News

Beaver Creek Announces Red Buffalo Express to Replace Drink of Water

Peter Landsman9 Comments

Adding to the big December announcement of new six-packs at Vail, Breckenridge and Keystone, Vail Resorts today revealed another high-speed lift will replace Drink of Water at Beaver Creek.   The new 4,300′ high-speed quad will reduce the ride time from 8.6 to 4.3 minutes and nearly double capacity.  “Upgrading this essential beginner lift will provide high-speed lift access to the amazing beginner and intermediate terrain at the top of Beaver Creek, increasing capacity and making for a seamless lift experience for our guests on the hill,” said Beth Howard, chief operating officer. “We expect this improvement to take significant volume off Cinch Express, Beaver Creek’s second most-popular lift, and it really is an improvement befitting of Beaver Creek’s luxury, family experience, as it enhances a key beginner and family area of our mountain.”   The Drink of Water double is the last remaining lift at Beaver Creek from the resort’s inaugural season in 1980.

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Drink of Water will be retired in April. Next season, Beaver Creek will only have two fixed-grip lifts remaining – Highlands and Elkhorn.

The Red Buffalo Express will almost certainly be built by Doppelmayr USA, as Beaver Creek operates an all Doppelmayr/CTEC fleet of 16 lifts.  The four new detachable lifts in Colorado are part of Vail Resorts’ $100 million capital plan this year and we learned this week the six-packs at Vail, Breck and Keystone will be installed by Leitner-Poma.    Eldora, Wolf Creek and Aspen are also likely to build new lifts for 2017-2018.

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Leitner-Poma to Build New Quad Chair at Whitewater, BC

Peter Landsman13 Comments
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A new chairlift will replace Whitewater’s original double chair that has operated for 41 years.

Whitewater Ski Area will get its first new chairlift since 1975 this coming summer, when a Leitner-Poma fixed-grip quad will replace the Summit double chair in time for next ski season. “The team at Whitewater is really excited to be able to further improve the experience we offer here at the resort,” said General Manager Kirk Jensen on Monday.  “It is going to be a significant upgrade for the resort and ultimately for our guests.”

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Whitewater Ski Resort says its Summit Riblet will make its last laps this spring to make way for a Leitner-Poma quad.

The 3,088-foot lift will run in the same alignment as the old with a 6.2 minute ride time and a vertical of 1,241 feet.  Towers will be taller, the center pole Riblet chairs gone and loading/unloading areas improved. Whitewater is owned by Knee Deep Developments Ltd. in a nod to the massive snow pack that usually graces Nelson, BC.  The mountain’s two other chairlifts were relocated from other ski resorts, most recently the Glory Ridge triple from Vail in 2010.  A truly new lift will be a welcome addition for guests at this gem of a ski area in the Selkirk Mountains.

News Roundup: Huge

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Leitner-Poma to Install New Drive on Quickdraw at Granby Ranch Following Accident

Peter Landsman11 Comments

Leitner-Poma wasn’t involved in recent work that likely caused last month’s fatal fall at Granby Ranch, but the original manufacturer of the lift will fix it.  Ten days after re-opening using only the lift’s diesel auxiliary, Granby Ranch has a plan to restore Quickdraw to full capacity with a new electronic drive.  In a statement issued today, The ski area acknowledged a third-party company modified the drive system over the summer, as I reported last week.  “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the issue that likely caused the incident was the independent contractor’s modification to the lift’s electrical drive/control system,” the release notes.  The third-party installed system only operated 13 days before a chair hit a tower Dec. 29th, killing 40-year old Kelly Huber of Texas and injuring her two daughters.

The Quickdraw lift at Granby Ranch seen last summer, when a third-party contractor installed a new electronic drive system.

Earlier today, Granby Ranch said Quickdraw would be closed today and tomorrow for additional testing, as ordered by the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board.  The area hopes to re-open again under diesel power in the next few days and Leitner-Poma will install the new electronic drive system in the near future.  The CPTSB will release its official report on the December incident in the coming months.

Update 1/21/17: A state spokesman says the CPTSB ordered the lift closed until further notice at an emergency meeting after reviewing “unusual/irregular conditions” observed while Quickdraw was operating with the diesel auxiliary.

News Roundup: Building

Peter Landsman6 Comments
  • I talk six-packs with the Vail Daily.
  • Heavenly’s Comet Express remains closed following a Jan. 1st rope evacuation, apparently due to a gearbox issue.  This is one of the reasons Vail Resorts is replacing its fleet of 1980s-vintage detachable quads.
  • Doppelmayr and the United Nations are hosting a week-long urban mobility ropeway class in April.
  • The New York Times tells the tale of Big Sky Resort.
  • Ski patroller severely injured in fall from chair at Terry Peak.
  • Gondola proposed to serve airport in Vietnam’s congested largest city.
  • BC Parks considers a gondola to Mt. Seymour to alleviate parking and traffic problems.
  • Ski Area Management‘s lift construction survey dropped this week.  Highlights from its outlook for 2017:
    • “We’re off to a strong year for ’17, there are lots of people asking about lifts…It’s very positive compared to the previous two years.” – Jon Mauch, Senior Sales Manager at Leitner-Poma
    • “There’s a lot of enthusiasm about what could happen under a Trump administration.  People expect deregulation and a more business-friendly climate.” – Mark Bee, President at Doppelmayr USA
    • “We’re seeing lots of requests quotes, lots of major modifications and retrofits…It’s all being driven by the age of the existing lift infrastructure.” – Carl Skylling, General Manager at Skytrac
    • I’ve already identified 29 new lifts likely to be built in 2017, pacing well above the last few years for mid-January.
  • Slovakian manufacturer Tatralift debuts its third detachable lift using a Wopfner grip.  That makes seven companies capable of building a detachable lift globally – Bartholet, BMHRI (China), Doppelmayr/Garaventa (Austria), Leitner–Poma (Italy), LST (France), STM (Turkey) and Tatralift (Slovakia.)

Continue reading →

News Roundup: 360

Peter Landsman1 Comment

News Roundup: Dangling

Peter Landsman11 Comments

News Roundup: Climbing

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  • Suicide Six debuts new Leitner-Poma quad chair, Red River opens its new Doppelmayr quad.
  • Sundance employees rush a ladder to a chair, climb up and pull a hanging child back up in just minutes.  A man at Seven Springs fares worse.
  • Two of Canada’s richest families still plan to build $3.5 billion ski resort near Squamish.
  • Telluride Mountain Village Gondola turns 20.
  • Jay Peak’s tram is back in action.
  • The AP runs a story on future urban gondolas in the United States.
  • Cannon Mountain’s new LST T-Bar goes down ahead of dedication.
  • If you enjoy this blog, Ski Inc. is a must read.

News Roundup: Rope

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  • Mi Teleférico to end 2016 with 77 million riders and a $2.9 million operating profit unheard of in public transportation.
  • Poma inaugurates fourth Medellín Metrocable line with a fifth under construction.
  • Jackson Hole cuts the ribbon on the Sweetwater Gondola.
  • Local government reaches tentative agreement with Branson Gondola backers.
  • Poma drops its latest newsletter.
  • On the heels of inaugurating four new ropeways in Switzerland, BMF signs some major contracts.
  • Laurel Mountain re-opens today after being shuttered for 11 seasons.
  • Kimberley’s Easter double got new chairs over the summer, the leftovers from Fernie’s new Polar Peak lift and Nakiska before that.
  • The Nakiska Gold Express saga continues, with 3,000 feet of new rope to be spliced into the haul rope, which is seven years old and was last spliced just two weeks ago. You can watch repairs in real time here.
  • Jay Peak hopes to have its tram running by Christmas weekend following its own rope problems.
  • After sustaining damage due to swinging chairs in a windstorm, Schweitzer’s Basin Express will be down for at least the next few days.
  • Take a virtual tour of the first Doppelmayr D-Line chairlift, Waidoffen, with Direct Drive and solar arrays.
  • A 13,000-foot long Poma gondola will dramatically improve access to a Peruvian fortress from January 2017.
  • Summit County, Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Transit Authority launch study of the Kimball Junction-Canyons Village-Park City corridor, including the option of building gondola(s.)

This is an open thread.  Feel free to comment on anything lift-related.

News Roundup: Oregon

Peter Landsman1 Comment