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Giants Ridge Scores $5.7 Million for New Lifts

Peter Landsman3 Comments

Giants Ridge is about to tackle its aging lifts problem with a huge grant from Minnesota’s state economic development agency.  Last Tuesday, the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) approved $5.7 million to buy new detachable and fixed-grip quad chairlifts for the 200-acre mountain resort it owns. Giants Ridge’s fleet of five Riblet chairlifts and a Borvig J-Bar date back to 1984, 1987 and 1997.  As with hundreds of other small American ski areas, Giants Ridge’s lifts are orphaned, meaning the original manufacturer is no longer in business.  Tram Support, Inc. still supplies parts for Riblet lifts but the fact remains that many of these lifts have exceeded their useful life.  Giants Ridge Executive Director Linda Johnson told the board, “the company that made our lifts is no longer in business. We can be down for hours and skiers are longing for a high-speed lift experience.”

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The IRRRB’s mission is “to promote and invest in business, community and workforce development for the betterment of northeastern Minnesota, providing vital funding, including low or no interest loans and grants for businesses relocating or expanding in the region.”  The board bought Giants Ridge outright in 1984 to enhance the quality of life and create jobs for the people of the Iron Range.   This news is a win-win for a ski operation that generates an estimated $43 million in community economic impact each year.  Of course, not everyone is happy about the government owning a ski area that’s lost more than $40 million.  There is a middle ground, however, between government ownership of ski areas and private mountains going out of business.  The National Ski Areas Association is currently at work on an initiative urging governments to provide low- or no-interest loans to ski areas investing in infrastructure such as the replacement of older lifts.  It’s really no different than state governments providing economic incentives for manufacturing plants or call centers.

The new Calgary Express high speed quad at Giants Ridge will reduce a 5.6 minute ride to 2.3 minutes. A fixed-grip quad will replace a second lift but it’s unclear which one (educated guess is the Helsinki double.)  Both new lifts will be completed by November 2017 and there’s no word yet who will build them.

Jay Peak Nears Tram Reopening with Upgrades Planned for 2017

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Jay Peak Resort broke the silence today on its tram issues following a federal takeover in April and an order from the State of Vermont in May prohibiting operation without major upgrades to the 50-year old tram.  Since those events and now under control of a receiver, the resort worked with the State Tramway Division on a plan to re-open the tram early this summer and schedule major upgrades for next spring, which is great news for employees and skiers.  Jay Peak personnel, together with a tramway specialist from Doppelmayr/Garaventa and state inspectors, completed a load test and inspection of the tram this week.  They found a crack in a component of one carriage that will be replaced next week before the tram reopens.  $5 million worth of upgrades to the lift’s tower saddles, carriages, hangers, brakes and safety systems will take place after the ski area closes next Spring.  See Jay Peak’s full statement below.

June 16, 2016 (Jay, VT)- Jay Peak Resort recently completed a three-day inspection of its aerial tram. The resort, in cooperation with the state, flew in an aerial tramway specialist and worked with state inspectors to examine the tram and its operating systems. Inspectors conducted a successful load test designed to ensure that all of the conveyance’s electrical, hauling and braking systems can function normally under strenuous conditions. After passing the load test, resort personnel successfully completed and passed an evacuation drill. The team also inspected the tram’s towers and its bolting structures. All were found to be operating normally.

Inspectors did find on the last day of the inspection a hairline crack to one of the components of one of the tram carriages. That part will be removed and replaced next week. After that work is complete, state officials will return for a final review.

“We’re happy the inspection process has gone so smoothly,” remarked Steve Wright, Jay Peak’s General Manager. “The resort has a long history of cooperation with the state’s lift inspectors and it’s their rigor and responsiveness that has allowed this process to move so efficiently.”

The resort recently signed a $5 million contract with the Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group to conduct custom upgrades to the tram, but that work isn’t scheduled to begin until the spring of 2017 and is not required for operations this summer or for the coming winter.

Wright said Doppelmayr/Garaventa will begin work on the enhancements shortly as the improvements are all customized and will take approximately 12 months to complete. Installation of the upgrades will begin in the spring of 2017.

News Roundup: Six-Packs

Peter Landsman6 Comments
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Into the air at Caberfae Peaks, Michigan. Thanks to Lawrence W. for the photo.

Soelden Announces Record-Breaking Giggijochbahn

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Soelden, Austria unveiled its record-breaking gondola today called Giggijochbahn, to open next winter with the ability to carry 4,500 passengers per hour. The ropeway will feature Doppelmayr’s next-generation D-Line components and two modern terminal buildings, one featuring panoramic images of the Alps and the other showing off ropeway technology behind real glass.  The top terminal will have parking for most of the lift’s 134 CWA Omega IV-10-D cabins.  Innsbruck architect Johann Obermoser designed the stations in collaboration with Soelden and Doppelmayr.

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This will be an impressive system by any measure with 3,022 feet of vertical rise and an 8,688-foot slope length.  Travelling at the record-breaking speed of 6.5 m/s (1,280 fpm) the ride will take just 8.87 minutes.  The fastest monocable gondolas in the world currently top out at 1,212 fpm.  The Giggijochbahn will have 26 towers and a 62 mm haul rope driven by a ~2,180 HP electric motor.  The biggest innovation will be the capacity – reaching 4,500 passengers per hour, per direction.  I believe 3,600 is the current capacity record for a monocable gondola, a record shared between many lifts including the 10-passenger Gondola One at Vail and the 15-passenger Village Gondola at Mammoth.

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News Roundup: Vail Effect

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State of Vermont Orders Jay Peak Tram Closed

Peter Landsman14 Comments

The State of Vermont Passenger Tramway Division sent a letter Tuesday to Jay Peak Resort, ordering its aerial tramway shut down until significant upgrades are completed.  Jay Peak agreed last fall to make critical repairs to the tram with more upgrades to be completed this spring by Doppelmayr/Garaventa.  The State says Jay Peak has not completed these upgrades in advance of the summer season, hence the formal Order for Corrective Action sent this week.  The Jay Peak Aerial Tramway was built by VonRoll in 1966 and received new 60-passenger cabins in 2000.

On April 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission seized control of the resort from its owners, alleging a $200 million fraud scheme.  Florida attorney Michael Goldberg was placed in charge by a federal court and tasked with sorting out Jay Peak’s finances so the resort can be sold.  Jay reportedly lost $6.2 million last winter and Mr. Goldberg is looking for cost savings.  When asked about the upgrades needed to the tram a few weeks ago, Goldberg told the Burlington Free Press, “It kind of sucks that has to happen now.”  He also questioned Doppelmayr’s assessment of the tram, stating at a press conference, “we’re not even sure we have to fix the tram.  The company that tells us we have to fix it is also the one that will get the contract.”

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News Roundup: Into the Mountain

Peter Landsman1 Comment
  • Doppelmayr’s latest Wir Magazine has lots on D-Line.
  • Vail Resorts looks far and wide for its next acquisition with eyes towards Canada and Japan.
  • Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows enters strategic alliance with Genting Secret Garden, one of China’s newest ski resorts with a 6/8 chondola and two bubble high speed quads.
  • Great Divide, Montana is buying a new drive terminal for its Good Luck double.
  • Jay Peak receiver calls the resort’s financial situation “dire” as he reveals the resort lost $6.2 million last winter and looks for cost savings.
  • Queenstown’s Skyline Gondola will be replaced with a $60 million 10-passemger version in 2018.  The current 4-place Doppelmayr  gondola debuted in 1987.
  • The game-changing Leitner 3S gondola to the Stubai Glacier will open July 9th.

News Roundup: Setbacks

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  • The Vermont Passenger Tramway Board won’t allow the Jay Peak Tram to operate until its carriages are overhauled and controls upgraded, which Doppelmayr says will cost $4.9 million.  Not to worry, the court-appointed receiver says although “it kind of sucks that it has to happen now,” the work is scheduled and summer tram rides will happen.
  • The replacement for the La Bufa Cable Car in Zacatecas faces delays over concerns about visual impacts.  Poma delivered parts for the pulse gondola lift last winter.
  • Mexico’s National Action Party criticizes the bidding process for Torreón’s new 8-passenger gondola but construction continues.
  • Les Otten still hopes to break ground at The Balsams this summer but doesn’t have all the financing he needs.
  • Austin’s Wire gondola proposal gets some exposure.
  • Sandia Peak mulls the future of its retired tram cars.
  • The Kottke survey is out and U.S. ski areas hosted 53.9 million skier visits last season, up slightly from 2014-15.  The Pacific Northwest saw its best season ever, up 142 percent, while the Rockies were +8 percent, Pacific Southwest +53 percent and the three Eastern regions declined.
  • North America is up to 36 new lifts for 2016, up slightly from 2015.  For comparison, resorts in Austria, France and Switzerland have ordered 94 lifts for an area roughly the size of Colorado   Austria alone is getting 20 new gondolas!  Last year the same three countries built 75 new lifts.

News Roundup: Dramatic

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Cascade Mountain Announces $9 Million Expansion with 2 New Lifts

Peter Landsman3 Comments

Cascade Mountain will get two new Leitner-Poma quad chairs this summer with more new lifts on the way, the resort announced today.  This summer’s $9 million slate of improvements includes a high speed quad replacement for the Cindy Pop chair, a new quad serving seven new trails, an expanded base lodge and snowmaking improvements.

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Cascade Mountain became the first ski area in Wisconsin with a high-speed lift back in 1998 and has eight lifts including three quad chairs.  The new Cindy Pop Express will be nearly twice as long as the 1991 Borvig quad chair it replaces and will move 2,400 skiers per hour.  The new “Lift C” will be a fixed-grip quad east of the current ski area serving new terrain.  Cascade owners Rob and Vicki Walz are excited to move forward with the expansion that’s been years in the making. “My dad always envisioned using the far east side of Cascade for an expansion and he started cutting trails many years ago.  The time has come to reach the next level for Cascade. Our customers will appreciate the new intermediate trails which are longer than what we have on the west side,” commented Rob Walz in the announcement on the resort’s website.

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The Cindy Pop Borvig comes down to make way for a Leitner-Poma detachable quad.  Photo credit: Cascade Mountain
Work has already begun in preparation for the new lifts.  Cascade has plans for two additional chairlifts to be added in upcoming years which would bring the ski area up to 11 lifts and 55 trails.  Congratulations to everyone at Cascade Mountain and Leitner-Poma on this exciting news!