- Ikon Pass adds five mountains in the Aosta Valley of Italy.
- One of those mountains – Cervino – announces a monster Leitner 3S with three stations and 4,700 feet of vertical.
- Indy Pass signs a flurry of new mountains, mostly small and remote outposts:
- Hilltop and Mt. Eyak, Alaska
- Little Ski Hill, Idaho
- Hyland Hills, Minnesota
- Cuchara, Colorado (lift not yet operable)
- Mt. LaCrosse and Sunburst, Wisconsin
- Buffalo Ski Club and Dry Hill, New York
- McIntyre, New Hampshire
- Hockley Valley, Ontario
- Mont Sutton, Owl’s Head, Mont Edouard, Mont Habitant, Vallée Bleue, Val d’Irene and Ski Vorlage, Quebec
- Marble Mountain and Smokey Mountain, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Others in Europe, Asia and South America
- Buck Hill, Minnesota; Swiss Valley, Michigan and Montage Mountain, Pennsylvania leave Indy Pass.
- Judges uphold the 2022 revocation of a permit for Park City Mountain’s Eagle and Silverlode lift replacements; Vail Resorts vows to submit new applications for both.
- In another blow for Vail, a jury awards $20 million to a teenager who fell after misloading the Paradise Express at Crested Butte.
- Matthew Prince floats the idea of a gondola from Old Town Park City to Solitude and Alta.
- Big Sky’s Lone Peak Tram top station enclosure to open this season with the name Kircliff.
- A flood damages lifts at Crystal Ridge, Wisconsin.
- A new Leitner-Poma gondola opens in South Carolina.
- Jackson Hole lobbies the Forest Service for a mountain resort specific management designation applying to JHMR, Snow King and White Pine plus 620 acres not currently in JHMR’s permit area but identified in an accepted master plan (full letter here).
- Doppelmayr raises a 7,800 lb. bullwheel into position at Alpental by hand.
- Spirit Mountain to name its new chairlift via a public vote.
News
News Roundup: Moonlight West
- Moonlight West to launch in Big Sky with four lifts planned.
- Alterra all but cancels Main Lodge redevelopment at Mammoth, including gondola replacement and several base lifts.
- Here’s the latest official Deer Valley construction update and a look at how Deer Valley East was designed on a blank canvas.
- Doppelmayr goes vertical on its new Salt Lake factory.
- The President expands 50 percent steel and aluminum tariffs to more products.
- ORDA defends financial losses, citing increased revenue and visitor numberts.
- Indy Pass promises dozens of new resorts coming next week, introduces a $189 Learn to Turn pass with lessons and rentals.
- Long lost Utah ski area Snowland to reopen this season with rope tows, may add a T-Bar in 2027.
- Bigrock, Maine has Mueller double chairs for sale.
- Sandia Peak to sell rare Stadeli center pole chairs.
- Killington to auction gondola cabins from Skyeship starting Monday.
- Park City billionaire Matthew Prince suggests activist investors could break up Vail Resorts.
- Purgatory works on what it can in the parking lot while awaiting permission to build the Gelande lift.
- A Colorado unseated passenger lawsuit heads to trial.
- Ober Mountain rebrands its aerial tram as the The Gatlinburg Tram.
- I stopped by the Mighty Argo last week to check out progress on their new D-Line gondola.
Snow Triple Play to Launch with 15 Mountains
Snow Partners has revealed details of its upcoming frequency card, tailored toward casual and traveling skiers in the Northeast. The Snow Triple Play will offer three total days across Snow Partners’ two mountains in New Jersey, ORDA’s three mountains in New York, Les Sommets’ four mountains in Southern Quebec plus others in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and Nova Scotia. The first thousand cards will sell for $169.99 plus a 5 percent processing fee, working out to just $59.50 per day. The list price will be $199.99 plus 5 percent or exactly $70 per day of skiing. Either way, that’s a huge discount for resorts like Whiteface, Mountain Creek and Pleasant Mountain. In order to use all three days, card holders must visit at least two mountains; they cannot use all three days at one mountain. Details on potential blackout dates are still forthcoming. The pass will go on sale on Labor Day and sell through Christmas Eve.
“We recognized that there’s a significant portion of the skiing and snowboarding population that loves the sport but doesn’t ski frequently enough to justify a full Season Pass,” said Dave Belin, CFO of Snow Partners and COO of the Snow Triple Play. “The Snow Triple Play bridges that gap, offering substantial savings while giving skiers the flexibility to explore different mountains throughout the region.” He noted 73 percent of the 11+ million skiers and snowboarders in the US ski five days or less each season while most existing season pass products require skiing five days or more to pencil out.
The pass will particularly appeal to Tri-State area skiers, with options for redemptions across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Popular ski states Vermont and New Hampshire are noticeably absent from the initial partner list, making the product less appealing to Boston residents. Interestingly, Snow Triple Play includes Boyne-owned Pleasant Mountain in Maine but not Boyne’s other New England resorts in Maine or New Hampshire. Similarly, the pass includes the four Les Sommets near Montreal but not Sommet Edelweiss near Ottawa. Snow Partners also signed Ski Martock in Nova Scotia but not sister mountain Cape Smokey. Independent mountains on the pass are Oak Mountain, New York; Plattekill, New York; Mount Southington, Connecticut and Ski Butternut, Massachusetts.
Another interesting aspect of this product is the lack of overlap with other passes. Not one of the 15 mountains on Snow Triple Play participates in Epic, Ikon or Indy. At such a low price point, serious skiers could easily snag a Snow Triple Play card on top of their usual mega pass and check out three new mountains.
News Roundup: Explorer
- The Palm Springs Tramway reopens tomorrow after a week closure due to a faulty motor contactor.
- The public operator of Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface, lost a record $50 million last year.
- Wasatch Peaks adds an eighth lift to its fleet this summer.
- Montage Mountain, PA appears to leave the Indy Pass but new additions are coming soon.
- Mt. Norquay displays demo cabins from both manufacturers with gondola installation planned for 2026.
- Vail Resorts increases the discount Epic Pass holders can give friends to 50 percent.
- In an interview, Vail’s CEO says the company will refocus on North American investment.
- Austrian Fabian Dankl rides a bike on a haul rope between two lift towers (with permission).
- Unseated passengers aren’t just a winter problem.
- Snoqualmie raises $194,000 for charity from the sale of 97 Riblet doubles.
- Gore Mountain to sell chairs from Topridge in a race-to-the-parking lot format August 23rd.
- Riverbanks Zoo to open South Carolina’s only gondola this month.
- A lightning-caused wildfire burns much of Tamarack’s proposed expansion area but spares resort infrastructure so far.
- Purgatory runs into permitting delays with the Gelande lift project.
- Butternut releases a new trail map showing the Jane’s Quad.
- Sponsored job: Cable Propelled Transit Engineer at SCJ Alliance.
- I snapped a few photos of the Sunrise Gondola and parking garage projects at Park City last week.
News Roundup: Aerials
- Okanagan Gondola eyes a 2027 opening.
- Waterville Valley explains the reasoning behind building a lift in house.
- Quebec’s CMSQ group is selected to operate Mont Édouard and plans a CA$16 million six pack for 2026.
- CMSQ also intends to operate Mont Adstock and would like to take control of Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham.
- BigRock, Maine decommissions its Mueller double.
- Vail narrows down on a gondola plan for West Lionshead.
- Still no arrests five years after the Sea to Sky Gondola cable was cut.
- A deal is in the works to reopen Toggenburg, New York for skiing.
- The Canadian government finds no illegal monopoly with the Banff Gondola and Jasper Sky Tram under common ownership.
- Five people are hospitalized following a chairlift collapse in Russia. Photos and video show the single chairs’s drive terminal upside down.
- The Forest Service approves a Sandia Peak Telemix.
- Aspen takes an exploratory look at valley gondola transport.
- Kicking Horse finishes installation of new hanger arms, hopes to reopen its gondola soon.
- The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway temporarily closes due to technical issues.
- Here’s a look from the air where Powder Mountain’s DMI, Davenport and Halfpint lifts are going.
Instagram Tuesday: Superstar
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Mechanics
- New hanger arms arrive at Kicking Horse five months after a cabin fell from the Golden Eagle Express.
- Snow Ridge, New York moves two towers on the North lift damaged by a 2023 tornado.
- Two possible buyers emerge for Toggenburg, New York, one of which would reopen the mountain for skiing.
- Powdr continues to work toward a transaction to sell SilverStar, BC.
- Virtually all candidates for Park City Council support exploring aerial transit for the region.
- The family of a Montana man who died in a lift deropement at Red Lodge Mountain last winter hold a community car show in his honor.
- Leaders of the European Union and United States settle on a 15 percent tariff for goods moving stateside.
- The tariff rate on Swiss goods soars to 39 percent beginning next week.
- Mexico’s President announces construction of the world’s longest urban gondola line in Mexico City with eight stations over 7.1 miles and 398 cabins.
- Oaxaca to join the urban gondola train too.
- The proposed Zincton project in interior British Columbia to bypass a full environment assessment.
- Here are two great snapshots of the lift maintenance profession.
- Telluride looks toward a 10 place gondola with a design capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 people per hour and two cabin parking/maintenance facilities.
- Vail Resorts and unionized Park City mechanics reach a tentative agreement good through mid-2028.
News Roundup: Rescues
- Whiteface joins the Mountain Collective Pass.
- The Forest Service approves up to three lifts for the Trails at Mena bike park in Arkansas, down from a proposed five.
- Nearly a thousand people show up to watch Doppelmayr install East Village Gondola towers at Deer Valley.
- Big Sky’s ski patrol debriefs the avalanche that hit the top of Swift Current 6 last winter.
- Snow Ridge, New York is selling chairs from the old Snowy Meadows double.
- A zoo chairlift in Massachusetts is evacuated by ladder truck and boom lifts.
- A dangling man is rescued from the chairlift at Lagoon, Utah.
- A tower from Killington’s Superstar Express heads to Sugarbush – not sure why but I have asked.
- Foreign investors sue Powder Mountain seeking $76 million.
- Enjoy this small glimpse into mountain planning and design.
- Hogadon, Wyoming floats price increases and a 10 percent facility surcharge to help pay for a new chairlift.
News Roundup: Hypotheticals
- Sun Valley’s proposed Frenchman’s replacement would be a higher capacity detachable quad and River Run would be a six pack with the same capacity as the existing quad.
- Park City’s proposed Cabriolet replacement would include a mid-station with slight angle change.
- From the classifieds: a used Doppelmayr quad for sale in Ontario.
- Marble Mountain, Newfoundland cancels July lift service citing supply chain delays.
- Closed Sugar Loaf, Michigan could reopen as a non-lift recreation area.
- A proposed 30 percent tariff on goods from the EU and 35 percent on Canada could spell trouble for the ski industry.
- A full aerial tram car and bear spray don’t mix well.
- MND and ten associated individuals in France are fined €1.89 million for “late communication of inside information, insider trading and breaches of professional obligations.”
Brian Head Eyes Massive Expansion
Southern Utah’s Brian Head Resort would quadruple in size under a sprawling vision detailed today by the Forest Service. The complex expansion would encompass 1,651 acres of the Dixie National Forest along with thousands of acres of private land owned by Brian Head Resort and third party developer Aspen Meadows. The expanded ski area would also include lands owned by the State of Utah and Brian Head Town. All told, the vision could see 26 new lifts, more than 382 acres of new cut trails, 19 miles of new snowmaking lines, 15 miles of new roads and four new on-mountain restaurants. Brian Head’s Comfortable Carrying Capacity would more than triple from 4,330 guests today to 13,250. The resort says the project would accommodate a growing demand for outdoor recreation in Utah, enhance learning progression, provide connectivity between base portals and improve the overall guest experience.
Brian Head was acquired in 2019 by Mountain Capital Partners, the fast-growing collective of 13 ski areas in the Western United States and South America helmed by James Coleman. Coleman’s ambitious plan for Brian Head is not completely new as adjacent developer Aspen Meadows proposed eight of the lifts on 850 acres of private land back in 2023. Many of the lifts proposed on public land were included in Brian Head’s 2023 Master Development Plan.
Of the 26 lifts now proposed, ten would be located entirely on Forest Service land, four would straddle private and USFS lands and 12 would occupy entirely private land. Within the existing ski area, Roulette would be replaced with a high speed quad and extended to load lower on the mountain. All other existing lifts would remain. A surface tow is proposed near the existing Alpen Glow triple to serve four new trails. Higher up on the mountain, three new lifts are planned on 11,310′ foot Brian Head Peak. These would include a 4,340′ detachable quad called Dragon’s Back and a 1,400 foot jig-back tram called Peak.
In the Sid’s Peak to East Ridge expansion pod, Brian Head aims to manage hazard trees and vegetation in areas impacted by the 2017 Brian Head Fire. Five lifts in this pod would service some of Brian Head’s most advanced terrain. The longest, dubbed Summit, would be a detachable quad spanning 7,425 feet. Four other lifts in this zone would be fixed grip triples extending between 999 and 3,120 feet.
A third pod called Navajo Ridge to Dry Lakes would include four lifts ranging from surface tow to detachable quad. These installations would run near the existing Navajo Express and stretch between 558 and 4,887 feet. They would operate on public land within the Dixie National Forest and require a Special Use Permit boundary adjustment.
Finally is the Aspen Meadows to Highway 143 pod with a substantial new day skier portal called Art Village. This pod, located on private land, would include an eight passenger pulse gondola linking to Brian Head’s existing Navajo base. From Art Village, skiers could connect to numerous lifts including four conveyors, six fixed triples and a detachable quad called Long Meadows. The Forest Service notes construction on this pod could begin before or concurrent with projects on public land as it is not subject to the EIS.
If this expansion was constructed as envisioned, it would create a unique opportunity to ski 360 degrees around a huge area in either direction along numerous different aspects. “Certain new lifts and associated ski runs would play an integral role in creating a circuit of resort skiing around a base village currently unparalleled in North America,” the plan exclaims.
The Forest Service notes portions of the proposal on public and adjacent land will undergo its most stringent level of environmental review – an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Even with today’s potentially favorable regulatory climate, the review is expected to take at least three years.
At a high level, Mountain Capital Partners has shown an incredible fortitude for acquiring ski areas and dreaming up big plans. Just last week, MCP announced its intent to become the controlling shareholder of four more ski areas in Chile, bringing its total mountain count to 17. Since 2015, the company has invested more than $125 million in improvements across its growing portfolio, including new detachable lifts at Nordic Valley and Arizona Snowbowl. Last year, the company debuted a modest new Skytrac at Arizona Snowbowl and this year MCP plans new lifts at Purgatory and Sipapu, both of which are fixed grip and contain parts from older lifts. Despite its success, Mountain Capital Partners’ ambition has not always been met with realized capital projects. A similarly massive expansion plan for Nordic Valley involving public land announced in 2018 went nowhere with the Forest Service.
At Brian Head, three public open houses are planned during the initial scoping period to solicit public feedback. They are:
- Tuesday, July 29, 2025 — Brian Head Lodge, 314 W Hunter Ridge Dr, Brian Head, UT
- Wednesday, July 30, 2025 — Parowan City Office, 35 E 100 N, Parowan, UT
- Thursday, July 31, 2025 — Southern Utah University, Brian Head Room (Sharwan Smith Center), Cedar City, UT
All three will run from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
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