Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Month: December 2022
Cabin Falls from Mont-Sainte-Anne Gondola
For the third time in three years the gondola L’Étoile Filante at Mont-Sainte-Anne is shuttered due to an incident. This time no one was injured when an empty down bound cabin detached and fell from the haul rope before the mountain opened for the day. A tower safety system stopped the lift automatically and workers arrived to find the cabin on the ground. The mountain has been closed for at least the weekend while the incident is investigated.
“We continue to verify the entire lift and secure the site, read a statement from the resort. “A full inspection procedure was initiated to verify and validate the causes of the event. The teams of the lift manufacturer as well as the competent authorities were called upon to assist our teams in the inspection of the gondola.”
Mont-Sainte-Anne owner Resorts of the Canadian Rockies noted what happened today is not related to a February 2020 incident which sent a dozen people to the hospital or a March 2020 one which injured another person. The gondola was closed for a year after those accidents and underwent $1.5 million in upgrades before reopening in March 2021. Still, the Doppelmayr-built system is 33 years old and RCR has received criticism for lack of investment across its six ski areas. Mont-Sainte-Anne’s lift fleet averages 35 years old with three detachables dating back to the 1980s. Earlier this year, the well-capitalized Groupe Le Massif offered to buy Resorts of the Canadian Rockies’ two eastern resorts, an offer which RCR declined.
For now Mont-Sainte-Anne passholders can ski at nearby sister resort Stoneham. Mont-Sainte-Anne plans to shift snowmaking efforts to the south side of the mountain not serviced by the gondola and will update guests when it can reopen.
News Roundup: California Republic
- The owners of Mountain High and Dodge Ridge purchase China Peak.
- Vail Resorts reports 2.3 million pass products sold, though full Epic and Epic Local sales are down 12 percent.
- From the classifieds: a Poma gondola for sale in Australia and a Poma six pack for sale in Ontario.
- Kelly Canyon renames all its chairlifts.
- An updated trail map shows where Bittersweet’s new chairlifts run.
- Mt. La Crosse changes hands.
- Carriers are on both Big Red and Creekside at Whistler Blackcomb.
- A Park City reporter discovers more than 20 percent of the Red Pine Gondola‘s cabins are out of service.
- Attitash asks for votes on four name options for next year’s high speed quad.
- Storms slow progress on Red Dog at Palisades Tahoe and Far East Express can’t open until the new lift is complete.
- KT-22 is currently operating as a triple chair.
- European multi-resort operator Compagnie des Alpes signs a four year lift deal with Poma worth €200 million at list prices.
- MND’s first chairlift in the USA goes live tomorrow morning.
- The nonprofit which runs Big Squaw signs a new five year contract.
- Deer Valley will host open houses this week regarding future plans.
- Thanks to Dave Amirault for these progress photos of Burns Express at Deer Valley.
Instagram Tuesday: Stacked
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Winter Park Announces Pioneer Six Pack for 2023
It’s official: this winter will be the last for Pioneer Express at Winter Park, tied for oldest high speed quad in the nation. The mountain’s fourth six place chairlift will debut on Vasquez Ridge next winter, increasing capacity from 1,900 skiers per hour to 2,800. A new mid load station at the intersection of Pioneer Express Trail and Big Valley will eliminate the need for many guests to ski all the way to the bottom terminal along a flat run out. The mid-station will sit near the current tower 7 with no angle change. With the retirement of Pioneer, Coney Glade at Snowmass and Sunshine Express at Telluride will remain tied for oldest detachable quad in America at 37 years.
The Forest Service already approved Pioneer’s replacement, the seventh lift project announced by Alterra Mountain Company for next year. Others are at Mammoth Mountain, Snowshoe, Solitude and Steamboat. A manufacturer for the Winter Park project was not announced, though the mountain operates a large fleet of Leitner-Poma detachable lifts.
Mount Bohemia to Replace Frontside Lift
Skytrac will build the first truly new lift at Mount Bohemia over the next three years, replacing a used Riblet triple built in 2000. Bohemia announced a new drive terminal will be installed next summer, a top return terminal in 2024 and new towers and triple chairs will follow in 2025. The phased lift replacement will spread the capital cost of the project out over multiple seasons and bring Bohemia into the era of modern lifts.
“These build outs have been done by Skytrac all over the country,” said Mount Bohemia, using the above example of a Skytrac Monarch drive terminal retrofitted on a 1961 Riblet double at Mt. Spokane, Washington. “In a very short time Bohemia will have a completely brand new triple chairlift that will increase uphill capacity by roughly 50 percent. It will reduce our maintenance season on the new lift to four weeks allowing us to run the new chairlift for scenic lift rides all summer and fall.”
Park City to Replace Red Pine Gondola Cabins
Despite the recent postponement of two major lift projects, Vail Resorts will press ahead with another major upgrade at Park City next summer. Leitner-Poma of America has been contracted to supply all-new cabins for the Red Pine Gondola, the out-of-base workhorse in Canyons Village. The eight passenger lift dates back to 1997 and currently features 58 CWA Omega cabins with two spares. All 60 cars will be swapped for 55 Sigma Diamond C8S155 cabins manufactured in France. The project is similar to the 2018 upgrade of Killington’s K-1 Gondola, a sister ship to Red Pine built by Poma the same year for American Skiing Company.
“Some incremental re-engineering of towers and terminal rails will be completed to support the change,” said a Park City representative by email. The mountain’s other major lift project, replacement of Silverlode and Eagle, remains in legal limbo and will proceed if and when it gains approval. In the meantime, Vail Resorts and Doppelmayr are working to install equipment originally ordered for Park City at Whistler Blackcomb. In addition to the Whistler and Red Pine projects, Vail Resorts also plans to install new lifts at Attitash, Breckenridge, Keystone and Stevens Pass next year.
News Roundup: Back in Action
- Mt. Shasta unveils a new map showing the expansion onto Gray Butte.
- HTI Group celebrates 80 new ropeways installed this winter across its Leitner, Poma, Bartholet and Skytrac brands.
- Completion of the Lenawee Express at Arapahoe Basin is now expected in mid-December.
- Indy Pass adds Peek’n Peak, New York and Tussey Mountain, Pennsylvania.
- Doppelmayr shares energy saving operational tips with customers in Europe.
- Waterville Valley and MND postpone the load test of Tecumseh Express by a week due to delayed electrical components.
- Loon Mountain expects to open the delayed Seven Brothers some time in December.
- Sunday River plans a December 17th grand opening for Jordan 8.
- The operator of the Goldbelt Tram may invest $10 million in Eaglecrest’s pulse gondola project.
- Sterling Vineyards previews the first Omega V cabins coming to California.
- Kimberley spins the Northstar Express for the first time in nearly a year, hopes to open by the third week in December.
- The Village of Taos Ski Valley declines to sell a parcel needed for a base to base gondola, wants an easement instead.
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