- Leitner-Poma assures the public that recent stopping and swinging on the Roosevelt Island Tram pose no safety issue.
- Doppelmayr secures a five year maintenance and operations contract for the Sterling Vineyards gondola.
- Attendants and mechanics working for Doppelmayr at the Portland Aerial Tram may unionize.
- Garaventa completes the first Auro autonomous operation aerial tramway in Zermatt.
- A gondola in Raleigh, North Carolina?
- Officials release a 360 degree preview of the proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
- Belleayre’s new quad will be called Overlook.
- Snow Valley shortens Chair 2 into a beginner lift with the drive terminal from old Chair 1.
- In Quebec, new owners of Mont Grand-Fonds plan a six seat detachable.
- No link but Mammoth tells me Chair 1 will be replaced in 2024.
- Sun Valley plans to replace Seattle Ridge with a six place detachable in ’24. Christmas is next but no timeline yet for that project.
- A judge will decide whether Park City Mountain’s Eagle and Silverlode upgrade projects can proceed in the future.
- Homewood bails on going private, potentially allowing the delivered Madden Gondola to be installed next summer.
- County officials order the nonprofit attempting to reopen Cuchara to stop work, citing safety concerns.
Lift Blog 
RE: Mammoth Chair 1 – I am guessing that they are not going to wait for the new alignment because getting that plan approved is going to continue to drag out, and they want the equipment on site.
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Interesting that the Christmas replacement has been delayed but Seattle Ridge is moving forward at Sun Valley. Was there any reason given for the delay?
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My guess would be that Christmas has some redundancy with Lookout Express and Seattle Ridge does not.
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Pretty much. All of the terrain that Christmas laps can be lapped from Lookout Express too. It primarily serves as the second lift in the two stage ride to lap Christmas Tree Bowl (in tandem with Broadway), and in conjunction with Flying Squirrel or the Roundhouse Gondola as alternative routes to the summit besides River Run-Lookout Express and Challenger.
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I just meant I am surprised they are delaying one. Seattle Ridge is the one lift on the mountain where you’ll consistently find a lift line, so of course it makes sense to upgrade it. I was just curious if Sun Valley gave a reason for deciding to go through the approval process on Christmas, then delay it. Money doesn’t seem to be an issue for them.
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Seattle Ridge is also a beginner pod, so that’s another point in favor of prioritizing it.
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Fingers crossed for PCMR…
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Oh my gosh I’m so nervous…
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Why?
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I kinda hop it goes PCMR’s way and the NIMBYs get told to pound sand. I mean, the Silverlode 8 and Eagle 6 projects feel like essential lift upgrades moreso than the planned gondola to supplement Red Pine over on the Canyons side.
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The more important question will be what the legal precedent becomes. Park City’s legal jurisdiction only extends to roughly the former Park City Mountain side, whereas the former Canyons side is outside of their control. If the judge rules against Vail, it is likely that the Park City side will not see any new investment from Vail until a new overarching agreement is formed with the town. This will also likely occur if the judge sides with Vail for this particular case but leaves the door open for future similar appeals. The two new lifts will probably only be installed if the judge sides with Vail and determines that the town cannot deny future projects on comparable last-minute appeals.
Vail has over 40 resorts and plenty of other places to invest. If any investment in the Park City side of PCMR risks going nowhere and losing millions of dollars in the process, it will get nothing.
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Well didn’t work out this time.
https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/11/14/judges-denial-park-city-mountain/
I still argue the issue is more with the NIMBYs than Vail Resorts. Even though replacing these lifts (and Silverlode especially) is very much a necessity because of their age. Or is PCMR’s only recourse going to be for Silverlode to essentially end up like the old Barker Mountain Yoma that Sunday River finally got around to replacing with a six pack this year?
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I mean… The basic argument against it is that new lifts will continue to bring new customers, and at the minimum keep your current customers happy and coming back.
Even if the “goal” isn’t to draw new skiers, new better lifts might mean an extra trip or two for an existing PCMR epic pass holder.
If Vail ever actually wants to do anything reliable, they have to either reduce demand, which they have been historically unwilling to do even compared to Alterra/Ikon… Or fix any of the problems they created that pissed the nimbys off in the first place. Vail hasn’t really done anything to alleviate a single crowd related issue that they contributed to creating, other than implementing a daily ticket cap. Which still turns PC into an anthill.
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PCMR would be better off doing things to move traffic away from the Park City side for now. Upgrading Dreamcatcher to a high speed quad, for instance.
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Belleayre finally put some thought into a lift name? Proud of them
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