Just two days after opening a new factory in Utah, Doppelmayr christened another gleaming building in Quebec yesterday. The 152,000 square foot Saint-Jérôme plant brings together staff from three dated buildings and builds on nearly 50 years of history for Doppelmayr Canada. The investment totals CA$60 million, including a $3 million contribution from Canada’s federal government.
Like in Salt Lake, Michael Doppelmayr first gave the gathered crowd a history lesson. His grandfather Emil Doppelmayr first came to Canada when planes had to stop in both Iceland and Greenland to make the trip. Doppelmayr chose to set up shop Canada before the US in part due to exchange rates. Like with Doppelmayr USA, the northern subsidiary’s major break came in 1985 with the first detachable quads at Mont Sutton, Saint-Sauveur and Nakiska. Saint-Jérôme has been a detachable powerhouse ever since. What started as a joke on a tradeshow floor became the world’s first six pack at Mont Orignal in 1991. The Quebec plant soon built its first cabriolet at Tremblant and the region’s first chondola at Mont Orford. Over 49 years Saint-Jérôme built hundreds of lifts, including towers for Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak Gondola, components for people movers in Las Vegas and even lifts for China.
Members of Doppelmayr’s board, employees, elected officials and partners joined to cut the ribbon on the shop floor. Michael Doppelmayr presented Doppelmayr Canada CEO Luc Guy with an Austrian bell and challenged the sales staff to ring it every time they sell a lift. “Ring it so loud I can hear it in Austria,” he said. He then revealed Craigleith Ski Club in Ontario signed that morning. Luc rang the bell, and shots of schnapps were served for everyone to celebrate.
Saint-Jérôme builds UNI-G detachable terminals, drive platforms, hydraulic systems, evacuation drives and sheave assemblies. The goal for the new facility is not just more space but to produce lifts efficiently with a modern working environment for employees. Unlike dry Salt Lake, a higher percentage of the complex is walled in rather than just covered. The goal is to store 80 percent of raw materials inside, not out in the snow. The vast new production line includes two final assembly jigs for UNI-G station tunnels, up from one previously. There are 27 cranes for moving large components around the factory and outside. Doppelmayr bought the same large plasma cutter as Salt Lake and Wolfurt and expects to take delivery soon on a $5.5 million CNC boring and milling machine. There are several vertical lift modules for storing parts and tools. The plant was fairly empty with moving still underway but we got to see components destined for Mont-Sainte-Anne, Bromont and the Getty Museum automated people mover in Los Angeles. Saint-Jérôme runs two shifts and now has immense capacity to produce UNI-G machines.
Like Salt Lake, everyone is now under one roof including engineering, service, HR, accounting and sales. There’s room for Doppelmayr to perform more service work such as gondola cabin restoration. Upstairs lies an even bigger training room than Salt Lake and another gym. Most of Doppelmayr’s 150 Canadian employees attended the party and seemed stoked with their new home.
Doppelmayr cut the ribbon today on a brand new US headquarters, located right next to the old one in Salt Lake City. The investment makes SLC one of Doppelmayr’s largest facilities worldwide, bringing together production, sales, engineering, parts, service, training, back office, and construction under one (very large) roof. The 160,000 square foot building nearly doubles Doppelmayr’s footprint with ample room for growth. Austria-based Doppelmayr said recent investments in new facilities in Salt Lake, St. Jerome, Quebec and China will total $150 million.
Doppelmayr USA CEO Keith Johns, Chairman of the Board Michael Doppelmayr, Managing Director Gerhard Gassner, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox presided over the festivities. They invited 27 employees with more than 20 years’ experience at the company to join them as they cut the ribbon. Johns also presented GSBS Architects and R&O Construction with traditional Austrian cow bells for their efforts bringing the project to life.
Michael Doppelmayr explained his family’s company has operated in the US for over half a century, but its first big break came in 1985 with a contract for four detachable quads on Vail Mountain. Thus Doppelmayr originally landed in Golden, Colorado before merging with Garaventa and inheriting a Utah office in 2002. In the run up to the Salt Lake Olympics, Doppelmayr partnered with the Holding Family to rebuild Snowbasin’s lift fleet, a relationship which continues to this day. The Utah and North American markets have steadily strengthened ever since. The company’s biggest current project worldwide is right here in the USA at Newark Liberty International Airport. Non-ski projects like Newark now make up one third of the Group’s worldwide sales.
This felt like a ski industry homecoming, however, with representatives from Alterra, Vail, Boyne and many others in attendance. Dignitaries got to see lifts in various stages of production destined for places like Marquette Mountain, Michigan and Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. With a larger plant here, Doppelmayr will strengthen competitiveness and shorten supply chains for North American customers.
Salt Lake will continue to specialize where it always has: bullwheel and tower fabrication, fixed-grip terminals, electrical control systems and operator houses. One big addition is conical towers, the type used on marquee D-Line and Uni-G machines. Doppelmayr USA just completed its very first one, destined for Yellowstone Club’s new Lodge lift next summer. In the past these were manufactured in Wolfurt, Austria and containerized for the US market. The Salt Lake factory will utilize US steel and specialize in large components that are expensive to ship over the Atlantic. A new welding robot can produce cylindrical towers also, the first of which is headed for Sainte-Anne. This machine reduces welding time by 40-60%, though some welds will still require human craftsmanship.
The new machine shop, where one tech said “subtractive manufacturing” occurs, houses four CNCs, three mills and two lathes. This shop regularly produces 3,000 different parts with tolerances of a thousandth of an inch. Doppelmayr’s goal is to build as much in house as possible. Galvanizing will still take place off site, though painting can be done in a new onsite bay. Once parts are finished, they’ll be grouped together in a new laydown port, where trucks can drive through and load by crane before departing for mountains.
Doppelmayr produces operator houses for most projects in the United States and Canada in Salt Lake. In a typical year, Doppelmayr USA builds 35 operator houses, though the record is 53. Metal bones are fabricated in house and later filled out with wood. Customers can choose from five different shack sizes, three finishes and any color in the rainbow. Today we saw houses destined for Snowland’s new T-Bar as well as a project not yet announced. Prior to a few weeks ago, the operator house crew worked outside in the snow and heat.
On the electrical side, Doppelmayr USA’s 15 electrical technicians are enjoying their new home. A new system called Eplan automatically calculates the length of wires then cuts, crimps and labels them. Wires will go into 533 different electrical control panels this season, both for new installations and modernizations. Parts and Construction departments will also utilize automation in the new building. Each got a Modula vertical lift module that stores tools and spare parts vertically to maximize space, similar to something you’d see in an e-commerce fulfillment center.
On the service side, Doppelmayr completes roughly 30 projects per year in Salt Lake, including 600 detachable grip rebuilds. We saw grips all the way from Bromley, Vermont being rebuilt by expert staff in a controlled environment.
Doppelmayr is launching a brand new US training center capable of hosting 25 people at a time. In addition to a classroom, it features a full Doppelmayr Connect control system, a hydraulic system and various Doppelmayr grips for students to learn on. Classes can also be held virtually.
The building itself is gorgeous with everything from indoor bike storage to EV charging, a gym, locker rooms and showers. A top secret swag room requires badged RFID access. White noise even comes out of the ceiling to mask jets taking off from the airport and Union Pacific trains.
The Governor said this facility, along with a new Stadler Rail factory nearby, will provide high-quality jobs for Utahns in the trades. He noted providing work education and apprenticeships at a younger age is a top priority for the state. Doppelmayr presently employs some 300 people in the US and expects to continue to grow. “Employees, you’ve done a wonderful job here,” noted Michael Doppelmayr. “Now fill it up and make it a success,” he said.
Correction: this story was updated to reflect the $150 million investment includes new factories in Salt Lake, Quebec and China – not just Salt Lake.
This week I got to ride two of North America’s most complex, high elevation gondola systems. They’ve never carried a single pair of skis but rather shuttle commuters within Mexico City’s expansive transit network. Branded Cablebús, the network consists of 19 stations and three distinct lines, each with several segments. They are fully integrated with the city’s trains and buses, accepting the same transit mobility card. Gondolas live on the city’s subway map in light blue with the same signage, typefaces and iconography as the broader network.
First I ventured to Line 2 in Iztapalapa, a historically poor and congested municipality with 1.8 million inhabitants. Line 2 travels from the end of one subway line to another, connecting seven communities along the way. When Leitner completed the system in 2021, it became the longest urban gondola in the world at 6.2 miles. It’s actually two separate lifts, each utilizting two direct drives and two haul ropes for a total of four ropes and four direct drives. A whopping 305 ten passenger cabins circulate over 59 towers.
Several stations accommodate sharp angle changes with deflection bullwheels. Others are nearly straight with minimal angle change. Riding the entire line requires a quick switch between cabins at Xalpa station. I was told most commuters take the lift for a few stops and connect to other transit rather than riding the entire 45 minutes like I did.
Stations serve as more than just transit stops and angle changes. One features a 150 stall market underneath the cabin parking facility (I’d never ridden a gondola where I could also buy a pig’s head from a butcher.) There are parks, community centers and healthcare along the gondola. Line 2 has proven successful, transporting approximately 63,000 riders per day in 2025. Travel times reduced significantly for residents and safety improved.
The government partners with joint ventures including Mexican infrastructure companies and European manufacturers to realize each installation here. For Line 2, Leitner and its local partner operated the system for the first year with the city’s transit agency taking over after. Towers were manufactured locally in Mexico.
Construction in Latin America can proceed quickly. For Line 2, the time between announcement and inauguration spanned just 30 months with actual construction taking 18. The line cost roughly $160 million to build, far more than a typical ski resort gondola but far less than a subway or highway project.
Mexico City’s gondolas utilize extremely tall towers to pass over buildings and minimize the number of towers needed. All of them move between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers per hour and direction.
The other gondola I rode was Cablebús Line 3, built by Doppelmayr in 2024. This line services six stations along 3.4 miles of the Chapultepec Forest. This is a less dense, more touristy area and the system opened with just 71 ten passenger cabins. More cabins can be added in the future to reach a final capacity of 3,000 riders per hour. Line 3 moves up to 6 m/s and was fairly busy when I rode, especially when trains would unload at the nearby Constituyentes metro station. Cabins easily accommodate strollers, wheelchairs, dogs and bicycles.
All of Line 3’s stations feature D-Line R2 glass enclosures, giving the lift a modern look. Much of the line passes over a highway, evoking the feeling of flying over traffic. The lifts 39 towers are extremely tall, giving incredible views. At various points cabins pass over a large canyon, a cemetary, train tracks and even an equestrian arena. Like Line 2, Line 3 is really two lifts with two separate haul ropes. On this line, however, cabins move between sections, forming a one seat ride through all six stations.
I didn’t get to ride Line 1, Doppelmayr’s largest system in Mexico City spanning 5.8 miles and six stations.
A ride on any of the three Cablebús lines runs just seven pesos or 38 cents US at current exchange rates. Each line runs 5:00 am to 11:00 pm on weekdays with slightly shorter hours on weekends. Maintenance is completed at night or during short closure periods. Mechanics work across three shifts covering 24 hours per day. All three systems feature direct drives and redundancies designed to all-but-eliminate the possibility of a ground evacuation.
Outside Mexico City proper, the State of Mexico constructed another gondola network called Mexicable that connects with both Cablebús Line 1 and the subway system. Combined, Cablebús and Mexicable encompass 24 miles with 32 stations, 248 towers and 1,244 cabins. More gondolas are coming. Leitner recently won contracts for Cablebús 4 and 6 plus Mexicable Line 3, totalling 21 miles and 25 stations. Doppelmayr will build Cablebús Line 5, set to become the new longest urban gondola in the world with 12 stations along 9.4 miles utilizing 114 towers and 462 cabins. There’s so much work here neither manufacturer could do it all alone.
A few weeks ago I ventured to the Alps with a delegation from Leitner-Poma of America. LPOA is the North American arm of High Technology Industries, the holding company behind iconic European ropeway builders Leitner, Poma and Bartholet. While Leitner-Poma of America fabricates upwards of 85 percent of its equipment in Colorado and Utah, the US outpost partners closely with its sister companies back in Europe. The trip included peers from a dozen US and Canadian resorts along with Leitner-Poma employees and partners (full disclosure, LPOA covered the cost of my tripother than airfare.)
Our first stop after arriving in Munich was the Nebelhorn, near the town of Oberstdorf. Leitner constructed a state-of-the-art 2S system here in 2021, replacing several jig-back tramways. A 2S combines the efficiency of a monocable gondola with the stability and long spans of a tram. The Nebelhornbahn features two sections, automated parking and striking Symphony cabins designed by Pininfarina. Oberstdorf Lifts CEO Henrik Volpert took us on a fantastic tour of the gondola’s motor rooms, maintenance bays and parking areas. Not only does Henrik oversee seven ski areas in the region but he also serves as President of the German Ski Areas Association.
At the top of the 2S, we continued onto an older jigback tramway, the first of several on this trip. It was closing day for this resort and locals were still skiing on the upper mountain while we ate lunch.
After lunch we headed to the other side of the valley, where another of Henrik’s mountains had already opened for summer. This family ski area features a mountain coaster, several kid-friendly activities and hiking in the summer season (there’s no real offseason here.) We rode a neat monocable gondola with a 90 degree angle station to mid-mountain. Everything on the lift was top of the line including Leitner’s premium stations, a direct drive and Diamond EVO cabins.
Sterzing/Vipiteno, the hometown of Leitner and other HTI companies like Prinoth and Leitwind.
The next day took us through Austria to Italy, where Leitner’s first 3S system operates between the city of Bolzano and the mountain village of Ritten/Renon (towns in this region carry both German and Italian names.) This unique 3S operates in a pulse fashion with cabins coming to complete stops in the stations while the line keeps moving at varying speeds. The 3S serves as public transit for more than a million riders a year and costs just five Euros to ride. The lift spans nearly 15,000 feet with ten 35 passenger cabins. At the top, an electric train carries riders further up the plateau with views of the Dolomites.
A highlight of the trip was seeing Leitner’s factories, the largest of which lies in the company’s hometown of Sterzing. There’s a ski area right in town, of course, but it had closed for the season. Our host here was Anton Seeber, the friendly leader of HTI Group and its many brands. Sterzing is a true production facility with workers and machines cutting and welding raw steel into bullwheels, tire banks and towers. Sterzing also produces casings for direct drives used all over the world. We visited this factory on a Sunday so no one was working but it was cool to see components in varying stages of completion.
The next day we headed back to Austria and a newer factory which specializes in assembly of chairs, grips, hangers and direct drives. The 45,000 square meter Telfs plant opened in 2008 and serves just three customers: Leitner, Poma and Leitner-Poma of America. The various arms of HTI used to produce chairs and grips in different plants but consolidation to Telfs improved efficiency and quality control. In a busy year, LPOA buys 1,000 chairs from Telfs out of 2,600 to 4,000 chairs produced there. Chairs are built in batches for a specific lift. The reason for this is a six place chair, for example, can be ordered in 230 different variations depending on customer preferences. The day we were in the factory a crew was busy assembling chairs for Snowmass’ new Elk Camp six pack, set to open next season. Two Snowmass guys were on the tour and got to sit on their new chair for a photo months before first chair. Bretton Woods’ Bethlehem Express chairs had just been completed and were being readied for their boat ride to New Hampshire.
Every chair begins as a straight piece of tubular steel. An automated bending machine transforms each tube into a chair bail. Another machine cuts holes in the tube and other finishing is completed by hand. The bails are sent out for galvanization before returning for assembly. Other than the bail, the rest of a chair’s parts are sourced from a network of suppliers, many of whom also supply automakers in nearby Germany. A single chair can contain 1,500 parts and workers use high tech torque wrenches linked with software to optimize workflow. A screen shows the assembler exactly where a particular part goes on the chair.
There’s one other chair component Telfs fabricates as opposed to just assembling: bubbles! This factory will produce around 600 bubbles in 2025, all starting as flat sheets of polycarbonate. The process Leitner uses is proprietary but can be summarized as thermo stretch forming. This work is highly specialized and difficult with not every bubble meeting quality standards (around 10 percent are discarded instead of making their way to lifts.) After forming, holes are drilled and a plastic rim is glued on before the bubbles are installed on chairs.
The third section of Telfs we toured was direct drive assembly. This was the first time I got to see the inside of a direct drive as normally they’re not opened once installed. Leitner was the pioneer of direct drive lifts and Telfs completes around 50 to 60 units a year, most of which stay in Europe.
The last stop was the LPA grip assembly line, designed using systems from modern automobile and aircraft factories. HTI formerly built detachable grips in three places but now every grip and hanger come off this one line. Parts are delivered to the line by an automated system but the actual assembly is done mostly by hand. Once a grip is complete, it’s tested and a series of cameras take dozens of photos to detect any anomalies. This also allows Leitner to track each grip and hanger to a specific production run on a specific date by a specific employee. The grip and hanger mechanisms are then shipped together to project sites. Once on site, crews simply connect a chair to a hanger with one bolt. This is fast but also ensures quality and safety with most of the assembly done in a controlled environment rather than a ski area parking lot.
After Telfs we ventured up to Stubai Glacier, home to a spectacular Leitner 3S and numerous other lifts. Although we weren’t skiing, several gondolas and chairlifts still carried skiers at higher elevations. Many towers were pinned to the glacier rather than traditional foundations. On the 3S, carriers can be parked at all three stations, allowing the line to be cleared of cabins automatically in a matter of minutes. Of course each section is driven by a direct drive. This lift is so big that tire sections are run by motors rather than PTO belts. These helper motors are bigger than those powering entire chairlifts in the Midwest.
Our last stop was Innsbruck, home to the Interalpin mountain technology tradeshow. Before the show, we ventured up the Nordkette Cable Car, which Leitner part owns. This ski area is accessible right from downtown Innsbruck via a Leitner funicular railway. The funicular includes a bridge over a river, several tunnels and grades ranging from zero degrees to very steep. At the top of the funicular, we rode a series of jig back tramways to reach a 2,334 meter summit. It was foggy that day so I didn’t take many pictures of the two trams we rode.
This was my second time to Interalpin and I could spend days there. If a company sells technology to ski areas, they come to Interalpin. The Leitner booth featured a ConnX autonomous gondola cabin, several Symphony gondolas and a Leitner premium chair (the new Ropera detachable was unveiled the day after our visit.)
Doppelmayr of course had a large presence including a 3S cabin for an installation opening next winter in the Dolomites, a 10 seater cabin from Paris’ upcoming urban gondola and a Stella cabin for the soon-to-open TRI-Line at Hoch-Ybrig, Switzerland. MND was there too with a cabin from their Orizon detachable line. AI was a major focus of the show with manufacturers highlighting software products to improve maintenance and operations.
I haven’t even mentioned all the delicious food we ate, the good times had in the evenings and many other warm people we encountered. Thank you to Daren Cole, Jon Mauch and everyone at Leitner-Poma for including me on the trip. My advice to anyone interested in lifts who has not been to Europe: Go!
Forty five years to the day since Chet Huntley welcomed the first skiers to Big Sky Resort, Boyne Resorts today debuted North America’s most technologically-advanced chairlift on Andesite Mountain. The eight pack is a bold but logical move for Michigan-based Boyne, which once pioneered the world’s first triple and quad chairlifts. Not only is Ramcharger 8 the first of its kind in North America, it’s also the first Doppelmayr D-Line eight place chairlift in the world.
Boyne Resorts President Stephen Kircher and son Everett prepare to cut the ribbon.
“Doppelmayr and Boyne Resorts have been collaborating for over 40 years, and together have introduced many firsts to the ski industry,” said Stephen Kircher, President of Boyne Resorts at a mid-morning ceremony. “We are incredibly proud to bring the first eight-seat chairlift to North America, setting a new standard for lift technology in the world.”
Mark Bee, President of Doppelmayr USA, presented the Big Sky Resort team with a customary bell from Austria to celebrate. He also thanked the construction team, led by Jamie Kanzler, for a successful project delivered on schedule. “Without Jamie and his team, we wouldn’t be here today,” said Bee, noting the contract for this ambitious project was signed on March 5th. “Ramcharger 8 is the culmination of everything we have learned so far, and incorporates many firsts for the North American market; first eight-passenger chairlift, first direct drive motor, first locking restraint bar, first height-adjustable loading carpet, first high resolution video display, and the first of our newest generation detachable lifts,” he continued.
What if you could launch a new lift at your favorite mountain? Say, for instance, you owned the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and wanted to upgrade the popular Thunder fixed-grip quad. Guests are seeking a faster ride but wind is an issue and you don’t want to overcrowd the storied Amphitheater and legendary Laramie Bowl. The neighbors to the north are going D-Line but the media facade doesn’t quite fit in with the Teton landscape. With Doppelmayr’s latest generation ropeway configurator, part of Doppelmayr Interactive, anyone with a computer can visualize the lift of their dreams. For Thunder, I came up with a modest capacity D-Line six place in gray and red.
I spent way too much time testing out other hypotheticals on the new version tonight. Another one: Arizona Snowbowl is considering Doppelmayr for its new base-to-summit combination lift. With the configurator, owner James Coleman could customize D-Line and non D-Line versions of six-passenger chairs and 10-passenger gondola cabins from anywhere. My mock up includes galvanized D-Line bubble chairs and and Omega cabins in Snowbowl blue. You can create whatever you like and then take a zoomable 360-degree spin.
Last one: say a group of investors finally fronts the money to purchase the beautiful Saddleback Mountain in Maine and wants to build a signature lift to replace Rangeley up the heart of the mountain. No D-Line this time, simply a modern take on classic green and gray for a new UNI-G six-pack launching in late 2019. If only it was this easy!
Just like a real lift, the possibilities are endless. Models now available to customize are 6E98 & 6DCD chairs, CWA Omega IV-8 LWI & Omega IV-10 SI D cabins, and UNI-G, UNI-G Vision, D-Line R1 & D-Line R2 stations. You can even upload background images and logos to customize your dream lift with any colors in the RAL spectrum. For those with access to the Doppelmayr customer service portal, your existing account works to save and send your creations. Pretty darn cool!
For the first time since their journey across the Atlantic, Jackson Hole’s newest gondola cabins slept inside last night. With a parking and storage facility officially commissioned at Sweetwater‘s Solitude Station, 48 luxury vehicles that cost tens of thousands of dollars each now have a world-class home that brings together the latest lift technology with proven principles.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort opened its Bridger Gondola barn in 1998 and 84 cabins have been going inside for twenty years there. The CWA X models are in incredible shape for their age and number of hours, a testament to their quality construction, dedicated maintenance staff and indoor storage.
Sweetwater’s new cabin storage building is located in an underutilized area adjacent to the middle station.
JHMR launched gondola number two in December 2016 and its CWA Omega IV cabins remained on the line continuously until yesterday. The winter of 2016-17 proved to be a monster in the Tetons and while the cabins performed well, fifty feet of snow often turned to ice on flat roofs. Frozen chunks would bounce up and down, making sounds that mimicked falling metal. Jackson Hole sometimes goes weeks or even months without a thaw and ice would also accumulate on the cabin floors and in ski racks (other fun liquids would freeze too!) Ice storms that can cripple door mechanisms and plague detachable grips thankfully never materialized last year and the days of worrying that storm would come are now over.
The new Supreme lift at Alta, Utah turns 8.1 degrees in a totally unique arrangement engineered by Leitner-Poma.
Jagged ridgelines spread in seemingly endless directions at Alta Ski Area, serviced by relatively few lifts in just the right places to make skiing there a blast. Alta has collaborated with various lift manufacturers over its 80 year history to create unique contraptions such as the Transfer Tow, a Yan rope tow mechanically more similar to a chairlift and one of the world’s only high-speed triple chairs, called Sunnyside. In 2004, Alta and Doppelmayr CTEC dreamed up Collins, two Stealth high-speed quads joined together at a 29-degree angle with loading but no unloading at the mid-station. “Don’t text and bend,” a sign at the Wildcat base warns riders destined for the full trip.
This season, the new Supreme detachable quad goes where no bend has ever gone before, replacing both the Cecret double and Supreme triple but without an angle station. Prior to 2017, there were a handful of lifts that turn a few degrees using canted sheaves, particularly in Utah, where the mining scene created an enduring checkerboard of public and private lands. Snowbird, Park City, Deer Valley and Moonlight Basin in Montana all sport lifts that bend a few degrees for one reason or another.
The Snowflake lift at Breckenridge, CO is the only lift of its kind, making a 45-degree turn.Breck has been on my bucket list for a long time. Not because of the skiing, necessarily, but because its collection of 23 lifts is among the most unique anywhere. Nowhere else can you find so many lifts with turns (5), lifts that cross other lifts (4), not to mention North America’s only double-loading detachable and its highest elevation chairlift. This weekend I made a break for Breck and the three other Colorado Vail Resorts to see what Epic is all about.
Even with the option to ski back to town via the Four O’Clock ski run, the BreckConnect is an immensely popular transportation solution.I’ll start with the BreckConnect Gondola, which first connected one end of town to Peaks 7 and 8 in 2006. The Leitner-Poma gondola is free and operates both winter and summer. Locals I talked to can no longer remember life without it. Although it has two mid-stations each with an angle change of more than 40 degrees, the entire system operates with one haul rope. It’s way cooler than taking a bus from the parking lot.
The Peak 8 SuperConnect links Peaks 9 and 8 with an angle station in between.Continue reading →
Cesar Dockweiler is the General Manager for Mi Teleferico, the growing state-owned gondola network in Bolivia’s capitol city. This week, he’s in Switzerland visiting suppliers working on the Blue and White lines for La Paz, which are about 75 percent complete. Throughout the trip, Mr. Dockweiler has been tweeting updates from CWA and Fatzer to his more than 3,000 followers.
Pictures from CWA show how workers still make gondola cabins one at a time and largely by hand. Because the company builds on demand, even a lift with just four cabins can have its own custom design.
Paso2: las estructuras de lo que serán las cabinas blancas se almacenan esperando su preparación para el pintado. pic.twitter.com/8Yh7eS2ZqI
