- Both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma submit preliminary proposals to connect concourses at Denver International Airport by gondola or cable-propelled train.
- Attitash rope evacuates the brand new Progression quad.
- Thrill Hills, North Dakota opens for skiing for the first time in 10 years.
- Forest Service documents show a slightly modified alignment for Breckenridge’s 5-Chair replacement.
- Property acquisition begins for the proposed Cascade Skyline Gondola.
- A county government purchase of Cannonsburg, Michigan goes on hold for now.
- North Dakota’s Bottineau Winter Park will replace its Hall T-Bar with a Doppelmayr one this summer.
- Nearing a month since a gondola incident, Mont-Sainte-Anne remains closed indefinitely.
- Bartholet will build the first major urban gondola in India with five stations and 150 cabins.
- The Durango Herald profiles Wolf Creek’s fierce independence and expansion despite not participating in any multi-mountain passes.
- Chairs go on Red Dog at Palisades Tahoe in advance of a planned mid-January opening.
Lift Blog 
Had a killer day at Jackson Wednesday, and was keeping my eye out for you!
Thanks for running the blog— I really enjoy it!
Sam
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Is the 5-Chair midstation going to be an actual terminal, or is it going to be a setup much more like Payday or Screaming Eagle?
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It will most likely be an actual mid-station to service the alpine slide. The current 5-Chair actually has a mid station for the same purpose.
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https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/file/1107740997810
The above document describes the midstation as a “Payday style mid-station”. In other words, something like this:
The lift will also be moved slightly south, meaning instead of running directly over the slides, it will be running up the skiers’ left side of Park Lane, with the slide midstation being now closer to Slide C than to Slides A and B.
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So in the summer they’ll just run it at fixed-grip speed. Thanks
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Curious as to what happens to the now closed Pando ski area that Cannonsburg bought back in 2015 and has closed since. Interesting that the reason Cannonsburg bought the historic ski area was…”the owners had heard that Pando was for sale and they did not want the area to be added to a growing list of closed ski areas in Michigan.” Anyone have any current info on what happened to the Pando area?
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I can’t get over the continuing failures at Mont-Sainte Anne and RCR. Are they allowing passholders to ski at Stoneham or any of the other RCR resorts?
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Great article/interview about Davey and Wolf Creek. Many of us in the industry think he’s doing it right. It would be sweet if he’d join the Real Deal (a free employee exchange amongst the bulk of Colorado’s ski areas, minus VR’s five resorts) but I’ll buy tickets from him nonetheless.
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The new Red Dog crosses over Far East, whereas the old Red Dog crossed under Far East.
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Why is Palisades basically a lift-spaghetti? So many crossings.
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It stems from many owners/GMs/stakeholders having different visions for the mountain over the years, with many of them never being fully executed. Even California had at least partial ownership for a period of time IIRC. The same can be seen at other mountains like Killington, although the signs are slowly going away as Powdr continues to build the resort as they see fit.
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Interesting. Thanks for the insight! As someone who’s never been, it’s hard to visualise the flow. I’ve only skied at three joints (Monarch, Baker and Loveland) that have any crosses at all, and they are all simpler layouts.
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What’s the status of the the new Deer Valley Detachable ??
If it is not tested yet, why??
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Well, a common theory is that a lift can’t be tested until it’s built. I have no evidence to support that theory, but I hear that’s the word on the street.
In all seriousness, it’s most likely missing some electronics or other component due to supply chain issues. Also, they got a pretty late start on construction and it’s not a huge priority, so if they’re missing a large part or multiple parts, they might not be digging out the snow to continue construction until this coming summer.
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FYI, Shangrei- I don’t know Kirk personally but from our interactions here I think he has probably run more load tests than you can imagine. I’m sure he’s aware of how they operate.
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Well that’s embarrassing. Thanks though
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no one’s perfect.
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I just transited Denver from the B Concourse to the Terminal today. DEN officials need to be working on a much faster timeline than the currently are to improve passenger flow. It’s over capacity now, without breakdowns, and before more new gates open.
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