- Americans flock to Canada to ski, particularly Banff.
- Jay Peak also proves popular; in a podcast episode, Jay President Steve Wright says “we will be adding more high speed detachable lifts” and is about to make a down payment on one.
- An update on the accelerating revival of Black Mountain, New Hampshire.
- Possible approval of a new sightseeing gondola in Georgia is delayed while traffic and sewer studies are prepared.
- The new bike park lift in Arkansas will be named OZ Express.
- Vail Resorts seeks dismissal of a lawsuit disputing Park City Mountain’s right to operate Iron Mountain Express and Timberline.
- Telluride’s proposed replacements for lifts 7 and 8 inch closer to approval.
- Sugarloaf is around halfway through approval for a Timberline replacement.
- Meetings continue regarding Loon Mountain’s proposed pulse gondola with no timeline for construction.
- Colorado Governor Jared Polis to help cut the ribbon of the Mighty Argo Cable Car April 24th.
- Le Massif reportedly remains interested in a merger with Mont-Sainte-Anne.
- Reed Hastings discusses the favorable economics of private ski areas like Powder Haven.
- Poma teases “a new icon for travel” to be revealed Tuesday.
- Leitner, Poma, Skytrac and Bartholet’s parent company reports record revenue – 60 percent from ropeways and nearly $500 million from North America.
- Homewood to auction chairs from the Madden triple with an unspecified portion going to charity.
- Utah Governor Spencer Cox visits Garaventa in Switzerland in advance of Doppelmayr opening a new facility in Salt Lake.
- Juneau set to formally cancel the Eaglecrest gondola agreement on May 18th and may try to resell the lift for $1.5-2.75 million.
- Following several recent postponements, 2026 lift construction will be down approximately 40 percent from the post-Covid high in 2022.
- As a legal dispute remains pending in a BC court, Ski Bluewood seeks an injunction to force shipment of four remaining containters to complete the Skyline Express project with a used lift from Austria. A hearing is scheduled for Monday and shipment would need to commence by May 1st in order for the lift to open next winter.
Lift Blog 
No one surprised with the Eaglecrest Gondola being axed I’d imagine. Still, it’s a shame.
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I’m hoping that “deposit” on a detachable being talked about for Jay is that long-delayed Bonaventure quad replacement! But… who knows!
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more than just being disappointed in no Gondola, the time and money didn’t go towards fixing/replacing Black Bear or a Ptarmigan high speed replacement. Both of which would have easily been done and paid for by now.
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What lifts have been postponed?
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Everything from Alterra (except what Extell is building at Deer Valley) and everything from Boyne (Gateway Gondola at Loon & Timberline at Sugarloaf) at a minimum.
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What was on the Alterra list this year besides DV? I don’t even remember seeing any notable ones.
Side note: screw them and them giving you only until April 16th to renew your pass before the price went up. It’s a bit ridiculous.
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I’ve been an Ikon Passholder since ~2019 and I really need Alterra to understand that this was the worst-feeling renewal season that I’ve ever had to swallow. I’m confident I’m not alone. A few of my issues:
– Early deadline after a terrible season
– Reduced renewal discount
– Credit card-level couponing for “value”
– Price increases of $70-$100
– Getting rid of the deferral option
– Pushing a “refundable” option that costs $250
– Asking me to turn on “auto renew” at the end
I could stomach one or two of those, but all seven just feels like I’m being nickeled and timed.
I’m comfortable paying more for value, but it has to be simple value. The “Mountain Credit” option for renewals, for example, could have been an excellent benefit, but they borked it by not allowing the credit to rollover from month-to-month (at least up to a certain amount).
I’m also comfortable paying a bit more if my dollars are clearly being reinvested in the resorts. But instead, almost all of Alterra’s capex over the past few years has gone to Deer Valley, while long-needed projects across the rest of the portfolio keep getting delayed. The prospect of Schweitzer’s new access portal, lift and snowmaking adds at Crystal, lift replacements at Palisades, and additional parking and lodge updates at Solitude were part of the value proposition of the pass.
I love the resorts on Ikon to no end, and none of this is gonna stop me from skiing, but this year’s products and sharply reduced value are really making me rethink how I feel about this brand.
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I fully agree with everything you mentioned. To me, the biggest issues are the first price increase being before May, the renewal discount being minimal, and the lack of capex outside of Steamboat/Deer Valley/Palisades Tahoe.
To be fair, a lot of this criticism is due to the ~30% price premium over Epic & the lack of any real offering below the Base Pass. Having so many partners for a roster of this magnitude will always mean Ikon needs more money to be financially viable than Epic, but there is no reason not to offer a lower pass product with only Alterra mountains. Plus, if you want to be a premium brand, you need to have a premium product, and that requires premium investments at all of your properties.
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Yeah Anthony, I know multiple people that are very unhappy. In my case because of the early renewal deadline, they lost money from me. I was going to take a road trip to Mammoth this month, and typically stay in the Mammoth Mountain Inn. But because of needing to budget the fun money responsibly, I renewed my pass and didn’t go to Mammoth and stay at their lodge or spend money on the mountain. If I could have renewed the pass in June, July, or even the end of May, then I would have gone on the trip.
Penny wise, pound foolish is what they are. Oh well.
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Loon’s Gateway Gondola is being mostly funded by Riverwalk Resort, and Loon would just be the operator. Still it was probably a joint decision between the two to postpone.
I’m sure the on again, off again, on again tariffs are causing operators to pause on the lifts as prices go up and up. They may just want to see how/if things settle down.
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Stratton’s Tamarack replacement was canceled, not sure if that is b/c of permitting delays or related forest service issues.
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I checked the Vermont Act 250 web site. The permit was approved in January. Stratton is on private land so forest service shouldn’t be an issue.
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I just looked too, super interesting, it was approved. wonder why it’s not happening. Allterra seemed to have wanted the upgrade and then decided not to.
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It was not cancelled, just not happening this summer anymore because it was a rough season for Alterra
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ya, I know they’ve been trying for a few years. I think some investment in the East Coast resorts would be nice. Stratton is starting to need some, and maybe an expansion further out past Upper Kidderbrook looks like good skiable terrain.
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Stratton got decent money past two seasons, the upgrades on Ursa and Amex have been amazing from an operational standpoint, those two upgrades were cheaper than a new tamarack and have benefitted the mountain far more than a new lift at tamarack since those are the two pure backbones of the mtn. Kidderbrook pod is likely not gonna happen and the gondola is next after tamarack in terms of lifts
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Most everybody out west had a tough winter including Alterra. Think there looking at the bottom after some big spending over the last few years??
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They are normally really investment-heavy, more so than Epic/Vail Resorts.
It’s gonna be interesting if investment areas change, a year from now, if there’s a lot of investment going to Vermont instead of Utah/Colorado. Vermont had two good winters back-to-back.
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Rumor has it Jay Peak has already acquired a used stealth 6-pack, I have no idea how legit it is
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With all the delays over at Sugarloaf and the Timberline replacement – it wouldn’t surprise me. It’d be good to see the old Six Shooter to be installed somewhere instead of sitting in a lot for another few seasons.
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