A report by Ski Area Management reveals new six place chairlifts will be installed at both Camelback Resort and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania this summer. The resorts share common ownership and are located within an hour of each other in the Pocono Mountains, though the lifts will be built by different manufacturers.
At Camelback, Doppelmayr will replace the aging Sullivan Express with a bubble lift named Black Bear 6. The existing high speed quad was the site of a tragic accident a year ago which injured three guests. Black Bear will feature a 667 foot vertical rise, 3,000 passenger per hour capacity and indoor parking for its 50 chairs.
Blue Mountain’s new six pack will replace the Main Street and Burma doubles but start lower on the mountain than the existing lifts. The Leitner-Poma machine will rise 980 vertical feet in under five minutes. “The new lift aims to improve connectivity between Valley Lodge at the base and the Summit Lodge, as well as access to terrain on the western part of the mountain,” reported SAM. The lift will spin at 1,000 feet per minute with 80 carriers.
Both projects are expected to begin construction this month and open for the 2022-23 ski season.
Sundance Resort says it’s no joke that a new lift will debut on the back mountain for the 2022-23 season. The Doppelmayr fixed grip quad chair will service four new low angle trails and unload near the top of Jake’s lift. “It has long been a goal of the resort to provide additional terrain on our mountain,” noted Sundance President and General Manager Chad Linebaugh. “This new area has great natural light with abundant sunshine; I am confident it will be a new favorite area for early morning runs and laps throughout the day for families.” When the project is complete, Sundance will feature a total of six chairlifts on two mountains.
Sundance’s new owners and Doppelmayr completed two new quad chairlifts last summer as part of a major rebuilding effort and the next new lift will be similar to Stairway. That project included a new snowmaking system which will be expanded to cover the 15 acres of terrain being added this summer.
The only detachable triple CTEC ever built has found a new home in Montana. The one-of-a-kind installation will be removed from Alta Ski Area this spring and go on to replace Red Lodge Mountain’s Miami Beach double in 2023. The $2.25 million project will reimagine the learn to ski experience with a new conveyor lift and yurt in addition to the high speed chairlift.
Big news! Red Lodge Mountain will begin a two-phase, $2.25M improvement plan to upgrade lift service to Miami Beach and learning area terrain. For the full press release check out the link below. ⬇️https://t.co/cJY1H86QvOpic.twitter.com/RhPjl8ESui
The Miami Beach detachable will follow a modified alignment to better serve the mountain’s beginner terrain and provide access the the Palisades. “This is an exciting and significant investment into the ski experience here at Red Lodge,” said General Manager Jeff Schmidt. “Upgrading to this high-speed triple chair will be a transformation of the beginner experience. The Sunnyside Lift has the perfect horsepower and capacity for the Miami terrain.” The Red Lodge team will assist with removal operations at Alta this spring and the lift will be stored in preparation for installation next summer.
The second six place chairlift in Oregon will debut for the 2023-24 ski season, Mt. Bachelor and parent company Powdr announced today. The larger detachable will increase capacity by 50 percent from the current Skyliner Express, which debuted in 1989 and has remained out of service this season due to technical issues. Mt. Bachelor and Doppelmayr will repair the aging high speed quad for the coming 2022-23 season before replacement begins a year from now.
“Since Skyliner went out of service the team and I, together with Powdr have been working parallel paths, first to try to get the lift repaired for the current season and second to either replace or repair the Skyliner lift in time for next winter,” noted President and General Manager John McCleod in a blog post. “As it turns out, we are going to do both,” he continued. “If there had been any way that we could have replaced Skyliner with a six-pack over the coming summer we would have done it, however by the time we began talking to lift manufacturers in January their production and installation schedules were fully committed for 2022.” The Lift Blog 2022 project count stands at 56 with 35 of those being new detachable lifts across North America.
Exact specifications for the new Skyliner are yet to be determined but it will become the largest lift investment in Mt. Bachelor’s history. A manufacturer was not publicly announced and Mt. Bachelor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that.
A detachable chairlift is coming to the upper mountain at Jackson Hole for the first time. The Leitner-Poma high speed quad will replace the Thunder fixed grip quad, a favorite with Teton Village skiers since 1994. Thunder 3.0 will feature 90 degree loading to the north and 90 degree unloading to the south for improved skier circulation.
Ride time on the 1,454 vertical foot lift will be reduced from seven minutes to three and a half with a line speed of 1,000 feet per minute. “The Thunder lift has been the most popular lift on the upper mountain, and it delivers access to some of the legendary terrain JHMR is known for,” said Jackson Hole Mountain Resort President Mary Kate Buckley in an announcement. “The new Thunder lift will dramatically cut down on skiers’ and snowboarders’ time spent waiting in line and on the lift.”
Fans of the current Thunder will be happy to learn it will spin on at a resort in California. Construction on the Thunder detachable will begin in May with completion scheduled for October.
The third new Doppelmayr quad in four years is coming to North Carolina’s Beech Mountain. The fixed grip quad with loading conveyor will replace the mountain’s oldest chairlift, Lift 1. The beginner-focused double chair was constructed in 1968 and upgraded over the years but has reached the end of its useful life. Upon completion of the project, Beech Mountain will feature six modern Doppelmayr lifts.
Other projects announced for this summer include a new conveyor lift and enhanced snowmaking.
The good news from Canada continues with a lift project at Whitewater, British Columbia unveiled today. Beginning in the 2023-24 season, a new Leitner-Poma fixed grip quad will ascend Silver King Ridge, complementing the existing Silver King double.
The 1,410 vertical foot lift will service 160 acres of new territory and carry 1,600 skiers per hour. “Whitewater is known for its steep, playful terrain, and the new quad truly aligns with the Whitewater brand by opening access to more of that type of terrain,” said Colby Lehman, Outdoor Operations Manager at Whitewater. “This new quad will also reduce the demand on the current Silver King lift, which ultimately will make for a better experience for both experts and beginners,” he continued.
Construction on the project will begin this summer and take two seasons to complete.
The Government of Quebec will partner with Bromont to realize CAD$10.2 million in mountain improvements for the 2023-24 season. A new Doppelmayr detachable quad, snowmaking and lighting upgrades will all improve the experience on Mont Spruce. The new lift will replace a Poma Alpha quad relocated to Bromont in 2011.
The Express des Épinettes will become the third Doppelmayr detachable among Bromont’s eight chairlifts. The project is just one component of a CAD$101 million multi-year improvement initiative called Project Altitude.
The iconic red and blue tram cars which first came to Little Cottonwood Canyon in 1971 are being replaced. “After 50 years of a job well done, it’s finally time for the original Tram cabins to become literal snowbirds and enjoy some much-deserved retirement,” Snowbird announced today. It is estimated the original cabins have traveled 794,994 miles, or the equivalent of traveling to the moon and back over one and a half times.
Manufactured by CWA in Switzerland, the new cabins will feature floor-to-ceiling windows and a modern design. During the summer months, the tram will sport three 3-foot by 3-foot glass floor panels and an open air rooftop balcony for up to 15 people. “The new Tram cabins pay homage to the original Red and Blue Trams while incorporating a fresh, sleek design and a few extra bells and whistles,” said Snowbird.
The last day to ride the current tram cabins will be April 3rd. The new cabins are already complete and currently being shipped to Utah. Upon arrival in April, the cabins will be installed and tested with re-opening of the tram planned for late June.
Alterra Mountain Company today affirmed plans to open big new lifts in 2022 and more next year as it increases investment across its 14 resorts. This year’s $344 million plan includes $93 million in increased capacity and terrain expansion, $91 million for skier services upgrades, and $16 million in guest experience technology with a focus on Palisades Tahoe, Steamboat, Crystal Mountain, Mammoth Mountain and Deer Valley.
At Palisades Tahoe, the $65 million Base-to-Base Gondola will be completed this summer after two seasons of construction. The Leitner-Poma gondola will connect the two mountains of the resort for the first time, giving skiers and riders access to a combined 6,000 acres of terrain and making Palisades the third largest resort in North America. The 16 minute gondola ride will take skiers and riders between The Village at Palisades Tahoe and Alpine Lodge, reducing road congestion in the region and making it easier to enjoy both mountains in a single day. It is the first gondola of its kind in North America, with four terminals connecting two base areas via a climb of nearly 2,000 vertical feet.
Winter 2022-23 will also see phase two of Steamboat’s Full Steam Ahead redevelopment completed with $90 million of investment to include the relocation of the lower terminal of the Christie Peak Express and the first leg of the Wild Blue Gondola, which will take guests to the new Greenhorn Ranch learning center at mid-mountain.
Wild Blue will become the longest gondola in North America and the fastest 10-person gondola in the country. With the lower leg opening in 2022-23, and the upper leg opening in 2023-24, the state-of-the-art Doppelmayr D-Line gondola will feed skiers/riders through a newly created mid-station adjacent to Bashor Bowl with the final destination of Sunshine Peak. It will feature the first Omega V cabins in the United States. At a total length of 3.16 miles, the new gondola will increase the out of base capacity from 6,000 people per hour to 10,000 people per hour, getting skiers from bottom to top in 13 minutes. The recently re-graded Rough Rider/Bashor Basin area will be home to Greenhorn Ranch, an area dedicated to beginner skiers and riders. It will feature progressive terrain-based learning and a dedicated chairlift.
For winter 2023-24, 650 acres of advanced terrain will open on Pioneer Ridge, making Steamboat the second largest ski resort in Colorado. This expert, gladed terrain will be serviced by a new detachable chairlift.
At Washington’s Crystal Mountain, $100 million will be spent over the next five years. The largest investment ever made at Crystal will focus on greater access, more space and significantly enhanced skier services. Work will begin this spring with $25 million for additional parking and a new 25,000 square foot skier services facility called Mountain Commons. No lift projects were announced but Crystal Mountain President Frank DeBerry has made no secret his wish list includes a replacement for the Rainier Express, a new gondola to the summit and relocation of the current Mt. Rainier Gondola to Campbell Basin.
At Mammoth Mountain, summer 2022 will see ground and infrastructure work to facilitate the replacement of the Canyon Express at Canyon Lodge and Broadway Express at Main Lodge. Doppelmayr initially planned to build these lifts in 2020 before the Coronavirus pandemic postponed the project. The new high-speed six packs are planned to finally debut in winter 2023-24.
New for winter 2022-23 at Deer Valley, the Burns Express chairlift will debut at the Wide West learning area. This high speed chairlift will connect the Snow Park base area to Little Baldy Mountain, offering ski school access to more beginner teaching terrain and providing an additional option for skiers to navigate out of the main arrival area. The $6 million investment to improve the learning area on Wide West will also include enhancements to the existing Snowflake chairlift, installing and reconfiguring surface lifts and grading beginner terrain.
“This historic investment is clear evidence of our commitment to deliver a premier guest experience at our North American destinations and our engagement towards the long-term future of our mountains,” said Rusty Gregory, CEO of Alterra Mountain Company. “More than ever, we continue to infuse meaningful capital into projects that will transform our base areas while significantly improving our physical and digital on-mountain offerings to ensure that our guests experience the best of the mountains.”
Some previously-approved projects were absent from Alterra’s latest announcement, namely the Red Dog replacement at Palisades, Timber expansion at Tremblant and Pioneer Express upgrade at Winter Park.
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