- The death toll rises to three in last week’s Mt. Elbrus deropement with the CEO and head technician detained by the Russian government.
- Dramatic video emerges from last month’s failure of another Russian single chair not far away.
- 49° North to replace its beginner chairlift with a Doppelmayr quad next year.
- In an interview, Garaventa’s CEO discusses US tariffs on Switzerland, competition with HTI and more.
- Indy Pass adds Donner Ski Ranch, California; Magic Mountain, Idaho; Montage Mountain, Pennsylvania (returning after a brief hiatus) and Leavenworth Ski Hill, Washington plus mountains in Austria and Turkey.
- Ecosign releases a book highlighting 50 years of mountain planning.
- Crystal Mountain’s summit webcam captures a slight mishap during installation of Rainier Express’ top terminal (all is well, it’s now assembled.)
- Welch Village to sell Hall double chairs next week.
- Spirit Mountain asks the public to vote on 13 possible names for its new chairlift.
- Chelan County releases its draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Mission Ridge expansion.
- Construction is well underway on Arkansas’ only chairlift.
- Stagecoach Mountain Ranch moves toward approval outside Steamboat.
- Hesperus, Colorado to remain closed this season.
- Sommet Saint-Sauveur adds a loading conveyor to the Sommet Express.
- The chairlift at Whaleback, New Hampshire may miss this season.
- Enjoy a few construction photos from Killington (both the Superstar replacement and Skyeship cabin upgrade.)
Lift Blog 
Will the photos of Northeast Passage posted on instagram be available somewhere on here?
LikeLike
Will Explorer be the first NA gondola with the in floor slots? Curious to see how those work in the real world.
New Superstar looks great, but also so out of place in the land of Poma and Yan.
LikeLike
Yes the floor slots are a first over here. Having spent thousands of hours loading skis on gondolas in a similar locale, I’m skeptical. We love our fat skis and twin tips. A significant portion of people who rent twin tips have no clue what to do with them when faced with a rack.
LikeLike
The cabins are the first in the world as far as I know to feature both door racks and the Twistin floor racks. The door racks have 6 slots for twin tip skis (2 if there are boards)
Its going to be a bit of experimentation for sure, we will have a lifty helping to load skis. Kids skis will be able to be stored inside securely and stragglers wont have to hold onto their equipment. It should be interesting to see how it works!
LikeLiked by 4 people
yass! I fell in love with these in Zermatt. So civilized, just boarding with your skis instead of crowding around the racks.
racks + slats = best of both worlds.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Given Everett’s reply below I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t even bother loading my big skis into the racks most of the time. 112mm underfoot and an aggressive twin tip is asking for trouble, so I bring them into the cabin.
LikeLike
$250,000 for a new gearbox for whaleback? It’s probably cheaper to install an old Yan.
LikeLike
Mt. Ashland should donate its old Yan to Whaleback. Andrew Gast?
LikeLike
I believe it is 4-6 times that to reinstall a fixed grip chairlift these days.
LikeLike
Not very likely to find or install an old Yan for near that price. That price sounds about right in this day and age for a rebuild/replacement. But that old lift isn’t going to last forever. It’s only a matter of finding the cash/funding for a small thing like Hesperus.
LikeLike
Do we have any more details on Superstar? EJ chairs? Clockwise or CCW?
LikeLike
Clockwise. I didn’t see any chairs yet but they might have been hiding.
LikeLike
The video of that accident in Russia is insane! The entire terminal got launched. Almost looks like what happened to spruce peak at Sunday river.
LikeLike
My guess is the counterweight rope failed. Sunday River was a fixed return terminal but the Russia video shows a drive terminal on a carriage. It was designed to move, just not that much so suddenly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This really reminds me of the Eagle chair tensioning failure at lake Louise in the 80s (1984 I think). The ropes snapped, launching the terminal forwards on its rails.
LikeLike
Did Stagecoach already gain possession of their Gondola that was planned to be installed a year or 2 ago?
LikeLike
I heard it is being stored somewhere in the Denver area.
LikeLike
will DV East Village Gondola have the same ski slots as Explorer Gondola?
LikeLike
DV’s cabins do not appear to include twistin interior racks. My guess is they’ll be similar to Steamboat’s on Wild Blue.
LikeLike
OK, thanks so much!
LikeLike
Having floor slots and door racks seem like the obvious solution. Two options depending on width. Must be easier to clean aswell.
LikeLike
Any idea what that new tower head and sheave assemblies are for on Skyeship? Guessing the new cabins are a bit heavier.
LikeLike