Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Month: June 2022
News Roundup: Funding Secured
- Les Otten remains “cautiously optimistic” The Balsams redevelopment will break ground this year.
- Big Snow looks to expand chairlift-served indoor skiing to more locations.
- Mountain Creek inches closer to replacing the Vernon Triple with a six or eight place detachable.
- With visitation up, Powderhorn would like to swap out the West End double in the “near future.”
- Indy Pass reaches 100 resorts with the additions of BigRock Mountain, Marquette Mountain, Mount Kato, Nub’s Nob and Treetops Resort.
- Arizona Snowbowl’s new master plan goes on hold while the Forest Service works to reach an agreement with indigenous groups.
- Amusement conglomerate Herschend Family Entertainment elects to stop operating the Stone Mountain tramway six years before its contract expires, citing “protests and division” at the Confederate monument. The sole bidder for a new operating contract with the State of Georgia will take over in August.
- A draft action letter outlines why the local planning commission prevented lift projects from moving forward at Park City Mountain.
- The same commission approves construction of Deer Valley’s Burns Express, which will be the nation’s shortest detachable at 999 feet.
- Alta, Sandy and Salt Lake County mayors rally against a Little Cottonwood Gondola.
- Panorama delays summer lift operations at least a week due to a gearbox issue on the Mile 1 Express.
- Steamboat shows off Greenhorn Ranch and gondola mid-station construction progress.
- Whitefish starts a blog dedicated to Snow Ghost Express construction updates.
- The Palm Springs Tramway closes for multiple days due to technical problems.
Instagram Tuesday: New Cabins
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Uniting Legends
- Palisades Tahoe posts more details on its Gondola and Red Dog projects. The gondola will include 96 cabins and a name will be released later this summer.
- The Telluride-Mountain Village gondola is likely to be replaced with a brand new system.
- Steamboat’s newest high speed quad will be called Greenhorn Ranch Express.
- Stowe to sell chairs from the Mountain Triple today; its replacement will be called Sunrise.
- Mount Snow is also selling chairs now from Sunbrook and Tumbleweed.
- Northstar too.
- Keystone’s new six pack will be called Bergman Express.
- Utah smashes its all time skier day record with 5.8 million visits.
- New Hampshire skier visits drop 3 percent.
- Looking for a rewarding job in the mountains? Leitner-Poma is still hiring installation team members to build lifts across North America.
- For the first time in years, the Blackcomb Glacier is open for summer skiing.
- Arizona Snowbowl temporarily closes due to regional wildfires.
- Toggenburg goes back on the market with a list price of $2.9 million.
- Sterling Vineyards releases renderings of its new gondola cabins.
- The family of a woman killed when a chairlift malfunctioned reaches a confidential settlement with Granby Ranch.
Park City Lift Projects Blocked
The Park City Planning Commission voted 3-1 tonight to grant an appeal of two approved lift projects at Park City Mountain. First announced in September 2021, the new Eagle six pack would have featured a mid-unloading station and a new Silverlode lift would have become the first eight place lift constructed by Vail Resorts. Both detachables were set to be built by Doppelmayr and Silverlode was slated to be a D-Line model. The projects were part of the Epic Lift Upgrade, a 21 lift modernization initiative across Vail Resorts.
The appeal focused on a decades-old agreement with a cap on Comfortable Carrying Capacity between Park City Mountain Resort and previous owner Powdr. At issue was the degree to which new lifts create new demand for skiing. Vail argued the projects were simple lift replacements and would pull skiers off of the current 3 Kings lift in addition to three removed lifts. Appellants said the projects would induce new demand for parking and cause traffic. Normally chairlift replacement projects do not make it to the Planning Commission and are approved by city staff. The appeal was brought by four citizens, triggering elected officials’ involvement.
New Park City Mountain Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh blasted the move in a late night statement. “Those opposed to these important enhancements to the guest experience have created a false narrative that the replacement of aged infrastructure with modernized lifts will draw crowds,” she said. “Chairlift tourism does not exist – skiers and riders just want to spend more time on Park City Mountain’s vast terrain and less time in line. Investment in infrastructure is a critical part of the guest experience at Park City Mountain – and we are deeply disappointed that the City is now blocking that investment at the last minute.”
Luckily the lack of approval and threat of appeal kept Doppelmayr and Park City from removing the outgoing Eagle and Silverlode lifts, which will remain in service. Only preliminary construction work had taken place including fabrication of foundation elements in Park City’s parking lot. Both lifts were ordered many months ago and well into production, leading to questions about the future of the euipment. “We are considering our options and next steps based on today’s disappointing decision,” Park City said, adding that new lifts at Park City would not move forward until at least 2023.
Instagram Tuesday: Preview
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Time Lapse
- Quebec skier visits rise to 6.3 million, second highest in the last 10 years.
- Colorado posts its best season on record with approximately 14 million skier visits.
- Skier visits were higher than the two previous seasons in Vermont.
- Former Jay Peak head Bill Stenger sits down for an interview to share his side of the story before reporting to prison.
- Granite Gorge sells at auction to local investors who plan to reopen.
- Montana Snowbowl’s new triple chair will be extremely steep (6th steepest chairlift in the country by my count.)
- Aspen Mountain begins Pandora’s construction.
- Le Massif joins the Mountain Collective Pass.
- Lost Trail signs on to the Powder Alliance.
- The landlord for Big Snow American Dream remains in deep financial trouble.
- Park City planning commissioners delay deciding on the Silverlode and Eagle lift replacement projects until at least June 15th, leaving a very narrow window for construction if approved.
- The Cascade Skyline Gondola proposal enjoys wide community support compared to a competing ski resort concept.
- Developers of the Big Moose Mountain project present their case to the Maine Land Use Planning Commission.
- Big White will replace 16 cabins on Lara’s Gondola this summer.
- Dodge Ridge and Mountain High owner Karl Kapuscinski would like to add new high speed lifts at both resorts in the next few years.
- The State of West Virginia plans two eight passenger gondolas to replace older systems at Hawks Nest and Pipestem state parks.
Vail Resorts to Build New Lifts at Attitash, Breckenridge & Stevens Pass in 2023
Vail Resorts today released quarterly financial results and previewed three signature lift installations for 2023 construction season. The newly-announced projects will follow the record 21 new lifts currently under construction as part of the 2022 Epic Lift Upgrade.
Season pass sales are trending up for the 2022-23 season, increasing approximately 9 percent in units and 11 percent in sales dollars from the year prior as of May 31st. This past season, approximately 72 percent of all Vail Resorts 2021/2022 North American skier visitation was on a pass product. The company noted visitation on weekday and non-holiday periods increased approximately 8 percent last season while visitation on weekend and holiday periods decreased 3 percent, excluding Peak Resorts visitation in both periods. “We believe this trend is driven by the growth in pass sales as pass holders tend to spread their visitation more across the season, and, with the increase in flexible and remote work, we expect this trend to continue,” the company said. Vail is continuing to build new lifts across its portfolio in an effort to increase capacity and improve the ski experience.
Attitash skiers will be thrilled to learn the Summit triple is slated for replacement in 2023. A detachable quad will increase uphill capacity and reduce ride time on the longest lift at the resort. Attitash is also getting a fixed grip quad this summer to replace the mountain’s Borvig double doubles. When both projects are complete, five of Attitash’s seven chairlifts will be quads.
At Breckenridge, 5-Chair will be replaced by a detachable quad in 2023. Redevelopment of the Peak 8 base area will include new teaching terrain and a transport carpet to make the beginner experience more accessible. The new 5-Chair combined with a new Rip’s Ride being constructed this summer will mean all five lifts at the Peak 8 base will be detachable.
Finally at Stevens Pass, a fixed grip quad will replace Kehr’s chair, a Riblet dating back to 1964. This is the third new chairlift for Vail Resorts at Stevens and will improve out-of-base capacity.
Vail is investing approximately $320 million across its resorts this season for improvements. “Vail Resorts will have invested over $2 billion in capital since launching the Epic Pass, increasing capacity, improving the guest experience and creating an integrated resort network,” the company noted. Additional calendar year 2023 investments and upgrades will be announced in the coming quarters.
Instagram Tuesday: Prep
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Town Halls
- On an all-star podcast with Katharina Schmitz and Mark Bee, Stephen Kircher discusses more new lifts coming to Boyne Resorts and the two companies’ shared history.
- Leitner-Poma forecasts another busy year of building lifts in Grand Junction despite high material and shipping costs.
- 2022 will be the busiest year ever for Doppelmayr USA with 25 installations including 6 D-Line detachables.
- Mt. Rose launches a page dedicated to Lakeview Express updates.
- A €100 million 2S gondola project in France is cancelled due to rising costs.
- The Matterhorn Alpine Crossing 3S will open one year from now.
- Canadian and Quebec governments will spend CA$400,000 to modernize the world’s first six passenger chairlift.
- At a Palisades Tahoe town hall, leaders discuss on this summer’s $60 million capital infusion and Alterra’s plan to spend $150 million over the next 2-4 years.
- Solitude commits to replacing Eagle Express in 2023; will look at upgrading Link and adding a Moonbeam-Roundhouse-Powderhorn gondola after that.
- Following last weekend’s mishap, Doppelmayr and Snowbird now plan to reopen the tram in mid-July with one new cabin and one old cabin on the line but not carrying passengers.
- Big Sky and Garaventa break ground on America’s first new large tramway since 2008.
- As real estate sales begin, more detailed maps emerge from Mayflower Mountain Resort.
- Michigan considers returning a second chairlift to Porcupine Mountains State Park.
- The appeal pausing Park City’s lift projects will be heard next week.
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