- All of a sudden, the Aspen Lift One project finds itself in jeopardy.
- The City of Branson ends its exclusive agreement with a would-be gondola developer after years of false starts.
- Two companies bid to replace the Barrows double at Howelsen Hill in 2020 or 2021.
- Disney Skyliner attendants will start at $12 an hour.
- Competing resorts comment on the New Hampshire Vail acquisitions as Attitash touts major lift maintenance investments.
- A jury decides Wachusett Mountain should pay $3.3 million to the family of a child who was injured in a 30 foot fall from the Polar Express in 2015.
- The Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously approves the California Express gondola project.
- Utah Olympic Park breaks ground on the first phase of its major expansion with a second new lift to follow in two to five years.
- A study concludes Teton Pass, Montana would need to attract 15,000 visitors annually to reopen as a viable resort.
- Big changes are coming to the EB-5 visa program, which some ski areas have used to pay for big ticket improvements in the past.
- Timberline’s owners hire an investment bank to sell the ski area.
- Berkshire Bank and others slam the latest Hermitage restructuring plan.
- TransLink gets serious about building a 3S in metro Vancouver.
News
Vail to Acquire Peak Resorts for $264 Million
Vail Resorts has agreed to purchase Peak Resorts, the publicly-traded parent company of 17 ski resorts in the northeast and midwest. The deal will more than double the number of mountains Vail operates and expand markets such as New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. for the Epic Pass. Mountains to be acquired include Mt. Snow in Vermont, Hunter Mountain in New York and Attitash in New Hampshire. Combined, Peak Resorts operates 109 aerial lifts in seven states. Vail will be up to 37 mountains in three countries with 437 lifts upon closing.
Peak itself closed on a $76 million purchase of Snow Time, Inc. less than eight months ago, yet the merger and acquisition action continues. “We are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to add such a powerful network of ski areas to our Company,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts in an early morning announcement. “Peak Resorts’ ski areas in the Northeast are a perfect complement to our existing resorts and together will provide a very compelling offering to our guests in New York and Boston. With this acquisition, we are also able to make a much stronger connection to guests in critical cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and build on the success we have already seen with our strategy in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit.” The deal must still be approved by Peak’s shareholders, which are being offered $11.00 per share. When the deal closes, Epic Pass holders will receive unlimited, unrestricted access to all 17 resorts.
Vail plans to spend approximately $15 million for one-time capital improvements over the first two years and an ongoing $10 million per year to support the Peak properties. Vail’s EBITDA is expected to increase by $60 million annually with the new additions. The transaction is expected to close in the fall.
News Roundup: Norway
- Arctaris Impact Fund still wants to buy Saddleback but no deal has been reached after more than a year.
- The Banff-Norquay gondola project faces stiff headwinds from Parks Canada.
- The latest podcast from Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz highlights how the company takes over operations at newly-acquired resorts.
- A judge rejects the Hermitage Club’s proposed restructuring plan as members look to reopen under new management.
- In other Hermitage news, a New Jersey bank seeks to repossess 46 snow guns.
- Here is the complete incident narrative from the February SeaWorld gondola deropement.
- Lift construction gets underway at Skeetawk, America’s first all-new ski area since Cherry Peak in 2015.
- Village construction resumes at Tamarack with Wildwood Express installation to follow this fall.
- A helicopter delivers most of the new Steamboat gondola towers.
- Last week’s gondola incident at Vail was not a result of tampering or sabotage.
- Medellín’s sixth urban gondola, Line P, is on track to open in December.
- After 1,231 days as Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area, the Badger Pass name returns thanks to a $12 million settlement between the National Park Service and two competing concession companies.
- I spoke too soon on Eaglecrest possibly building Alaska’s first gondola. Icy Strait Point on Chichagof Island is planning a gondola project to open as soon as next summer.
- The haul rope is spliced for a rare fixed grip chondola in Illinois.
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Mi Teleférico in La Paz broke its own daily record again on Monday with 583,841 riders, more than average weekday ridership for Boston’s three subway lines combined.
- Municipally-owned Great Bear resorts to private fundraising in hopes of replacing its Borvig chairlift.
- Placer County leaders will vote Tuesday on the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
- Simon Fraser University steps up its Burnaby Mountain gondola marketing.
- The Los Angeles Griffith Park gondola study is underway.
- Eagle’s Rest 2.0 nears completion at Jackson Hole.
Disney Skyliner Launches September 29th
It’s official: the Disney Skyliner gondola network will open Sunday, September 29th. Three lines will connect the Trinidad hub with terminals at Epcot, Pop Century/Art of Animation and Hollywood Studios. The launch falls just one month after the highly anticipated grand opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios on August 29th.
Recent photos show finishing touches like landscaping and painting underway in advance of the opening.
News Roundup: High Impact
- Mission Ridge’s replacement of the Liberator Express with a bubble chair from Europe is pushed back to 2020.
- Dagmar in Ontario plans to replace its Rendezvous triple with a quad as soon as next summer.
- The scheduled foreclosure auction of Granite Gorge is cancelled.
- Ghost Town in the Sky, a shuttered chairlift-accessed amusement park in North Carolina, goes back up for sale.
- The Indy Pass now includes more North American resorts than both the Ikon and Epic passes.
- Boyne Resorts announces a $60 million private debt offering with proceeds to be used for organic growth including “high-impact initiatives” over the next two to three years.
- Alpine Media raises $2 million more to install digital screens on more chairlifts.
- Mont Orignal plans a second lift as backup for the world’s first detachable six pack.
- A Doppelmayr gondola which was delivered to Parral, Mexico in 2016 but never installed may finally get put together.
- Despite rumors to the contrary, Disney says there is no Skyliner opening date yet.
- The State of California concludes 25-40 mph winds likely caused a grip and communications line to become entangled on the Bayside Skyride at SeaWorld in February.
- The United States Department of Justice argues the Hermitage Club’s reorganization plan is being illegally marketed to creditors and members.
- Millennium Partners may have abandoned its Boston Seaport Gondola idea.
- A chairlift at the Ohio State Fair will sport all new carriers this year due to concerns about the condition of the originals.
- Leitner’s fourth 3S system goes into operation in Voss, Norway.
News Roundup: Privatization
- America’s only indoor ski lifts debut October 25th in New Jersey.
- The Forest Service and Vail Resorts react negatively to the idea of a $5.2 million chairlift from Eagle-Vail to Beaver Creek Mountain.
- A deropement turns into a 10 hour ordeal for passengers on a gondola in Pakistan.
- The City of Steamboat considers a deal with Alterra to operate Howelsen Hill.
- Snow King’s proposed expansion may get another alternative before a 2020 decision.
- Timberline, West Virginia seeks permission to sell off snowmaking equipment and the CEO is charged with a felony for allegedly providing resort employees paychecks that never cleared.
- Manning Park seeks a name for its first quad chair.
- The Salesforce gondola is carrying passengers!
- Vail ropes down 74 employees from a broken Eagle Bahn Gondola, which remains closed three days later.
- Berkshire Bank wants the Hermitage to be liquidated.
- Steamboat’s new gondola towers are multiplying.
- A Stevens Pass employee snaps some awesome shots of the resort’s ongoing lift projects.
- James Niehues is at work on an all new trail map for Wolf Creek.
News Roundup: Cirque
- The Salesforce Transit Center tram opens Monday.
- Volunteers are determined to complete the Ascutney Mountain T-Bar project in time for next winter.
- Peak Resorts reports a great fourth quarter with $36.9 million in earnings on $85.5 million in revenue, up from a year ago 52.5 and 71.5 percent, respectively.
- Mexico City awards the contract for the first Cablebús urban gondola line to Doppelmayr, which will utilize D-Line technology.
https://twitter.com/CablebusCDMX/status/1144637660561997824
- The reopening of Big Tupper, NY hits a snag.
- Proposed changes to the NEPA process would streamline approval of projects on National Forest lands impacting less than 20 acres, such as chairlift replacements.
- The Balsams goes up for sale.
- At Squaw Alpine, the extended Hot Wheels replacement will be named Treeline Cirque.
- Seattle’s ABC affiliate checks in on Stevens Pass’ trio of lift projects.
- Five months before its grand opening, Woodward Park City is really coming along. Bonus: it looks like Doppelmayr has a new, more modern lift operator shack option (also seen at Manning Park.)
News Roundup: Auction
- Sun Peaks applies for a permit to replace Crystal with a Doppelmayr fixed grip quad in a new alignment. The mountain is also getting its fifth James Niehues trail map.
- Ski Santa Fe and Sugar Mountain are getting new Niehues maps as well.
- Windham’s retired Wonderama triple is up for grabs.
- Granite Gorge, New Hampshire is listed for sale at a public auction July 8th but the ski area says it won’t happen.
- Hermitage Club President Harper Sibley resigns, citing an “unworkable” reopening plan. The bankruptcy case will proceed in a Vermont court.
- 85 year old Willy Garaventa recalls how the Squaw Valley tram project propelled his family’s company to eventually become the world leader in aerial tramways.
- A Montana community considers a co-op model for its shuttered ski area.
- Timberline, West Virginia’s owner may liquidate the ski assets.
- Bretton Woods’ gondola cabins are now hanging.
- Because 27 lifts isn’t enough, Big Sky is working on two more in Moonlight Basin and on Flatiron Mountain.
News Roundup: Stay Tuned
- Vermont sees its best season in four with 4.2 million skier visits.
- San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center will reopen July 1st and its mini tramway is undergoing testing.
- The Hermitage website is back with a reorganization plan posted.
- Berkshire Bank calls the Hermitage plan “not feasible” and members are stuck in the middle crowdfunding legal representation.
- Leitner-Poma expects 2020 to be as busy as 2018 was after a slightly quieter 2019.
- The Disney Skyliner evacuation boat gets a permanent home.
- Eaglecrest eyes building a $30+ million adventure park including a gondola replacement for Ptarmigan.
- MND Group’s LST division is working on another detachable lift.
- Before the Skyliner opens, take a look back at Walt Disney’s original vision for a gondola-connected resort.
- Stevens Pass is indeed moving the Skyline Express to make way for two new lifts and is considering even more lift projects in the future.
- U.S. ski areas paid record rent to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management last year.
- Arizona Snowbowl is working on a master plan update which will include two new lift projects.
News Roundup: Tallying
- Just in time for summer, the Sea to Sky Gondola welcomes ten more cabins to the line, increasing capacity by 50 percent.
- The Idaho Springs, Colorado city council may vote Monday on rezoning for a proposed 17 tower, 27 cabin gondola lift.
- Hermitage Club founder Jim Barnes explains his reorganization plan but for now, a receiver remains in place.
- Snowshoe is purportedly planning to replace Powder Monkey with a fixed grip quad next summer.
- Although it doesn’t build lifts in the United States, Bartholet has built some very slick machines lately.
- The Indy Pass grows to 28 resorts.
- A rocket from Syria damages a ski lift at Israel’s Mt. Hermon, where a Leitner gondola is also currently under construction.
- Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz launches a podcast with a great first episode about the Park City acquisition.
- The City of Steamboat is still weighing options for bringing in a private operator and/or replacing Barrows at Howelsen Hill.
- California Express notches another approval but litigation could be coming.
- Vail Resorts reports a great quarter: skier visits up 14.3 percent and lift revenue up 16.4 percent with season pass sales for next year trending up 9 percent and 13 percent in units and dollars. “We are still absolutely aggressive on looking for additional resorts that we think add to our network and make the experience that we provide our guests better,” says Rob Katz on the quarterly conference call.
- Quebec tallied 4.6 million skier visits last winter, a ten year high for a province with three new chairlifts already under construction for next year.
- New Hampshire resorts logged 100,000 more skier days than 2017-18.
- Colorado is king with 13.1 million estimated skier visits, a new record.
- This was supposed to be the summer the town of Grafton, Illinois celebrated a new gondola. Instead, 2019 will be remembered for the flooding that has thrown a wrench in its construction.
- Teo II is approved but has no timeline for construction yet.
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