Belleayre Gets Its Gondola

Peter Landsman35 Comments

IMG_5938
The first gondola in the Catskill Mountains stands nearly complete at Belleayre Mountain, owned and operated by New York State.
Governor Andrew Cuomo surprised many back in February when he committed $8 million in public money to erect a gondola and make other improvements at Belleayre, the smallest of New York’s three state-owned ski resorts.  Reaction was swift with a vocal group of critics questioning the use of funds at a mountain with a modest 135,000 annual skier visits.  “Gondola to nowhere,” one user wrote on the NY Ski Blog.  “The stupidest lift ever built in the world,” said another passionate New Yorker.  Yet another, simply “a waste.”  Then came an anti-gondola petition.

trailmap1718highres-page-001

The Olympic Regional Development Authority stuck to its guns and Doppelmayr USA won the contract, beginning work on June 21st.  Just four and a half months later, a grand new machine stands with 13,615 feet of haul rope, 60 cabins and 16 towers coming together.  The new lift rises 1,350 feet from Discovery Lodge to the summit with super views along the way.

Continue reading →

Why T-Bars are Trending Again

Peter Landsman20 Comments

IMG_5439
The Valar T-Bar opened at Cannon Mountain last year to service an expansive race venue, demonstrating one of reasons resorts are building new T-Bars these days.
Seventy percent of the 1,277 T-Bars, J-Bars and platter (sometimes called Poma) lifts built in North America to date are no longer in service.  That would suggest the traditional surface lift is a dying breed in the age of beginner-friendly carpets, which go in by the dozen every year of late.  But over the last two seasons, a bit of a renaissance has emerged, with more mountain resorts adding brand new T-Bars and platters.  Four T-Bars being completed right now represent the highest number in North America since 1987.  Even more resorts are considering building these classic surface lifts, although the reasons why have little to do with learning to ski.

Peak T-Bar construction occurred in 1964 (not shown) but the platter remained popular as a beginner lift into the 1990s when the carpet came along.  Peak J-Bar was back in 1967 and those are probably gone for good.

Race Training

Yesterday I visited both Burke Mountain, Vermont and Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire, where local ski clubs recently partnered to build dedicated surface lifts on terrain used for racing.  In some cases, these types of lifts are open to the public but other times not.  New T-Bars are relatively cheap with costs typically covered by donors and/or program fees.  Another reason for this application is speed; every T-Bar built since 2011 can move at least 550 feet per minute, significantly faster than most fixed-grip chairlifts.  The Franconia Notch Ski Club’s new T was built by LST Ropeways and goes up to 690 fpm; Burke Mountain Academy’s nearly-finished one is a Leitner, shown below.

Continue reading →

News Roundup: Under the Radar

Peter Landsman6 Comments
  • Chinese investment firm acquires a majority stake in Swiss ropeway manufacturer BMF, which also owns Gangloff.
  • Wolf Creek will build a third high-speed quad called Meadow in 2018.
  • Aspen Skiing Company settles with a woman who sued after falling in the loading area of the Village Express.
  • Private operator of Val Bialas Ski Center in New York resigns, citing continued financial losses.  The publicly-owned mountain has a 1973 Borvig.
  • Check out these architectural drawings of Disney World’s Skyliner gondola network.
  • No real news but this recent drone video shows the current state of lifts and why Saddleback is worth saving.
  • The Skytracs in St. Maarten open this week and are expected to draw some 135,000 cruise passengers a year.
  • Here’s a Mt. Spokane expansion construction update.
  • Adanac Ski Hill in Ontario replaced its 1950s Poma double with an Alpen Star quad this summer, bringing Doppelmayr to 15 new lifts for 2017 in North America.

Instagram Tuesday: Night Sky

Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.

Continue reading →

News Roundup: Following

Peter Landsman4 Comments
  • Mt. Hood Meadows, Skytrac and Timberline Helicopters fly Buttercup towers in just 45 minutes.
  • Vail Resorts schedules annual meeting for Wednesday, December 6th, where multiple new lift projects are likely to be revealed.
  • Aspen Skiing Company, the City of Aspen, private landowners and the public collaborate towards building a long-sought detachable Lift 1.
  • Latest LST detach update: chairs are back at the factory being reworked and the Envers lift is expected to be up and running around Christmas.
  • Revelstoke adds 24 new gondola cabins, Crystal Mountain gets five more.
  • Navajo Nation leadership soundly rejects Grand Canyon Escalade gondola in 16-2 vote.
  • SkiCo and the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club plan to build a platter surface lift on the skier’s right side of Golden Horn at Aspen Highlands next summer.
  • There’s an unconfirmed rumor that the Cyclone at Sunrise Park, AZ won’t operate this winter.  The 1983 Yan is North America’s longest triple chair at 7,982′ with 32 towers and 352 chairs.  I’ve reached out to Sunrise for comment and will update if I hear anything.
  • Montana Snowbowl’s TV Mountain expansion won’t open this season.
  • After building three new lifts in a row, the Hermitage Club finds itself in a cash flow crunch.

Mt. Baker Swaps a Riblet for a Skytrac

Peter Landsman6 Comments
IMG_4578
Mt. Baker Ski Area’s new Chair 7 is the first on the mountain with an electric prime mover.

Replacing a fixed-grip quad with another fixed-grip quad might not seem like much of a change, but Mt. Baker took a significant step forward this summer building an all-new Chair 7 with loads of upgrades.  The only lift out of the White Salmon base area is now a Skytrac, the first for this Pacific Northwest favorite with seven fixed-grip quads.

The Riblet Chair 7 opened in 1990 to serve an eastward expansion along with Chair 8 in 1992.  The last of Baker’s seven Riblets went in for the 2001-02, the second to last Riblet lift built anywhere in the world.  Beginning the following year, a series of four Doppelmayr CTEC quad chairs replaced lifts 1, 3, 5 and 6.  All of these lifts were powered directly with diesel engines.

Mt. Baker Ski Area’s new Chair 7 is the first on the mountain with an electric prime mover.

Continue reading →

News Roundup: 2019

Peter Landsman8 Comments
  • Valemount Glacier Destinations says it’s in talks with both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr for construction of phase one lifts in 2018-19.
  • SE Group to present nine alignment options for a new Lift 1A on Aspen Mountain.
  • La Paz breaks ground on its 17th and 18th gondolas, set to open in 2019.
  • The Saddleback sale still hasn’t closed and an update suggests a shift in focus from building new lifts to reopening with a limited number of existing ones.
  • Here’s a great rundown of Sigma’s new Symphony 10 gondola cabin, which complements the Diamond series.
  • In surprise announcement, Teton Pass says it won’t open this winter.  This awesome but remote Montana resort has a 1973 SLI double and a number of used chairlifts in the parking lot for possible expansion.
  • New Zealand’s longest chairlift will reopen December 5th, nine months after a wildfire burned chairs and ruined the haul rope.
  • Forest Service releases draft draft Environmental Assessment for Alta’s Baldy tram, Flora lift and Wildcat/Sunnyside replacement projects.  Final public comment is now open.
  • World’s largest gold producer proposes building a ski resort with up to 18 lifts on a former mine site near Hope, BC.
  • The Economist looks at why Latin American countries build so many urban gondolas.
  • The Grand Canyon Escalade bill goes before the Navajo Nation Council on Tuesday and needs a two-thirds majority to pass.
  • Squaw Alpine names 13,000-foot interconnect gondola California Express, plans 2019 opening.

Instagram Tuesday: Liftscapes

Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.

Continue reading →

Buttercup Update from Mt. Hood Meadows

Peter Landsman9 Comments

Many resorts are adding bigger chairlifts this season but Mt. Hood Meadows’ new beginner lift is notable for a couple reasons.  The quad follows an all-new route from the double it replaces, opening up more teaching terrain in the base area.  Second, it appears to feature Skytrac’s first height-adjustable terminal at its return station.  The drive and tensioning systems will now be located at the top.  The new Buttecup is 30 percent longer than the Yan version and will move 70 percent more people.  It will also spin 30 percent faster thanks to a loading carpet, which is also height adjustable.

When I stopped by Meadows this weekend, Mt. Hood had received nearly six inches of rain on top of early snow in classic Pacific Northwest fashion.  Timberline is already open for the season while lift construction continues next door.  Concrete work for the new lift is almost finished and the weather looks much better this week as Meadows prepares for its 50th season.