Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Author: Peter Landsman
News Roundup: Cost Overruns
- Eaglecrest needs $1.86 million in additional parts for its used pulse gondola, which has already cost $3.1 million before construction.
- 2023 was “by far the most successful year” in North America for the Doppelmayr Group.
- An upcoming Garaventa tram in Europe will feature robotic cargo loading.
- Mechanics at the Portland Tram vote not to unionize.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City reach a two year contract with Vail Resorts.
- Gore Mountain issues an RFP to replace Northwoods Gondola cabins in 2024.
- Doppelmayr wins a contract for a 189 cabin urban gondola in Bogotá, Colombia and begins construction on a 122 cabin urban gondola in Santiago, Chile.
- A viral video shows a chairlift in China bouncing wildly due to a malfunction.
- Heavy rains close Sunday River for 5 days and knock the Chondola out of service.
Instagram Tuesday: Canadian Rockies
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Bartholet Ends Detachable Partnership with MND
After five years of working together, Bartholet of Switzerland and MND Group of France have terminated their joint venture partnership effective December 13th. Under the agreement, MND Ropeways utilized Bartholet’s detachable lift technology in select markets such as France and the United States while continuing to offer its own surface lifts and fixed grip chairlifts. One final MND-Bartholet detachable project under construction in France will be completed as planned.
The end of MND’s deal with Bartholet comes as little surprise. HTI Group, the conglomerate behind Leitner Ropeways and Poma, purchased a majority stake in Bartholet in March of 2022. Bartholet and MND only completed one project jointly in the United States, the Tecumseh Express at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire in 2022. That project was contracted before HTI bought Bartholet and MND hasn’t sold a chairlift in the United States since. Bartholet continues to operate as a subsidiary of HTI in Europe with a product line distinct from Leitner and Poma.
Going forward, MND Ropeways will need to find another partner or utilize its own technology in order to continue offering detachable lifts. Prior to the Bartholet deal, MND built one detachable chairlift in La Plagne, France, which opened in March 2017 but has suffered periodic technical problems. It is rumored MND may outline its future detachable plans at the Mountain Planet trade show this spring.
News Roundup: Winter Maintenance
- Indy Pass adds Hudson Bay Mountain, BC.
- Outside talks to Indy Pass founder Doug Fish and owner Erik Mogensen about the program’s rapid growth.
- The 14 day temporary restraining order halting construction at Wasatch Peaks Ranch becomes an indefinite preliminary injunction pending a decision by the Utah Supreme Court.
- The New York Olympic Regional Development Authority plans to spend $80 to $100 million on capital improvements each of the next four years.
- The Sandia Peak Tramway will close for two months for systems upgrades and maintenance.
- A detachable chair detachment injures two in Austria.
- Ricola sponsors a new karaoke experience aboard specially outfitted gondola cabins at a Swiss resort.
- Two more lawsuits are filed against UDOT over the Little Cottonwood gondola, one by the cities of Sale Lake and Sandy and another by Save Our Canyons.
- Whistler wins the race to open Canada’s first eight seat chairlift.
- Park City postpones the public hearing for the proposed Sunrise Gondola until January.
- Reddit rumors of the demise of Panoramic Express at Winter Park aren’t true.
- Nordic Valley acknowledges the Apollo double will be down indefinitely following the discovery of several issues.
- Doppelmayr is awarded contracts worth $950 million to build, operate and maintain an automated people mover at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Instagram Tuesday: All Finished
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Powder Mountain Plans Four New Lifts in 2024
Netflix founder and Powder Mountain CEO Reed Hastings will invest $20 million next summer, replacing two lifts and building two new ones servicing parts of the mountain currently accessed by snowcat. Hastings took majority ownership of Powder Mountain earlier this year and already invested in new snowmaking and a conveyor lift for this season. Next year, the first order of business will be replacing the long and slow Paradise quad with a Doppelmayr detachable quad, cutting ride time by more than half. The aging Timberline triple will also be retired for a fixed grip quad.
Two chairlifts in brand new alignments will also debut next year. A fixed grip quad will be installed from the base of Timberline to the top of Lightning Ridge, servicing intermediate and expert terrain currently accessed by snowcat or hiking. A second infill lift called Raintree will open only for Powder Mountain homeowners in Cobabe Canyon. This expert terrain currently serviced by cat will remain open to those willing to hike. All three fixed grip lifts will be constructed by Skytrac, bringing Powder Mountain to six Skytracs in total.
Starting next year, the existing Mary’s and Village lifts will close to the public and, like Raintree, be open only to homeowners. “In order to pay our bills, we need to sell more real estate, and to do that we are introducing private homeowner-only skiing a year from now,” said Hastings. “We believe this blend of public and private skiing secures us decades of exceptional uncrowded skiing for all, funded partially by real estate. To stay independent and uncrowded, we needed to change, and we didn’t want to join the successful but crowded multi-resort pass model (i.e. Snowbasin) or sell to a conglomerate (i.e. Vail).”
News Roundup: Utah, Utah, Utah
- Wasatch Peaks Ranch is ordered to temporarily halt construction and sales while a court considers a zoning dispute.
- Deer Valley Expanded Excellence lift construction is set to begin this summer.
- Park City Mountain’s proposed Sunrise Gondola project will go to a public hearing Tuesday night.
- Vail Resorts reports pass sales increases, plans to build the Sunrise Gondola in 2025.
- Nonprofits and individuals sue the Utah Department of Transportation seeking to stop the Little Cottonwood gondola.
- With numerous projects in the pipeline, Skytrac is hiring lift construction project managers.
- Red River proposes replacing the Copper double.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina teases new lifts over the next 3 to 5 years.
- Hickory to join Indy Pass, reopen lifts with funding from Indy Pass and Unofficial Networks.
- The cost of the proposed Dodgers Stadium Gondola in Los Angeles rises to an estimated $500 million.
- Mt. Spokane debuts a new trail map by VistaMap.
- A New York politician proposes exempting lift projects from state sales tax to match tax free purchasing enjoyed by state-owned resorts.
- James Coleman joins the Ski Utah podcast to talk about the rapid growth of Mountain Capital Partners.
- Montana Snowbowl lifts are certified to run again.
- Busch Gardens Tampa teases a reopening of its VonRoll gondola closed for four years.
Instagram Tuesday: Goats
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Utah Olympics
- Vail Resorts agrees to acquire Crans-Montana Mountain Resort in Switzerland for $136 million.
- Hickory, New York needs to raise $38,000 to operate lifts this winter.
- The International Olympic Committee designates Salt Lake City its preferred host for the 2034 Olympic Winter Games. Gondola or not, Little Cottonwood Canyon won’t host any events.
- Skiers hike for opening day at Tyrol Basin, Wisconsin as a chairlift suffers “technical problems.”
- A new report recommends training and policy changes following a six year old’s death on a T-Bar in Quebec last winter.
- Montana Snowbowl, undergoing a safety review and still lacking permission to open this winter, issues a progress report.
- Scale model D-Line lifts are now available in the United States.
- Doppelmayr presents 10 possible routes for urban gondolas in New Zealand.
- Whiteface issues an RFP for modifications to Little Whiteface.
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