- 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.
I’ve been curious what the alignment was going to be on Burns Express at Deer Valley, glad to finally see some renderings and maps. I figured that’s where the bottom terminal was going to be, but kind of surprised about the top terminal.
Why not just have it go to the top of Little Baldy peak where Mountaineer and the Gondola terminate? I realize it’s farther and would cost more, but when you’re already spending money on a detachable lift, is the cost for a few more towers and a longer haul rope that significant? Curious what others think about this one.
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It seems like they want a dedicated learning lift in the style of High Meadow at PCMR. So it seems like a deliberate choice that this lift starts above the base area and ends way below the mountaineer ‘summit’.
Maybe just a coincidence or maybe designed to reduce red tape: the proposed alignment ends precisely on the Summit/Wasatch County line (avoids Wasatch County).
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Well now- Interesting news regarding West End @ Powderhorn. Let the speculation begin.
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As a lifty there, the word on the street is they want one more season out of the old girl before it’s replaced. Sounds like it would be a skytrac.
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You guys have done an amazing job keeping her up and running. Not easy for a lift of that length!
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Been following the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola/ tram thing closely. I’m pretty sure at this point, there will be no tram/gondola. Way too much opposition.
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So basically, PCMR is getting screwed over because of the parking issue. Where I’m no expert, but the issue would still be there even if Vail Resorts didn’t own PCMR.
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So was Eagle going to be a Chondola?
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The original Powdr upgrade plan had a Chondola in the vicinity of Eagle going up to the Meadow. Vail argued the new Eagle was close enough to the planned Chondola to be considered the same project. That was one of the problems they ran into as the alignment is different.
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