- Sugarbush’s Slide Brook Express may remain closed for the entire season.
- More brand new trail maps pop up: Black Mountain, New Hampshire and Sunlight, Colorado.
- Camp 10 in Wisconsin rope evacuates its only chairlift.
- Approximately 170 people are roped down from the F quad at Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania.
- Another Elk Mountain lift is the subject of a viral video.
- Cedar Pass, California won’t open this season due to required haul rope replacement.
- Boyne Resorts considers changing Shawnee Peak’s name back to Pleasant Mountain.
- The four people arrested for damaging the San Diego Zoo Skyfari are United States Marines and have yet to be charged with any crimes.
- Fortress Mountain’s owners now aim for a December 2023 reopening.
- Lake Louise opens the Juniper expansion and high speed quad.
- MND Group reports half year results with revenue up 41 percent to €39.7 million and snowmaking/ropeway sales increasing 79 percent.
- Telluride seeks public input on the future of the gondola.
- Operations remain limited at three Vail-owned Ohio mountains while other regional areas report being 100 percent open.
- Two Park City media outlets cover residents’ frustration with Vail Resorts over closed lifts, crowding and traffic.
- The Sandia Peak Tramway is seeking a tram maintenance manager and aerial tram mechanic.
- Work begins on bike trails which could eventually be serviced by gondola in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
- Caberfae Peaks releases a rendering of where its new triple chair will go.
- Fourteen Doppelmayr lifts will support the Beijing Olympics including 9 at the brand new downhill venue.
- Stevens Pass aims to finally open all its lifts by the middle of February.
- A resident floats the idea of a gondola running from a ferry terminal to business district on Bowen Island, British Columbia.
- Citing crowding, Berkshire East institutes a reservation requirement for Indy Pass holders.
- Whaleback aims to have its chairlift back in action by Sunday.
Lift Blog 
What exactly is that viral video at Elk Mountain showing?
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That is most likely from an electrical issue that energized the haul rope. Grounded through the bullwheel and bearings. At least that is what it could be.
I have personally seen a tower sheave liner catch fire from the same issue.
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Lee Canyon ski area Las Vegas Nevada. 480 volt light on the top terminal went to ground. It arced between a gap it the bullwheel liner and haulrope. The arc parted the haulrope, chairs and cable hit the ground. It happened at night when they were closed. Bring surprise the next morning.
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Can someone explain what’s going on with that Elk video?
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Look again. It appears someone placed a firework or something inside the bullwheel’s rim.
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Who is the maker of the Black Mountain map? I have seen similar maps at other areas, but I have no idea where they’re from.
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Senan Gorman – North Pole Designs
https://northpoledesign.com/
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9 lifts for a venue that didn’t exist 2 years ago, and won’t exist 2 years from now. Crazy.
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Beijing’s got a metro population of 21 million and plenty of affluent residents who might not mind a 100% artificial snow experience. It sounds like the environmental impact of making snow in such a dry area is concerning … but if the leadership has the appetite to keep it going, it will probably do well as a domestic winter sports destination.
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I don’t think they plan to keep it around. They had to force a nearby village into a severe water shortage to blow all the snow for it unless they forcibly move the village and who knows the environmental impact then.
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The Times suggested it’s intended to be permanent:
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Going into a new Era at Sandia. George Boyden was up there forever and a legend in the industry. Got to ride on top of the Tram when I worked on the ski side on an invite a wonderful experience. Sad to see Sandia letting the ski side rot away. Seems like they only care about Ski Santa Fe and the Tram now. The ski area has plenty of snow now but they announced they won’t even attempt it this year. I worked there in a much different time where we had staff and it was run right. Now I think there’s one person there year round besides the owners. Wish they would sell to MCP. They would breath life back into it. Even with low snow years you could have one of the top mountain bike destinations in the USA with a 600k population at the bottom a million plus within 3 hours drive.
Good article on George: https://skytraclifts.com/george-boydens-52-year-career-of-lift-mechanics-at-sandia-peak-tramway/
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I have fond memories of Sandia growing up in Cedar Crest. It’s actually pretty ideal terrain for the average low-intermediate skier with long mellow runs. 20+ years ago it used to be pretty busy on weekends. Seems like they are rarely open more than 10 weeks a year now. They need top to bottom snowmaking there to make it work. I feel like they may be one of the first casualties of climate change. Only 35″ of snowfall reported this year.
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Vail certainly has their issues, particularly with staffing, but I do not blame the Park City traffic on them. Salt Lake County’s population has grown by ~15% for consecutive decades and Utah County’s population has almost doubled in the same time period. LCC has more cars, BCC has more cars, this is not a unique problem to Park City. It is really on the local and state governments to work together towards a transit solution, as it provides a much higher capacity while taking up less real estate. Utah has demonstrated a willingness to do this with FrontRunner and TRAX in SLC, and it is time they did something similar in Park City. A gondola solution would definitely be popular on this website, but even a simple light-rail running alongside UT-224 from Kimball Junction (where there are so many surface parking spots) to Park City would go a long way (this was formerly a rail line anyway).
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Such a light rail line would be about seven miles long.
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I would not even go south of Deer Valley Drive, as the street narrows and it would likely get very expensive.
Limit the number of spots in the Deer Valley Snow Park development in exchange for them putting a garage (or other additional parking) at Jordanelle to make skiers predominantly go around the town via US-189. This would result in Park City skiers parking at Kimball Junction, Deer Valley skiers parking at Jordanelle, and fewer cars overall in Park City.
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