A Look Forward to 2017

Peter Landsman14 Comments

This New Year’s Day, I thought I’d review Lift Blog’s second year and make a few predictions for 2017.  In 2016, North American lift construction reached a post-recession high, with large new lifts debuting at Arizona Snowbowl, Big Sky and Jackson Hole.  In April, we learned Leitner-Poma acquired Skytrac, changing the manufacturer landscape in North America again.  LST built its first detachable lift in France (although it’s not quite finished yet) bringing another player to the global market.  2016 also saw number of lifts catch fire and others fall apart.  Here’s a rundown of our most-clicked-on posts of 2016:

10. Yan High Speed Quad Retrofits 20 Years Later
9. In His Own Words: Carl Skylling of Skytrac on the Leitner-Poma Acquisition
8. New Owner Plans to Reopen Stagecoach, Colorado in 2017
7. First Look at Big Sky’s Powder Seeker Six and Challenger 2.0
6. Big Sky 2025: A $150 Million Vision for the Next Decade on Lone Peak
5. Sweetwater Gondola September Update from Jackson Hole
4. Construction Underway on New Lifts at Big Sky
3. Ober Gatlinburg Survives Fire, Sky Lift Fate Unknown
2. Sunday River Lift Severely Damaged as Terminal Falls
1. Big Sky Flies Towers for America’s Most High-Tech Chairlift

Blog wise, readership increased five-fold with more than 700 reader comments in 2016. Lift Blog now has 750 Instagram followers and almost 500 likes on Facebook.  I even started Tweeting.  Now a few predictions for 2017…

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There was a lot less purple on this map on 1/1/2016, particularly in the Northeast.
  1. North America will build more than fifty lifts for the first time since 2007.  I’ve already identified 28 likely to be built this construction season with the announcement window really just beginning. American consumer confidence is at its highest level since 2001 and the snow is deep in every major ski region of North America.
  2. An American or Canadian city will commit to building a purpose-built gondola for public transportation.  New York City, Washington, Albany and Vancouver are likely candidates but there are dozens more possibilities.
  3. Vail Resorts will go East.  Since October 2010, Vail has acquired a new ski resort every nine months on average.  That puts the next purchase approximately May 2017.  A major New England or Mid-Atlantic mountain going Epic seems only a matter of time.  Wherever it goes, Vail Resorts will invest heavily in new lifts.

Tune in over the next year to see how I do.

Lift Safety in the Spotlight as Family Falls, Mother Dies at Granby Ranch

Peter Landsman11 Comments

Tragedy struck yesterday at Granby Ranch, Colorado during what is normally a celebratory week at American ski resorts.  A 40-year old woman and her two daughters, ages 9 and 12,  fell from a chair on the Quickdraw quad at approximately 9:30 am.  Kelly Huber, of San Antonio, Texas died, while one of her children remains in stable condition at a Denver hospital.   The older sister was treated and released.  In a statement today, the resort noted, “All of us at Granby Ranch are deeply saddened by yesterday’s tragic incident at our resort. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of our guests. Our focus right now is on supporting those affected by this tragedy.”

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The Quickdraw detachable quad opened in 1999 and serves exclusively beginner and intermediate ski runs.

Quickdraw is one of only three Italian-built Leitner detachable chairlifts in the United States, debuting at Granby Ranch in 1999.  Leitner and Poma merged their North American operations in 2002.  While some reports indicate the lift stopped frequently before the accident, those of us who work around lifts know that is not unusual this time of year and often not due to any mechanical problem.  There’s no indication the detachable grip failed and the fourth spot on the chair was apparently empty.  Quickdraw’s chairs are equipped with both restraining bars and footrests.  The Colorado Passenger Tramway Board is investigating and Quickdraw remained closed today.

According to the NSAA, the last fatal fall from a U.S. chairlift occurred on December 18, 2011 at Sugar Bowl, when a 7-year old boy fell 60 feet.  Non-deadly falls are more common, however, with 227 reported in Colorado alone between 2001 and 2012.  86 percent of those were found to be a result of rider error, with 4 percent due to medical problems and just 2 percent attributed to operator/mechanical issues (the rest were never classified.)  Yesterday’s accident was the first deadly chairlift fall in Colorado since 2002, with 1.7 billion safe rides in the years between, according to Colorado Ski Country USA.

Nevertheless, as I write this, a family is in mourning and the story occupies the fourth spot on CNN.com.  With more holiday weeks to come, let this terrible accident be a reminder that no matter how statistically safe they are, ski lifts can become dangerous in an instant.  Already this year, we’ve seen falls from chairs at Mt. Hood Meadows, Seven Springs and Whistler with near misses at Sundance and Mt. Ashland.  Many more never make the news.  Be safe out there – especially with kids on lifts.

News Roundup: Climbing

Peter LandsmanLeave a comment
  • Suicide Six debuts new Leitner-Poma quad chair, Red River opens its new Doppelmayr quad.
  • Sundance employees rush a ladder to a chair, climb up and pull a hanging child back up in just minutes.  A man at Seven Springs fares worse.
  • Two of Canada’s richest families still plan to build $3.5 billion ski resort near Squamish.
  • Telluride Mountain Village Gondola turns 20.
  • Jay Peak’s tram is back in action.
  • The AP runs a story on future urban gondolas in the United States.
  • Cannon Mountain’s new LST T-Bar goes down ahead of dedication.
  • If you enjoy this blog, Ski Inc. is a must read.

Poma to Build World’s First 3S Dedicated to Public Transportation

Peter LandsmanLeave a comment
cabine_station_chu_rangueil
A new 3S gondola will open in Toulouse, France in 2020, becoming the first dedicated tri-cable gondola system for public transport.

In its home country of France, Poma Ropeways has won a $56 million tender to realize the first 3S gondola designed entirely for public transport. Téléphérique Urbain Sud (South Urban Cable Car) will link two hospitals to Paul Sabatier University in the city of Toulouse. You may know France’s fourth largest city, with 1.2 million inhabitants, as the global headquarters of the Airbus Group.

The gondola’s 1.9 mile route will ascend a 300-foot hill called Pech David before crossing the Garonne waterway.  Factors leading to the selection of a 3S over a MGD were the need for long spans between towers (just 5 required instead of 20), the ability to more easily transport wheelchairs/bicycles as well as wind tolerance.  Fourteen 35-passenger Sigma Symphony cabins will circulate between three stations with an hourly capacity of 1,500 passengers per direction.  At 5 m/s, the system will achieve headways of just 90 seconds and a trip will take ten minutes each way, a 20-minute improvement from today in a car.  Like other successful urban gondola projects, riders of the 3S will be able to use existing fare media and easily transfer to and from metro trains or buses.  Additional stages are likely to be added to the ends of the new gondola in the future.

toulouse-urban-cable-car-ropeline-profile

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News Roundup: Rope

Peter LandsmanLeave a comment
  • Mi Teleférico to end 2016 with 77 million riders and a $2.9 million operating profit unheard of in public transportation.
  • Poma inaugurates fourth Medellín Metrocable line with a fifth under construction.
  • Jackson Hole cuts the ribbon on the Sweetwater Gondola.
  • Local government reaches tentative agreement with Branson Gondola backers.
  • Poma drops its latest newsletter.
  • On the heels of inaugurating four new ropeways in Switzerland, BMF signs some major contracts.
  • Laurel Mountain re-opens today after being shuttered for 11 seasons.
  • Kimberley’s Easter double got new chairs over the summer, the leftovers from Fernie’s new Polar Peak lift and Nakiska before that.
  • The Nakiska Gold Express saga continues, with 3,000 feet of new rope to be spliced into the haul rope, which is seven years old and was last spliced just two weeks ago. You can watch repairs in real time here.
  • Jay Peak hopes to have its tram running by Christmas weekend following its own rope problems.
  • After sustaining damage due to swinging chairs in a windstorm, Schweitzer’s Basin Express will be down for at least the next few days.
  • Take a virtual tour of the first Doppelmayr D-Line chairlift, Waidoffen, with Direct Drive and solar arrays.
  • A 13,000-foot long Poma gondola will dramatically improve access to a Peruvian fortress from January 2017.
  • Summit County, Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Transit Authority launch study of the Kimball Junction-Canyons Village-Park City corridor, including the option of building gondola(s.)

This is an open thread.  Feel free to comment on anything lift-related.

Telluride Looks to Add New Lifts, Upgrade Others in New Master Plan

Peter Landsman2 Comments

Telluride Ski Resort, which crested 500,000 skier visits for the first time last season and operates 14 chairlifts, released a new master development plan this month aimed at upgrading key lifts and adding a few new ones over the next decade.  At opening in 1972, Telluride had just five double chairlifts but now, together with the town of Mountain Village, is home to North America’s largest gondola transit system and one of the most successful destination resorts.

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Existing conditions, including the relatively new Revelation Bowl and Prospect Bowl expansions.

Telski’s last MDP from 1999 included several lift projects that are still approved but not yet completed.  Most notably, the Palmyra Basin lift would rise 1,165 vertical feet lift to serve intermediate terrain above the Prospect Express, which itself was built as part of a four-lift expansion in 2001.  Also in this area, a new 1,500′ surface lift is approved to serve the Gold Hill chutes above the Revelation lift, which debuted in 2008 as Telluride’s only Leitner-Poma lift.

More lift upgrades are added in the latest master plan.  The first is bringing Gold Hill Express capacity from its 1,500 pph to 2,200 by adding more chairs.  This lift was initially approved as two separate lifts with 1,200-1,500 pph each, but was combined into one lift with a higher design capacity.  Gold Hill is a 2001 Doppelmayr, one of four Telluride built in one very busy summer.

Another planned project that will surprise no one is a Plunge lift replacement.  The existing 1985 CTEC triple has had a reduced hourly capacity of 1,042 pph ever since safety bars were installed, due to their added weight.  At 6,260 feet slope length, a ride takes nearly 13 minutes.  A 1,000 f.p.m. detachable quad is proposed to replace Plunge with an initial capacity of 1,800 pph and designed to reach 2,400.

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