exciting News 🚨 We are looking towards the future and are now planning construction a 6 passenger chairlift starting in the summer of 2022, with completion of the lift in September 2023. More info will be released as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/yXON22N7FN
“The Holiday Valley lift system has been recognized by our guests as one of the best in the East,” said Holiday Valley President and General Manager Dennis Eshbaugh announcing the new lift. “The Yodeler Quad Express lift built in 2021 raised the bar. The Mardi Gras 6-pack will give skiers and snowboarders an exciting new experience, with quicker access to the top of the mountain.” The project will be completed in two stages, starting with foundations for 11 new lift towers in summer 2022. The balance of construction will be completed in 2023.
The one-of-a-kind gondola at a California winery will not run again, Sterling Vineyards has announced. The 1972 Hall installation, which travels in a triangle alignment, was closed in 2020 due to Covid and subsequently damaged by a wildfire. In its place, Sterling and Doppelmayr USA will partner to construct a detachable eight place gondola running in a similar historic alignment. “Over the past twelve months, our team has been working diligently to safely assess and stabilize the property and fully scope this major project,” the company wrote. “We are excited to share that we are now moving into reconstructing the winery in preparation of a re-opening in Spring 2023.”
“After careful assessment, it was determined that our beloved and historic Aerial Tram must be replaced,” the statement continued. “The Aerial Tram has been, and will continue to be, central to our visitor experience, as well as an iconic feature of the winery. We anticipate a full year of hard work ahead of us, to bring this special property back to you safely and beautifully.”
The new lift will be as modern as the old one was quaint, becoming the first D-Line lift in California and featuring Omega V cabins from CWA. The one way journey will remain similar with three stations and drive/tensioning systems located at the valley station. There will of course still be a glass of wine waiting for each rider at the first angle station. “We welcome you to join us behind the scenes as we give you sneak peeks through photos and videos of the site during construction and watch Sterling Vineyards literally rise from the ashes, regaining its historic splendor, and bouncing back to once again be one of the most visited sites in the Napa Valley.”
Despite the headlines, Vail Resorts’ skier visits are actually down from the last two seasons as of January 2nd. Ski school, dining and retail/rental revenue are all up from last year but still down significantly from pre-Covid 2019-20.
Popular Wisconsin destination Cascade Mountain will replace its Mogul Monster triple this summer with a brand new Leitner-Poma quad. The outgoing lift is a 1987 Borvig utilizing towers from the mountain’s original chairlift first opened 60 years ago today.
“This offseason, we’ll be replacing our current Mogul Monster triple passenger lift with a brand-new fixed grip quadruple passenger chairlift,” Cascade Mountain said in an anniversary announcement. “Looking a lot like our B-Dub lift, this quad will help us improve our uphill capacity and clear up a little more congestion in the base area compared to the current Mogul Monster Lift. We’d like to thank both our customer base and staff for your continued support over the last 60 years and to the next 60+ to come!”
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