- Alpine Ski Club, Ontario lists the Arrowhead Quad for sale with a replacement planned for 2024.
- Big Moose Mountain, Maine fundraises to revive trails abandoned since the summit double last ran in 2004.
- Snow Ridge, New York shares more photos of devastating tornado damage and fundraises for rebuilding. A volunteer cleanup day is scheduled for August 26th.
- Nonprofit Skiland, Alaska seeks donations to operate next season.
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay teases a reopening of its gondola that has been closed since Covid.
- A power outage strands hundreds of guests overnight at the Banff Gondola.
- Seven Oaks leaves the Indy Pass.
Lift Blog 
Wow! I’m glad to see that they’re making progress on the tram. I really hope the price is reasonable for it.
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Jig backs are the most expensive way to move people (per hour) second only to funicular’s. I’m sure the ROI shakes out without being heavily/exclusively dependent on ridership but I’d be surprised if there isn’t an increase in tram prices.
No doubt, it will look spectacular when finished, and the terrain it serves is incredible…
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The thing I’m worried about is them charging more because they think the average person rides it 1.8 times. It’s extremely dumb because two types of people ride the tram: People who ski down and people who go up for the view and come down. They are making an average not considering that. I think a good solution is to give the option to buy for the whole day as well as per ride.
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I’m not an expert, but isn’t it odd that the Banff gondola didn’t evacuate the guest with a backup generator? Using a helicopter to evacuate the guest seems very expensive and very delayed (12+ hours after power outage)
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From what I read they only have one backup system/evacuation drive. Per code, that can only be used to unload passengers from the lift. No new passengers can be loaded, even those stuck at the top of the mountain. This is why many modern lifts have two backup systems so that loading can continue on the standby drive. Generators are also common as a backup so the lift can continue running on its normal systems during a power outage. It sounds like the Banff Gondola has neither a standby drive nor a generator capable of keeping the lift going during the power outage for anything other than evacuation of the cabins.
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Anyone know anything about this? Posted Aug 3, 2023. Not familiar with this dealstream website but came across this posting searching the web for something else. https://dealstream.com/d/biz-sale/ski-resorts/jjk2t5
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Huh. There aren’t many ski areas that fit the bill. Eldora and Loveland are the only ski areas that close to Denver, and neither one is for sale (that I’m aware of). There is a new-ish private skiing development southwest of the metro area- you can see it from town- but I’m not sure that’s what the ad is referring to either.
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To me it sounds like Echo Mountain west if Evergreen. It once was a private area before current owner bought it awhile back.
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I think you’re right. I forget about that place; it was ‘lost’ for thirty-odd years, resurrected, sold to some person with grandiose dreams of a private racing hill, then sold back to a group of folks who reopened it to the public. I should go ski it sometime. It’s on the Real Deal so I should be able to scam a free ticket 😎
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I made a post on Echo’s Facebook page to confirm if the property was for sale or not and they deleted my post. I haven’t been able to find anything else about it being for sale though. I live 5 minutes from Echo and their current operations have been disappointing as far as getting snow made and terrain open so much so that we don’t buy passes anymore. I look forward to new ownership and management if it happens. For now, we shuttle on snowmobiles in our ‘yard’ to make turns when we have enough snow.
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Perhaps Echo Mountain…?
Also what’s this new private ski area that you are talking about?
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He’s probably talking about the trails cut on Black Mtn by Comfier. It’s private land and no trespassing unless invited by the owner. No chairs but he has a cat and sleds to get folks to the top when they’re boarding/skiing
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That was supposed to be Conifer.
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That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
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Is it maybe that Bluebird Backcountry operation? The picture shows people skinning up a hill rather than a lift or actual ski trails. I know that Bluebird went under a month ago (posted in the 7/14 News Roundup). Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an investor trying to get their $$ back by trying to sell the operation. Not sure if its private land or what.
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