Accidents knock two gondolas out of commission at the same Austrian ski resort in the span of a week. One due to a fire and the other a pileup of cabins. The latter one is already back in service.
Doppelmayr USA taps former New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority head Ted Blazer to lead the company’s urban ropeway push.
Timerline Four Seasons Resort keeps pushing back its opening day, now scheduled for December 21st. Yesterday its managing partner was arrested and charged with failing to remit hotel taxes.
There was a bit of a setback before American Eagle’s load test on Monday but repairs are complete and the first of two new lifts at Copper opens Saturday.
A pulse gondola could join the skyline in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
The White River National Forest grants final approval for Beaver Creek’s McCoy Park expansion and preliminary approval of Aspen Mountain’s Pandora project.
My brother Ben Landsman and Tiffany Wilson are Lift Blog Southeast Asian correspondents this week. Check out their adventure on the world’s longest and fastest gondola earlier today.
When a group of homeowners banded together to spin lifts at a bankrupt Tamarack Resort in 2010, it was a temporarily measure. Eight years later, a consortium of investors has finally agreed to take over operations of the 2,100 acre resort and resume development that abruptly ceased in March 2009. The group, made up of Imperium Companies, MMG Equity Partners and Blue River Family Office Partners, is the same one behind much of the commercial real estate at Blue Mountain, Copper, Mammoth, Snowshoe and Stratton. It expects to close on the mountain November 30th.
Only foundations and operator houses remain on the Wildwood site at the north end of Tamarack.
Current Tamarack staff including General Manager Brad Larsen will remain with the resort upon closing. Industry veteran Jon Reveal will come on board as President of Tamarack Resort Holdings. “We have been evaluating and working on this agreement for nearly two years to truly understand the history and complexities of the resort,” Reveal said in a news release. “The partnership strongly believes Tamarack has a tremendous opportunity to thrive as a four-season destination of choice for Idahoans and visitors from across North America. Our team looks forward to proving our commitment to Tamarack, Valley County residents, Idahoans and all our guests through investment, completion of unfinished projects and improved resort amenities and offerings.”
Tamarack Resort Holdings, a partnership of resort investors & managers, has entered into an agreement to purchase the resort. The future is bright! https://t.co/sychuP22x5pic.twitter.com/ixYyCDEYEY
Jean-Pierre Boespflug led the investment group that opened Tamarack in 2003, building six lifts over two years along with significant real estate offerings. Mr. Boespflug’s timing was unfortunate and the resort fell behind on payments for a $250 million loan by early 2008. The lifts closed on March 4th, 2009 and Tamarack did not open again for a year and a half. The Tamarack Municipal Association reached an agreement to operate four of six lifts in 2010 and bought assets from lenders for pennies on the dollar in 2016. Amid the mess, Bank of America repossessed the Wildwood Express lift, which ended up at Brian Head, Utah. Homeowners were able to purchase and retain the Buttercup lift, which was also underwater but of significantly less value than Wildwood. At one point four other lifts came close to being sold in a sheriff sale.
Tamarack has two Leitner-Poma high speed quads, two Doppelmayr CTEC fixed grip quads and a Poma platter surface lift today.
Under a lease agreement reached today with the State of Idaho, the new owners commit to either rebuilding or removing the remaining foundations from Wildwood by December 31, 2024 (The Idaho Department of Lands is the landlord in this case rather than the United States Forest Service.) Imperium Co-Founder Kyle Mowitz says the focus this time will be on the mountain rather than real estate a new Wildwood could come as soon as summer 2019. Work should also resume next spring on the incomplete Village Plaza and mid-mountain restaurant. The Osprey Meadows golf course, which was abandoned in 2016 and is partially owned by another party, will take longer to reclaim.
I followed Tamarack’s grand opening with excitement and then watched its downfall with disappointment. What happened was never about the mountain, which is perfect for a ski resort. There’s gorgeous Lake Cascade at the base and boundless recreational opportunities in every season. As a decade went by, I remained hopeful a second chance would come for this remarkable place. Congratulations to Tamarack employees and homeowners for staying the course through some dark times to get to this new day.
The Aspen City Council considers Aspen Mountain’s Telemix project again.
The Jackson Town Council rejects Snow King Mountain’s proposed gondola alignment.
Doppelmayr apologizes for a delay completing the new Blackcomb Gondola. The new Catskinner and Emerald Express lifts open Thursday and the gondola will be finished by December 14th.
The world’s largest urban gondola network now transports 250,000 passengers every weekday with the most popular line doing a million passengers every 19 days.
Alterra’s Ikon Pass now includes three resorts in New Zealand; Vail adds Les 3 Vallées, France and Skirama Dolomiti in Italy to the Epic Pass.
Searchmont, Ontario sells to Wisconsin Resorts, the firm behind Pine Knob, Mt. Holly and Ski Bittersweet in Michigan as well as Alpine Valley, Wisconsin.
Mike Solimano of Killington reveals what three lifts he would upgrade if given $100 million to spend at The Beast.
The new Winter Park gondola is creatively named Gondola.
Grand Junction’s NBC affiliate takes viewers inside the factory where Leitner-Poma lifts are created.
The two stage Blackcomb Gondola is almost finished; thanks Max for these pictures.
Next up for Ramcharger 8 at Big Sky: installation of an in-terminal video wall and the haul rope, which is going up right now.
As Vail Resorts shakes up management in the northeast, outgoing Mt. Sunapee GM Jay Gamble reflects on 20 years of growth including four new lifts and 110,000 annual skier visits.
Vail also says goodbye to Sunapee’s Duckling double after 55 years.
The owner of Mt. Washington, British Columbia; Ragged Mountain, New Hampshire; Wisp, Maryland and Wintergreen, Virginia takes over operations at Powderhorn, Colorado.
The $2 billion Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco, which features a short aerial tramway, is mired in problems unrelated to the lift.
Construction begins in Switzerland for the world’s second longest 3S with the most towers – seven.
With new six and eight passenger lifts, Big Sky Resort shifts away from the double/triple/quad lift lingo.
Alterra names KSL veteran Adam Knox Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development to lead the company’s acquisitions and resort partnership group.
Due to the amount of lift work needed after seven shuttered years, Cockaigne, NY won’t reopen this winter after all.
One of the longest Riblets retired from Snowmass turns up in the Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was killed.
A freshly cut lift line is spotted in the Spanish Peaks development adjacent to Big Sky Resort, probably for the planned Highlands chair.
A judge quashes spending for lift maintenance at the Hermitage Club, which remains in foreclosure. A new lawsuit against the ski area alleges breach of contract and consumer fraud.
Another aerial tramway cabin crashes in Europe, this time on the one year old Bartholet jigback Staubernbahn. No one was hurt as the cabin that hit the ground was empty.
The Boston Globe talks with Mainers about a fourth winter without Saddleback.
In New Zealand, The Remarkables is set to build the inaugural D-Line in the southern hemisphere and Coronet Peak announces a Leitner Telemix.
The new Bretton Woods trail map indicates the gondola may not be called Presidential Bahn after all.
As Copper Mountain and Leitner-Poma crews work hard to finish two big lifts, opening weekend shifts to Super Bee.
The final Disney Skyliner towers rise from a lake and one station gets a mural.
Peak Pass sales are pacing ahead of last year by 19 percent in units and 22 percent in dollars despite increased northeast competition from Vail and Alterra.
The shut down Hermitage Club expects to close on $25-30 million in financing around Thanksgiving. One potential reopening complication: the chairlifts haven’t been touched by mechanics since March.
A new trail map shows the locations of Killington’s three new lifts.
Beech Mountain is rocking two new quad chairs this winter and an all new trail map.
Taos has an updated map to go along with its high speed quad.
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