Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Month: October 2023
News Roundup: The Notch
- Snow Ridge plans to spin all five lifts this season despite extensive tornado damage sustained in August.
- Mt. Holly postpones completion of the Lightning Express to next summer.
- Cockaigne, New York won’t open this season.
- Norway Mountain, Michigan begins maintenance on lifts in preparation for reopening next season.
- Whiteface’s new trail map shows the new Notch lift and angle station.
- Park City shares more details on the upcoming Sunrise Gondola.
- The New York Times profiles Vietnam’s record-breaking ropeways.
- A trial is set for January for eight defendants implicated in the 2021 Italian tram disaster.
Instagram Tuesday: Mountaineer
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Modernizing
- Skytrac modernizes a Hall double at Snow Trails, Ohio.
- Arapahoe Basin eyes transport gondolas and a new chairlift.
- Arkansas may get its first lift.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire will operate this season after all with support from Indy Pass.
- Residents seek a restraining order to halt construction at Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
- Quebec’s government pours cold water on funding Mont-Sainte-Anne upgrades with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.
- Big White teases future lift and terrain expansion.
- Cannon Mountain’s tram modernization will go out to bid soon.
- Okanagan Gondola eyes a 2025 opening.
- More expansion maps are out: Sugarloaf, Keystone, Schweitzer, Red Lodge, Trollhaugen.
- Okemo seeks a five year extension on approval of a Jackson Gore beginner quad.
Instagram Tuesday: Leaf Peeping
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Leitner-Poma Breaks Ground on Utah Factory
Elected officials joined Leitner-Poma of America yesterday in Tooele, Utah to turn the first dirt for what will become the company’s largest North American facility. The 130,000 square foot campus will complement an existing 100,000 square foot factory in Grand Junction, Colorado opened in 2007. Leitner-Poma subsidiary Skytrac Lifts will move from leased space near the Salt Lake City airport to Tooele. The state-of-the-art facility will allow the firms, which are owned by HTI Group of Italy, to increase production and expand headcount up to 120 employees, with further growth possible in additional phases of the project. In addition to Skytrac and Leitner-Poma production, the building will also house a parts warehouse and offices for HTI snowmaking brand DemacLenko and HTI grooming brand Prinoth. All told HTI plans to invest $27 million in Tooele.
When the new facility opens in May 2024, LPOA and Skytrac will manufacture 85 to 90 percent of lift equipment for the North American market in the United States. “Today, we are thrilled to mark a new era of our company here in Tooele,” said Daren Cole, president of LPOA. “We are really invested in the State of Utah and the resort industry. We are focused on Made in America here in Utah and the U.S.” He noted Leitner-Poma’s primary competitor imports much of its equipment from Europe. Leitner-Poma is Italian-owned but offers a largely North American-designed and manufactured product line.
The Tooele facility will support not only the ski industry but also future projects for amusement parks and urban transit. “We want to welcome Leitner-Poma to the fastest growing county in the fastest growing state in the nation,” said Utah Lieutenant Governor Diedre Henderson. “Here in the heart of Utah’s industrial landscape our partnership with Leitner-Poma will pave the way for groundbreaking new developments in the transportation industry with its cutting edge new manufacturing facility.”
Leitner-Poma plans to install solar panels and a 250 kilowatt wind turbine from fellow HTI brand Leitwind to provide 100 percent of the factory’s energy needs.
Mountain Capital Partners to Reopen Sandia Peak
New Mexico’s Sandia Peak will become the 12th ski area in Mountain Capital Partners’ fast-growing resort collective. Closed since 2021 and located near Albuquerque, Sandia Peak features three double chairs operated by the Abruzzo Family for decades. Under a joint venture agreement announced today, the Abruzzos will continue to run the Sandia Peak Tramway and restaurant while MCP will operate the ski hill. “Skiing in the Southwest offers unique challenges that have been amplified over the last several years,” noted Sandia Peak General Manager Ben Abruzzo. “This partnership will help address those challenges and provide a future for skiing in Albuquerque,” Abruzzo continued. In addition to the tram, the Abruzzo family will continue to own and manage Ski Santa Fe in Northern New Mexico.
Sandia Peak is MCP’s fourth new mountain in two years. In April the company acquired Lee Canyon, Nevada from Powdr and quickly began work on a new chairlift. Earlier this year MCP acquired a majority stake and assumed operation of Valle Nevado in Chile. Prior to that, Mountain Capital Partners reached a joint venture to operate Oregon’s Willamette Pass Ski Area. MCP also operates two other New Mexico ski areas, resorts in Arizona, Colorado and Utah as well as a lift-served bike park near Austin, Texas. “The foundations of our company were built on the lessons we learned from skiers and snowboarders in New Mexico,” said James Coleman, managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners. “Sandia Peak presents an incredible opportunity for us to bring the best practices we’ve learned for the benefit of Albuquerque and visitors from around the region.”
The reopening timeline for Sandia Peak’s ski operations has not been determined. When it does welcome skiers back, Sandia will join the Power Pass family of season passes.
Sommet Morin Heights Announces New Quad
Quebec resort group Les Sommets will build its fourth new lift in six years next summer at Sommet Morin Heights. The group has been investing heavily of late with four of its five mountains receiving new chairlifts since 2019. The Sommet Express opened at Sommet Saint-Sauveur in 2019, La Laurentienne debuted at Sommet Gabriel in 2022 and Apollo will launch this season at Sommet Olympia. Next up will be Sommet Morin Heights.
Morin Heights’ new lift will be called Élévation with the exact alignment to be announced. The planned vertical of 525 feet suggests it will replace Dynastar, a 1980s quad which operated previously at Ski Wentworth, Nova Scota. Élévation will feature 91 chairs moving at 450 feet per minute and will open for the 2024-25 ski season.
News Roundup: Mineral Basin
- Snowbird proposes replacing both Mineral Basin and Gadzoom with six packs; Brighton plans a six passenger chondola in a new alignment.
- In Quebec, Mont Grand-Fonds plans a new lift for next year.
- Indy Pass adds 20 new North American downhill resorts including Big White, Montana Snowbowl and Shames Mountain.
- SilverStar buys 21 more cabins for the Summit Express Gondola.
- More Omega cabins show up at Homewood for the postponed Madden Gondola.
- Skytrac will build Mt. Ashland’s next new lift.
- Rabbit Hill, Alberta sells to new owners.
- Vail Resorts reportedly shops for another Swiss resort.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire won’t open this season.
- Sugarbush confirms new Heaven’s Gate for 2024.
- Alterra buys Mike Wiegele Heli Skiing.
- Snowriver’s new map shows several new and removed lifts.
- An Austrian ski resort says its 15 passenger pulse gondola was sold to a ski resort in Canada.
- Smugglers’ Notch will continue studying a gondola connection with Stowe.
- Buck Hill and Red Lodge announce public chair sales.
Instagram Tuesday: New Sixes
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Lift Blog 
