- Timberline begins the NEPA process for a gondola from Government Camp to Timberline Lodge, requiring less than one acre of new permit area.
- West Virginia opens the first of two Doppelmayr gondolas in State Parks.
- A paraglider survives being caught in a moving gondola in Switzerland.
- Leitner’s apple ropeway opens in Italy.
- A funicular railway crashes in Portugal, killing 16 people, with the investigation focused on the wire rope.
- Leitner-Poma and Skytrac’s parent company invests in HKD Snowmakers; will consolidate DemacLenko and HKD in North America.
- A gondola to Disneyland is floated in Anaheim with unproven technology called Whoosh.
- The last day for Cannon Mountain’s tram will be October 26th; it’ll continue running for administrative purposes.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire reports its highest skier visits ever but also growing pains with noise complaints from neighbors.
- The Okanagan Gondola previews the view from the top of the upcoming sightseeing lift.
- Killington’s former Sunrise lodge and base of the Northeast Passage triple are for sale.
- Homewood commences gondola construction.
- Here’s what happens to a glacier-pinned lift when the glacier recedes.
- Powder Mountain walks back its map showing DMI being installed for 2026-27.
Lift Blog 
A gondola to Disneyland might sound like a good idea, but what the hell/heck is Woosh? Let’s not be using unproven technology. We need to know more about this.
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I think it’s a bold and interesting concept, but E-Bikes/E-scooters have already outperformed all other great ideas in my city…I can’t imagine it’s much different anywhere else either.
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So far the main business model of Swyft Cities (Whoosh’s distributor in the US) seems to be getting cities to pay for feasibility studies. See also: Irvine, California and Sugar Land, Texas.
My advice to any city thinking about aerial transit would be to work with an engineering firm like SE Group or SCJ Alliance. Don’t pick a manufacturer before you have a project.
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thanks for the info. I had never heard of it before. For sure these places need to go with proven engineering firms like SE or SCJ. Don’t gamble on the unknown.
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I wonder why Powder mtn did that brief change in the map?
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Curious what timberline starting the nepa process practically means in terms of ability and timing to start building. Seems like a lot of time and money has already gone into planning, so I don’t think it’s a pipe dream, but also seems unlikely that the nepa process is just a formality. Typical for these to be approved with or without adjustments? Any unique circumstances here with this proposal? Could we be just a few years away for construction?
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see my reply below, it didn’t “post” to your comment
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Asked Timberline Pres. Jeff Kohnstamm about this last summer – they genuinely think they will be able to start construction on the Gondola and new base area in a few years. The NEPA process is required for all nat’l forest projects that have any amount of significant ground disturbance (so any new lift alignment). Past experience leads me to think the project will be delayed a few times when environmental groups invariably sue and as community members weigh in RE project details.
My $0.02 – the gondola would be a great addition to Timberline and the mtn if they address and mitigate both traffic concerns and a pre-existing employee housing shortage.
RE traffic – the intersection (or a new one) to access this base area would be accessed by an unprotected left turn that can be dicey in the snow/ice. See the Govy500 Instagram page if you don’t believe me. More cars here would make for substantial problems in the AM as cars turn against one another, and would likely create huge PM slowdowns. The impact on Govt Camp (Govy) residents and guests trying to leave the business loop (area with stores, homes, current rest area) would be truly huge with no traffic change.
RE employee housing – Govy has a huge shortage of long term rentals and employee housing. The two apartments that remain are owned by private parties but operated by Timberline (I think). The Gondola and new base area would basically guarantee these employees would get priced out of their current accommodations. I see no way the apartment landowners wouldn’t sell their now-slope-side properties to developers as soon as the gondola construction starts. This would be great for vacation homeowners who have been historically at-odds with the mountain staff tenets/the rundown apartments, but not good at all for that same mountain staff.
If Timberline doesn’t look into building more housing elsewhere (be it Govy or another town), they will either lose staff or force their staff to sleep in cars. Many already do this and it is not a viable solution long-term for the community.
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thank you
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