- America’s only indoor ski lifts debut October 25th in New Jersey.
- The Forest Service and Vail Resorts react negatively to the idea of a $5.2 million chairlift from Eagle-Vail to Beaver Creek Mountain.
- A deropement turns into a 10 hour ordeal for passengers on a gondola in Pakistan.
- The City of Steamboat considers a deal with Alterra to operate Howelsen Hill.
- Snow King’s proposed expansion may get another alternative before a 2020 decision.
- Timberline, West Virginia seeks permission to sell off snowmaking equipment and the CEO is charged with a felony for allegedly providing resort employees paychecks that never cleared.
- Manning Park seeks a name for its first quad chair.
- The Salesforce gondola is carrying passengers!
- Vail ropes down 74 employees from a broken Eagle Bahn Gondola, which remains closed three days later.
- Berkshire Bank wants the Hermitage to be liquidated.
- Steamboat’s new gondola towers are multiplying.
- A Stevens Pass employee snaps some awesome shots of the resort’s ongoing lift projects.
- James Niehues is at work on an all new trail map for Wolf Creek.
Eaglecrest Considers Building Alaska’s First Gondola
Eaglecrest is the only ski resort in Southeast Alaska, a region seeing explosive growth in summer visitation thanks to the cruise ship industry. While some consider cruises a threat to the ski business, a recent study concluded they could actually help publicly-owned Eaglecrest become profitable. Over just five months, 1.3 million passengers will disembark in Juneau this year, a 17 percent increase from 2018. Many existing attractions such as the Mt. Roberts Tramway are bursting at the seams and the city sees an opportunity for its ski area to become part of the solution.
The City and Borough of Juneau owns and operates four double chairlifts which date back as far as 1975. Eaglecrest is the only ski area in the country located on an island and, while the ocean views are amazing, low elevation sometimes limits winter operating days. A private concessionaire operates a small scale zip tour at Eaglecrest but no lifts currently spin in the summer as the ski area ramps down to just a dozen employees.
Alaska’s capital city is considering a cash infusion to create a year-round adventure park with skiing, mountain biking, a gondola, zip lines, mountain coaster and more. While the initial outlay is high, projections show the current $950,000 annual subsidy provided by taxpayers could be eliminated while expanding recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike. The ski area could also be able to pay its employees more competitive wages and operate seven days a week in winter with the money gleaned from summer.
The most expensive component of the $34.9 million plan is a ten passenger base-to-summit gondola which would reach even higher than the current Black Bear and Ptarmigan chairlifts. The gondola would become the primary summit access lift year-round, spanning almost 7,000 feet with 1,680 feet of vertical rise and 20 towers. Capacity would start at 1,500 guests per hour with the ability to go to 2,400. Both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr have provided bids in the $11.2 million range for the flagship lift with up to 59 cabins. Power would be trenched up the mountain, allowing the gondola to be top-driven and providing grid power to the Black Bear double for the first time.
Instagram Tuesday: Breathtaking
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Cirque
- The Salesforce Transit Center tram opens Monday.
- Volunteers are determined to complete the Ascutney Mountain T-Bar project in time for next winter.
- Peak Resorts reports a great fourth quarter with $36.9 million in earnings on $85.5 million in revenue, up from a year ago 52.5 and 71.5 percent, respectively.
- Mexico City awards the contract for the first Cablebús urban gondola line to Doppelmayr, which will utilize D-Line technology.
https://twitter.com/CablebusCDMX/status/1144637660561997824
- The reopening of Big Tupper, NY hits a snag.
- Proposed changes to the NEPA process would streamline approval of projects on National Forest lands impacting less than 20 acres, such as chairlift replacements.
- The Balsams goes up for sale.
- At Squaw Alpine, the extended Hot Wheels replacement will be named Treeline Cirque.
- Seattle’s ABC affiliate checks in on Stevens Pass’ trio of lift projects.
- Five months before its grand opening, Woodward Park City is really coming along. Bonus: it looks like Doppelmayr has a new, more modern lift operator shack option (also seen at Manning Park.)
Sun Peaks Confirms Crystal Quad for 2020
Two years after partnering to build the new Orient Quad, Sun Peaks Resort and Doppelmayr will again team up to replace the Crystal triple on the upper mountain. The lift will be realigned, unloading at the Top of the World adjacent to the Burfield Quad. Dating back to 1979, Crystal was the very first Doppelmayr chairlift built at what was then called Tod Mountain. The new fixed grip quad will be Sun Peaks’ 13th Doppelmayr installation spanning five decades. “A new Crystal Chair is very important as we look at the future of our upper mountain terrain at Sun Peaks,” said Darcy Alexander, Sun Peaks Vice President and General Manager in a press release. “As more people continue to discover the Sun Peaks experience, we need to invest in moving additional guests around the mountain effectively and efficiently.” Work on the $3.8 million project will begin immediately with completion in advance of the 2020-21 ski season.
Sun Peaks also announced the Burfield quad will not be shortened as envisioned in the resort’s master plan. The 9,500-plus foot lift will continue to offer nearly 3,000 vertical feet of skiing from the Top of the World alongside Crystal.
Sun Peaks is owned and operated by Nippon Cable Co., the licensee of Doppelmayr technology in Japan. Nippon also owns several Japanese ski resorts and a 25 percent stake in Whistler Blackcomb.
Instagram Tuesday: Northwest
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Auction
- Sun Peaks applies for a permit to replace Crystal with a Doppelmayr fixed grip quad in a new alignment. The mountain is also getting its fifth James Niehues trail map.
- Ski Santa Fe and Sugar Mountain are getting new Niehues maps as well.
- Windham’s retired Wonderama triple is up for grabs.
- Granite Gorge, New Hampshire is listed for sale at a public auction July 8th but the ski area says it won’t happen.
- Hermitage Club President Harper Sibley resigns, citing an “unworkable” reopening plan. The bankruptcy case will proceed in a Vermont court.
- 85 year old Willy Garaventa recalls how the Squaw Valley tram project propelled his family’s company to eventually become the world leader in aerial tramways.
- A Montana community considers a co-op model for its shuttered ski area.
- Timberline, West Virginia’s owner may liquidate the ski assets.
- Bretton Woods’ gondola cabins are now hanging.
- Because 27 lifts isn’t enough, Big Sky is working on two more in Moonlight Basin and on Flatiron Mountain.
Instagram Tuesday: Mighty Gondolas
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
New Quad to Anchor Woodward Mountain Park at Mt. Bachelor
Progression will be the name of the game next winter at a reimagined Sunrise base area on the east side of Mt. Bachelor. Powdr Co. today revealed three new lifts, a remodeled lodge and new parking lot will make up the first Woodward Mountain Park, designed to offer a fun and intuitive learning experience. Woodward Mountain Parks will eventually come to multiple Powdr resorts, building on the success of the company’s Woodward indoor action sports parks located throughout North America. At Mt. Bachelor, 70 foot and 300 foot covered carpets will be joined by a 629 foot long Doppelmayr quad chair servicing five new acres below the Sunrise Lodge.
“Woodward is all about stoking passion and I’m excited for our guests to enjoy reimagined on-mountain environments that’ll be fun for every age and ability level,” said John McLeod, president and general manager of Mt. Bachelor in a statement. “The Mt. Bachelor Woodward Mountain Park will debut expanded terrain and new and inclusive experiences that our guests will love. Combined with our significant Sunrise lodge and base area upgrades, we’re transforming the Mt. Bachelor the guest experience for the future.” Relatedly, Mt. Bachelor will debut a new trail map next winter painted by James Niehues.
Utah-based Powdr is on an epic building blitz. The Bachelor addition will be the fourth chairlift for the firm this year on top of new lodges at Killington and Lee Canyon, a major snowmaking upgrade at Pico and the all new Woodward Park City ski area. Last year, Powdr added six lifts at its resorts for an impressive total of ten in two years.
News Roundup: Stay Tuned
- Vermont sees its best season in four with 4.2 million skier visits.
- San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center will reopen July 1st and its mini tramway is undergoing testing.
- The Hermitage website is back with a reorganization plan posted.
- Berkshire Bank calls the Hermitage plan “not feasible” and members are stuck in the middle crowdfunding legal representation.
- Leitner-Poma expects 2020 to be as busy as 2018 was after a slightly quieter 2019.
- The Disney Skyliner evacuation boat gets a permanent home.
- Eaglecrest eyes building a $30+ million adventure park including a gondola replacement for Ptarmigan.
- MND Group’s LST division is working on another detachable lift.
- Before the Skyliner opens, take a look back at Walt Disney’s original vision for a gondola-connected resort.
- Stevens Pass is indeed moving the Skyline Express to make way for two new lifts and is considering even more lift projects in the future.
- U.S. ski areas paid record rent to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management last year.
- Arizona Snowbowl is working on a master plan update which will include two new lift projects.
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