- Vail Resorts reaches an agreement with Crested Butte lift mechanics, averting a strike.
- A window falls from a cabin on Stowe’s Mansfield Gondola during operations.
- Mission Ridge acknowledges three different chairs have detached this season from Chair 4, a 1971 Riblet double (all empty and no injuries).
- Waterville Valley completes a midseason splice on the High Country T-Bar.
- A new owner looks to reopen Crystal Mountain, BC via crowdfunding.
- Winter Park’s High Lonesome Express is back after a four week maintenance closure.
- Still no Slide Brook Express at Sugarbush but hopefully soon.
- The Glade Triple at Catamount will miss the rest of the season.
- Badger Pass, California won’t open this season.
- Ditto for Cedar Pass, also in California.
- Park City gets serious about a gondola connecting Main Street to Deer Valley.
- President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports with potential impacts on lift manufacturers.
- The US Forest Service, landlord to 124 ski areas, lays off 3,400 employees.
- A bipartisan group of Senators sponsor a bill that would direct the Forest Service retain some of the fees resorts pay to the federal government for ski purposes, such as processing resort improvement projects.
- The gondola in Moab, Utah which sat for 25 years without ever opening, is finally being removed.
- Solitude demystifies lift maintenance for customers.
News
News Roundup: Change at the Top
- An avalanche hits the top of Swift Current 6 pre-opening, resulting in the rope evacuation of seven staff members and damaging several chairs.
- An empty chair falls from Mt. Bohemia’s Riblet double.
- Diamond Peak provides a primer on how lifts are de-iced of rime.
- A guest is injured falling from the new Coach chair at Bogus Basin, Idaho.
- Ditto for a lift at Mt. Holly, Michigan.
- Telluride-area residents seek to have the new gondola election results thrown out.
- British Columbia sues the operator of closed Tabor Mountain, seeks a new operator.
- New Hampshire provides an investigation update on the Attitash chair detachment, Flying Bear to remain closed.
- Wolf Creek forges on independently – selling reasonable walk up tickets, partnering with only one other mountain and building lifts in house.
- Cannon Mountain rope evacuates the Peabody Express due to a bolt failure.
- Pacific Group Resorts transitions from an operating lease to controlling owner of Powderhorn.
- Leitner-Poma is selected to build a new chairlift at Spirit Mountain, Minnesota.
- Middlebury Snowbowl opens Bailey Falls for the first time in two years.
- Whistler Blackcomb nears reopening the Glacier Express after a two week repair.
- Katharina Schmitz to depart as CEO of Doppelmayr USA, be succeeded by current VP, Operations Keith Johns.
News Roundup: Shortest and Longest
- Vista Ridge, Alberta rope evacuates the Wilson quad.
- Lutsen rope evacuates the Caribou Express (*despite what the link says, customers did receive lift ticket vouchers)
- Summit Express at Keystone has been down since last Saturday.
- Both Snowcat and Bobcat are inoperable at Wildcat, New Hampshire.
- The problem with Blackcomb’s Glacier Express is gearbox-related; WB airlifts a new electric motor into the Big Red Express terminal by helicopter with minimal down time.
- A number of lifts are also inoperable at Seven Springs, PA.
- A minor holder of Vail stock calls for executive firings and publishes a detailed presentation why.
- A teenager is injured and airlifted after hitting a lift tower at Mohawk Mountain.
- Killington has looked at replacing Ramshead with a bubble lift.
- Burke Mountain removes its J-Bar from the snow report entirely.
- Sitzmark, Washington won’t open this season.
- The Forest Service green lights Brighton to replace Milly Express and shorten Explorer.
- Looming tariffs on both Canada and the European Union could impact both lift manufacturers and their customers.
- The world’s shortest T-Bar – with no towers and just five carriers – begins spinning tomorrow.
- The world’s longest gondola reaches 60 percent completion with 290 workers on site.
News Roundup: Short Films
- Homewood’s new gondola is finally approved.
- Eaglecrest receives a key gondola construction permit.
- The Wall Street Journal covers several challenges facing Vail Resorts.
- Unionized Crested Butte lift mechanics authorize a strike should they be unable to reach a contract agreement with Vail.
- Breckenridge lift staff stage a one day sick out in protest of employee housing conditions, closing several lifts on Wednesday.
- Pioneer at Park City hasn’t opened this season due to an offseason deropement still being repaired.
- Blackcomb’s Glacier Express to be closed a week or longer due to a possible gearbox issue.
- Mount Snow’s Challenger has been inoperative since January 13th.
- Mammut sponsors a short film exploring the transformation of Shames Mountain, British Columbia into a community co-op.
- British Columbia opens public consultation for the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort.
- A gondola transit network in Oshawa, Ontario could cost CA$1.1 billion.
- Reed Hastings explains his sweeping changes at Powder Mountain including four new lifts in one summer and partial privatization.
- Chicopee, Ontario explains why its three new lifts aren’t spinning yet.
- Bristol Mountain partially rope evacuates the Comet Express.
- Ditto for the Mt. Hood Express at Mt. Hood Meadows.
- The Balsams extends approval for long-delayed redevelopment.
- Mont Farlagne, New Brunswick reopens its only chairlift after a month-long closure due to a bullwheel issue.
- Ischgl invites guests to help build a life size replica of a 3S gondola cabin with Lego bricks.
- The latest New Hampshire tram board minutes hint at a possible new lift for Bretton Woods.
- Mountain Village and Telluride begin planning their new gondola in earnest.
- Vermonters ask Why hasn’t Burke Mountain sold? as receivership fees surpass $12 million.
- Sugarbush gets all but one of its chairlifts going after a challenging start to the season.
- Several videos show the chaotic aftermath of the bullwheel detachment in Spain last week.
- Colorado releases the Winter Park gondola crack incident report, a full report of investigation remains in progress.
News Roundup: The Bar
- Vail Resorts reports a 0.3% decline in North American skier visits through 1/5 with revenue up 4.5%, ski school up 1.1%, dining up 6.6% and retail/rental down 5.4%.
- Park City offers guests who visited during the patrol strike partial credit toward a season pass next year.
- Park City businesses report a drop in business following the patrol strike.
- Kimberley, BC’s Tamarack chair goes down for awhile.
- Another snowboarder falls from a lift in Colorado – this time at Copper.
- A man who fell from Willamette Pass’ Peak 2 triple in high winds seeks $3.6 million in damages.
- Europeans poke fun at the lack of bars on lifts and Americans’ refusal to use them on lifts that are equipped.
- A trial in British Columbia finds proper signage increases bar use dramatically.
- The Atlantic runs a story on ski industry consolidation, labor relations and cheap season passes.
- Mt. Hood Meadows provides an update on Heather Canyon, which has yet to open this season.
- An Alaska windstorm blows a lift shack over on one lift and sends a chair into the bullwheel on another at Arctic Valley.
- Sugarbush apologizes for not having Castlerock and Slide Brook operable at this point in the season.
- Leaders approve a large development at Nordic Valley, Utah; likely to coincide with a new out-of-base lift.
- The municipality of Whistler to study a valley gondola transit line.
- Castle Mountain seeks a name for its first high speed quad.
News Roundup: Strike Over
- Park City’s patrol strike ends after 12 days; Vail apologizes to guests and a class action lawsuit is filed.
- Spirit Mountain, Minnesota solicits bids to replace Gandy with a quad this summer.
- Bald Mountain, Idaho may not open this season due to inability to secure insurance.
- Leitner-Poma President Daren Cole joins Banff Sunshine’s podcast to discuss the Super Angel Express and lift business more broadly.
- A sit skier who fell from Winter Park’s Explorer Express and was seriously injured files suit.
- Pursuit completes its acquisition of the Jasper SkyTram.
- Saskadena Six, Vermont will not operate Chair Two this season, looks at a replacement.
- Eaglecrest, Alaska continues to look toward a sightseeing gondola to subsidize its money-losing ski operation.
- Killington’s Superstar six pack will cost $12.16 million,
- Mt. Bachelor plans several enhancements to the Northwest Express.
- Sugarbush to bring in additional staff from across Alterra to try and get non-functional lifts open.
- Four Seasons, New York is listed for sale.
- Sandia Peak proposes replacing Chair 1.
Ski Butternut to Build New Quad Chair
Family-owned Ski Butternut plans to build its second Skytrac in five years this coming summer. The new lift, to be called Jane’s Quad, will replace the 50 year old Overbrook triple. The quad will load lower on the mountain and unload higher, following a modified alignment. The lift will be named for Jane Murdock, who founded the ski area with her husband Channing in 1963 and passed away last winter. Jane’s will be quite large, spanning 3,633 feet with 125 chairs and 15 towers. Vertical rise will increase from 721 feet on the current Thiokol lift to 757 feet.
Site preparation began last spring in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation. “After a multi-year planning, engineering, and permitting phases, we are excited to bring this modernization to Ski Butternut,” said Dillon Mahon, Marketing Director of Ski Butternut. “This area of the mountain is a favorite among our guests, and this new lift will enhance the overall experience. It’s a long term investment in the future of Ski Butternut and in the enjoyment of our skiers and snowboarders,” he continued.
Jane’s will be the second Skytrac constructed at Butternut following Paddy Wagon in 2021. The area also operates three CTEC quads and will become a 100% fixed grip quad mountain for the 2025-26 season.
News Roundup: Tough Holiday
- Heavenly reopens the Comet Express following a serious incident that sent five to the hospital but declines to specify what went wrong. From Heavenly: “Comet Express is open and operating normally. Safety is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort, and we take this incident very seriously. Following a thorough inspection by the Heavenly team and the lift manufacturer, the issue was identified and resolved, and the lift was cleared for operations by the U.S. Forest Service.”
- A chair bail on the Lookout Express at Sun Valley cracks in two; the lift has since reopened and the resort declined a request for comment.
- As the Park City patrol strike drags on, most of the mountain remains closed, the COO posts a video message to frustrated guests and Vail looks to hire new patrollers.
- A piece of guidage fails on the only chairlift in the Yukon, leading to a rope evacuation.
- Sugarloaf’s SuperQuad misses some of the holiday week.
- Panama looks to build a six station, 6.6 km urban gondola.
- Sasquatch Mountain, BC’s triple chair will be down for the foreseeable future due to a maintenance issue.
- Mt. Hood Meadows’ Heather Canyon double is damaged by a falling tree.
- Mont Orford opens a pop up bar in a gondola cabin.
- Ski Martock, Nova Scotia closes for the week due to a lift issue.
- Waterville Valley formally seeks approval for a village to summit gondola and southeastward expansion.
News Roundup: Auxiliary
- Mt. Ashland reopens on the tree-damaged Ariel double, opens one of the first all-electric chairlifts in the country.
- Sugarbush explains what’s going on with five lifts that have either gone down or not opened yet this season.
- California OSHA tells me it won’t investigate the lift incident that hospitalized five people at Heavenly because most of the Comet Express is in Nevada, including where the collision occurred.
- Whitefish is without Chair 2 while a systems modernization is completed.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire seeks to raise $5 million to form a co-op.
- Winter Park reopens The Gondola just 48 hours after last week’s tower crack.
- Construction begins on a third Mexicable line in Greater Mexico City with 10 stations and 278 cabins at a cost of $149 million.
- A tower collapses on a fair chairlift in Mexico during operations.
- The Chondola at Telluride is rope evacuated.
- Alpental’s new Internationale chair opened today but was offloaded on auxiliary shortly thereafter due to a mechanical issue. “Our lift maintenance team is working with Doppelmayr and plans to complete full diagnostics and testing in the morning, with the goal of reopening the lift tomorrow once we are 100% satisfied we’ve eliminated all potential issues,” says The Summit.
Park City Ski Patrol Goes on Strike
Nearly 200 unionized ski patrollers and mountain safety staff walked off the job at Park City Mountain this morning after months working without a contract. The escalation comes a day after mediation between Vail Resorts and the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association failed to produce an agreement. “We are deeply disappointed the patrol union has walked out of mediation and chosen drastic action that attempts to disrupt mountain operations in the middle of the holiday season, given we invested significantly in patrol with their wages increasing more than 50% over the past four seasons, and we have reached agreements on 24 of the 27 current contract terms,” said Deirdra Walsh, VP & COO for Park City Mountain. “We want to reassure skiers and snowboarders, our employees, and this community that despite the union’s actions, Park City Mountain will remain open with safety as our top priority, and all planned terrain will be open thanks to experienced patrol leaders from Park City Mountain and our other mountain resorts,” she continued.
After hanging up their jackets, the union and supporters spent the day picketing at both Canyons Village and Mountain Village in full view of guests. The union stopped short of telling the public not to ski but urged the public not to patronize Vail Resorts restaurants, retail stores, rental shops and ski schools. “Vail Resorts forced this walkout by bargaining in bad faith and repeatedly violating the National Labor Relations Act,” said the union, which is part of United Mountain Workers, itself a unit of the Communications Workers of America. “Consistent with Vail’s bad faith tactics, after yesterday’s seven hour negotiation session with a mediator present, the company continued to refuse to give a counteroffer on wages or benefits. They have had two weeks to prepare a counter proposal,” the union said.
Patrollers are seeking a $2 wage increase for new hires from $21 to $23 per hour with an annual cost of living adjustment. They are also calling for improved wages for senior patrollers and an equipment allowance for all members, among other benefits. In addition to the strike in Park City, the union organized an informational picket tonight in front of Vail-owned Epic Mountain Gear in Frisco, Colorado. The majority of United Mountain Workers’ roughly 1,100 members work in Colorado. The union represents patrollers, lift mechanics and electricians at 13 resorts in four states.
Vail Resorts prepared for a strike in Park City, making clear in advance the mountain would continue operating and flying in patrollers from across the company to stand in for workers who walked out. Park City patrol managers and supervisors are not part of the union and remain working alongside colleagues from other states. The company calls this the “Patrol Support Team” with the union preferring the term “scab.” Vail also created a website outlining the company’s position, including recent compensation increases and contract proposals.
Strike-related impacts on mountain operations were not entirely clear. Today was a powder day on the heels of historically low snowfall, resulting in limited terrain open before the strike started. High winds also impacted lift operations and this holiday week is always crowded. Still, many lifts opened hours late, frustrating guests. One employee who wished to remain anonymous said, “As a long time Park City skier and employee this definitely feels abnormal. Tombstone not opening is very, very unusual.” More than 20 lifts did open, however, a number similar to yesterday. The employee said a lack of normal on-snow signage was noticeable. “Generally the vibe here is that guests are mad,” they said. “In my experience about 50% are mad at Vail and 50% are mad at patrol.”
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