Lift Construction

Building Solitude’s Summit Express

Peter Landsman1 Comment

It felt like spring at Solitude Mountain Resort, not because of the weather but because the Summit lift replacement project is really just getting underway.  The new Doppelmayr detachable quad is in an entirely new alignment that is extremely rugged.  There was obviously a ton of blasting and dirt work just to get to this point.  Once the Summit Express is complete, Solitude will have four high speed quads and only three fixed-grip lifts left.

Looking down from tower 15.
Looking down from tower 15.

Highlander Lift Services is in charge of this project rather than crews from Doppelmayr or Solitude.  Most of the tower forms are in but I did not see any concrete in the ground.  The top terminal is just a hole and the bottom isn’t much further along.  The lift is going to have around 20 towers and only the crossarms and lifting frames have arrived so far.  Unfortunately it looks like these guys are going to be building a lift in the snow.

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Some tower cages are still in the parking lot.
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This is all the parts for the new lift that have been delivered.

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Flying Gondola Towers in Park City

Peter Landsman1 Comment

Doppelmayr flew towers for the Quicksilver Gondola in Park City yesterday and today.  I wasn’t able to make it but Instagram has us covered!  Quicksilver has 27 towers but a few had already been set by crane.  Check back next week for more updates from America’s largest ski resort.

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Teton Lift Home Stretch

Peter Landsman6 Comments

The crew from Doppelmayr is flying through work on the Teton lift with 110 days until opening.  Jackson Hole’s fourth high speed quad now has a complete top terminal with the bottom not far behind.  The Uni-G model terminals are mostly gray with white ends.  The 8,500′ haul rope, which was manufactured in Canada, was brought up the mountain earlier this week.  Eighty DT-104 Agamatic grips also arrived in crates last week. The bottom lift shack is the only large component not in already in place besides the haul rope.  At this rate I would not be surprised to see a load test by October 1st.

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Bottom terminal and haul rope.
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Those are windows on the roof.

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Checking Out Vail’s New Lift 2

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New towers with old tower tubes.

Vail Resorts is in the midst of a major program at its four Colorado resorts to replace first-generation detachable quads with new six packs and gondolas.  Up for a refresh this summer is Chair 2 at Vail, the Avanti Express.  The 1989 detachable quad is being replaced with a Doppelmayr six-pack.  This follows the replacement of the Vista Bahn with a Leitner-Poma 10-passenger gondola and the Mountaintop Express with a Doppelmayr six-pack last summer.  Vail has been saving parts from these lifts to keep others of the same vintage going.  Lifts 7, 8, 11 and 21 are the only 1980s detachables left at Vail and will likely be replaced in the next few years.  Northwoods and Game Creek are the oldest two lifts of any kind left at Vail, dating back to 1985.

The bottom terminal will have a loading carpet.
The bottom terminal will have a loading carpet.

The new 2 is in the same alignment as the old and re-uses its tower tubes.  New, wider crossarms were flown into place a few weeks ago with the exception of towers 24 and 25 at the summit.  Concrete work for both terminals is finished except for the loading carpet pit at the bottom terminal.  Steel for the terminals has been delivered.  New chairs are staged at the summit and the haul rope spool sits at tower 9.

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Middle portion of the line with the haul rope ready to go.

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Park City Motherlode Express August Update

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If you’ve been following the $50 million being spent at Park City this summer, you know that Vail Resorts opted not to buy a new lift for the upgrade of Motherlode to a high speed quad. Instead they are re-using the old King Con, a 1993 CTEC.  Only the tower/terminal tubes and one crossarm are new.  Tower heads and sheaves were flown into place a few weeks ago.  Electrical work is ongoing at both terminals, which still say King Con on the outside.  A new Redaelli haul rope is sitting at the bottom and chairs are ready to go at the top.  Motherlode is about 1,000 feet longer than King Con but I haven’t seen any sign that more chairs will be added.

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Teton Lift Gets a Drive Terminal

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Bullwheel at the drive terminal of Jackson Hole's new Teton detachable quad.
Bullwheel at the drive terminal of Jackson Hole’s new Teton detachable quad.

Workers from Doppelmayr began assembling the top terminal of the Teton lift by crane this week.  Once the top is finished, crews will move to the bottom return terminal 1,800 feet below.  The lift is on schedule to be load tested by mid-October.  A new ski patrol station is also taking shape and grading continues on the new Kemmerer, Ridge and Wide Open runs.  Weather permitting, the entire expansion will open December 19th.

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Crane setting the last tire section for the drive terminal of Teton.

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Park City’s King Con Express Taking Shape

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The same K-Max from Timberline Helicopters that I watched in Jackson Hole a few weeks ago flew the tower heads for the new King Con Express at Park City the same week.  14 of King Con’s 15 tower tubes were re-used from the previous CTEC detachable quad.  Most of the new six pack towers have short extensions to make them taller.

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Not much has changed at the bottom terminal except a pit was poured for the loading carpet.  Windows are being installed at the top drive terminal.  The haul rope spool was delivered to the flats between towers 4 and 5.  The six-person chairs are still down in Park City’s main parking lot.  King Con Express and Motherlode Express are both further along than the Quicksilver Gondola, which still needs towers and a mid-station.  Still, an impressive amount of work has taken place and I have no doubt Vail Resorts will have everything ready by November for Park City’s first season as America’s largest resort.

Touring Utah’s Newest Ski Resort

Peter Landsman6 Comments
Cherry Peak's brand new lodge and Gateway chairlift with three months to go until opening.
Cherry Peak’s brand new lodge and Gateway chairlift with three months to go until opening.

Utah may have lost a resort last month but now it has another.  I recently got the chance to tour what will be America’s first new ski resort since Tamarack Resort opened in 2004.  Cherry Peak Resort is under construction just outside of Richmond, Utah.  It is named after the 9,765 foot peak nearby but the ski area will not even reach 8,000 feet.  The resort was scheduled to open last season but never got enough snow and construction fell behind.  Cherry Peak Resort is owned by local developer John Chadwick and located entirely on his private land.  He has been quietly working to build the ski area for the past five years while buying used lifts and equipment.  To call Cherry Peak a resort is a stretch but this will be a nice community ski area with 1,265 vertical feet of skiing and three lifts.

Cherry Peak's trail map. Note the lift in the middle does not exist yet.
Cherry Peak’s trail map. Note the lift to the top does not exist yet.
Gateway chairlift which came from Blackcomb, BC.
Gateway chairlift which came from Blackcomb, BC.
Looking down the Gateway chair which still needs some paint.
Looking down the Gateway chair which still needs some paint.

Chadwick is currently running the ski lift version of a chop shop with used Yan lifts from across the west being cobbled together into three new triple chairs.  Two lifts, dubbed Gateway and Vista are completed and load tested.  Gateway was Blackcomb’s former Crystal Chair while Vista came from Sunnyside at Sun Valley.  Cherry Peak also bought multiple used lifts from Squaw Valley in 2012.

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Park City Quicksilver Gondola August Update

Peter Landsman5 Comments
Drive terminal of Park City's new Quicksilver Gondola in The Colony.
Drive terminal of Park City’s new Quicksilver Gondola in The Colony.

Construction on Park City’s new lifts has noticeably shifted towards the new Quicksilver Gondola since my last update a few weeks ago.  Steel for the drive and return terminals is going up and there is only one tower left to pour concrete for.  The angle station is the least far along with just holes in the ground at this point.

Return terminal next to the new Miners Camp Lodge with future cabin parking facility.
Return terminal next to the new Miners Camp Lodge with future cabin parking facility.

The return terminal is going up next to the new Miners Camp lodge and Silverlode lift.  A cabin parking facility will be here and it appears it will be big enough for all the cabins, unlike the small maintenance bays at the Red Pine Gondola and Orange Bubble Express.  It looks like for the first year it will just have rails and no roof.  I’m guessing a building will be built over the whole thing another year.

This is Tower 24 which will be on one end of a huge span to Tower 23.
This is Tower 24 which will be on one end of a huge span to Tower 23.

Quicksilver will have 27 towers numbered from the drive terminal in White Pine Canyon.  There are only four towers in what used to be Park City Ski Area.  I did not realize until now that there will be a massive span over Thaynes Canyon that will rival the existing Red Pine Gondola with cabins at least 200 feet in the air.  Evidently Park City traded lower wind tolerance and a difficult evacuation scenario for fewer towers and a shorter lift.

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Did Northstar California Build a New Gondola in Three Months?

Peter Landsman3 Comments

It appears Northstar California replaced most of its Big Springs Gondola in just three months between the end of last winter and the start of this summer.  The bottom terminal of this 1985 Doppelmayr 6-passenger gondola was previously relocated in 2004.  From the below pictures on Instagram, it appears Doppelmayr installed brand new terminal equipment inside of the existing terminal buildings along with new Agamatic grips, hangars and line gear.  The first-generation CWA cabins were previously refurbished in 2013.  Maybe Vail Resorts got a ‘buy eight get two free’ deal on Uni-G terminals from Doppelmayr this summer.

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