- Ikon Pass adds St. Moritz, Switzerland as its sixth European destination.
- A child is hospitalized after falling from Steamboat’s Sunshine Express.
- Another child falls from Park City’s Orange Bubble Express.
- Powder Mountain will auction Timberline chairs this weekend.
- Holiday Mountain removes the long lost D double, plans to eventually replace it with a used triple chair.
- No link but I’m told a hand charge landed on and exploded on top of a Base to Base Gondola cabin last Saturday at Palisades Tahoe during avalanche hazard reduction work. No one was injured but the cabin was damaged.
- Blackcomb cancels summer skiing due to the receding glacier under the Showcase T-Bar.
- Former Jay Peak President Bill Stenger tells his side of the fraud saga in two parts.
- Homewood will hold a master plan update and perhaps address the future of its delivered-but-not-installed D-Line gondola.
- West Mountain continues planning for a backside detachable quad.
Instagram Tuesday: Spring
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Bonnie
- The Summit at Snoqualmie releases renderings of and begins construction on the new Wildside Quad.
- Jay Peak intends to replace Bonaventure next summer.
- Stratton eyes replacing Tamarack with a high speed quad in 2025, may swap the gondola for a bubble six or eight place chairlift after that.
- Brian Head, Utah appears to be working on an expansion.
- Powder Mountain plans to build a new lift in Wolf Canyon next year and add additional private terrain in the Davenport zone. Owner Reed Hastings tells the New York Times privatized terrain will subsidize the money-losing public operation.
- A wild video from Italy shows the dangers of bubble chairs in high winds (no injuries).
- Obstructors sue to halt progress on the proposed Los Angeles Dodger Stadium gondola.
- Park City highlights unique operational aspects of opening Ninety Nine 90 with no electricity or vehicle access to the summit.
- The Forest Service approves Sun Valley’s Seattle Ridge six pack, slated for this summer, and the future Christmas chondola.
- Whistler Blackcomb debuts two wrapped cabins on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola with designs crafted by indigenous artists.
- Hatley Pointe works to reactivate two backside chairlifts, teases another lift upgrade skiers will be “really surprised” about.
- Deer Valley hopes to break ground on a Snow Park-Silver Lake gondola in 2025, says the line could eventually become part of a five segment network from East Village all the way to Old Town Park City with stops at Park Peak, Silver Lake and Snow Park.
- Highlander is hiring construction crew members for multiple lift installations at Deer Valley this summer.
- Sun Peaks faces another lawsuit for another Burfield Quad mis-unload.
- Sugarbush catches flak for closing much of Lincoln Peak early to begin construction of the new Heaven’s Gate quad.
- There’s further evidence MND will launch a new detachable line at Mountain Planet next month.
- Funding for a new Telluride-Mountain Village gondola will likely be on the ballot this fall alongside the Presidential choice.
Instagram Tuesday: Construction Season
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Stagecoach Resurrection
- Yellowstone Club and Homewood developer Discovery Land Company plans to revive the former Stagecoach ski area near Steamboat as a private ski and golf resort. A local realtor says Stagecoach Mountain Ranch has a Doppelmayr gondola on order.
- Loon Mountain rekindles plans to build a pulse gondola from RiverWalk Resort in Lincoln to the base of South Peak in 2025.
- MND’s upcoming product launch appears to be lift related.
- Hesperus, Colorado will remain closed next season.
- Nordic Valley will refurbish, not replace Apollo.
- Red River retires the outgoing Copper Chair early due to a mechanical issue.
- A paraglider in Austria dies after flying into a moving gondola. Two passengers in the gondola cabin were slightly injured.
- Mad River Glen details plans for Skytrac to add a mid-station to Sunnyside this summer.
- Mt. Bachelor installs a new electric motor on Northwest Express, allowing it to run full speed for the first time since January.
- A small forest fire briefly closes Timberline’s Jeff Flood Express.
- Parks Canada says no again to a Banff-Mt. Norquay gondola.
- White Hills, Newfoundland rope evacuates the Powder Line Express due to a mechanical issue.
- Powderhorn reopens the Flat Top Flyer after a 17 day unplanned closure.
- The Los Angeles City Council will vote today on a motion to halt approval of the Dodger Stadium Gondola.
- Arapahoe Basin moves to paid peak parking, may alter Ikon Pass access for next season.
- Sugarloaf load tests the newly shortened West Mountain double.
- Norway Mountain, Michigan begins selling season passes for reopening next season after seven years closed.
- FirstGroup, a large private operator of public transit, will take over operation of the London Cable Car.
Ski Sundown to Build First Skytrac in Connecticut
Ski Sundown today announced it will replace the base-to-summit Exhibition triple this offseason with a quad from Skytrac. The current Exhibition lift opened in 1977 and carries 1,800 skiers per hour. The new fixed grip lift will feature a loading conveyor and 2,400 skier per hour capacity. The new lift will reduce ride time to 4.5 minutes with speed increasing from 400 feet per minute to 450 feet per minute. It will include 90 quad chairs and span 1,999 feet.
Exhibition’s final day will be this Sunday and the new lift is expected to open for the 2024-25 season.
Instagram Tuesday: Flying Towers
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
New Gondola Coming to West Virginia’s Pipestem State Park
Construction is ramping up on a new six passenger gondola in West Virginia. The State announced this week the Doppelmayr pulse system is expected to be complete this fall. The lift replaces a four passenger Mueller gondola which operated from 1970 until 2023. The new lift will be fully ADA accessible and carry riders 1,100 vertical feet down into the Bluestone River Gorge. The lift will serve a wide variety of visitors from sightseers to overnight lodging guests, anglers and boaters. To accomplish this, the gondola will feature four pulses of three cabins each along with a freight carrier for bicycles and kayaks.
“Pipestem Resort has always been one of the most popular state parks in West Virginia and this new tramway is going to help us accommodate visitors and continue to offer a world-class experience,” said West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Director Brett McMillion. “As a former superintendent at Pipestem, I want to thank Governor Justice for his continued support of our state parks over these last seven years and guaranteeing that they will be enjoyed by West Virginians and visitors alike for years to come.”
Crews will soon fly out nine old Mueller lattice towers and set new tubular towers for the system. Each station will also require new loading platforms to be constructed.
Doppelmayr has a longstanding construction base in West Virginia and is also scheduled to construct a new gondola at Hawks Nest State Park in 2024-25.
News Roundup: Above & Beyond
- A new park map shows where Legoland New York’s gondola will go.
- A skiing preview of Deer Valley Expanded Excellence.
- The Colorado Sun embeds with departments who work all night to make Winter Park run.
- Afton Alps removes Chair 18 to make way for a tube park.
- Vail Resorts reports season-to-date skier visits are down 9.7 percent and lowers earnings guidance.
- From the classifieds: a 1987 Poma Quad for sale.
- Doppelmayr assumes patents needed for Autonomous Ropeway Operation (AURO) installations in the USA.
- Kimberley, BC files a new master plan.
- MND to make an announcement on April 16th.
- Upon learning of a young guest named Reid with a phobia of chairlifts, Stevens Pass staff spring into action, giving him a full day tour of mountain operations and making him an honorary lift operator.
- Red Lodge Mountain closes the Cole Creek quad due to a component failure within the lift terminal structure.
- A high speed quad is rope evacuated at Burke Mountain.
- Flat Top Flyer at Powderhorn remains closed awaiting delivery of parts.
- Sugarloaf closes King Pine for whatever this “mechanical problem” is.
- Guests were stuck on Blackcomb’s new gondola for hours yesterday.
- The OITAF World Congress for Ropeways is coming to Vancouver June 17-21.
- Leitner has reportedly paid more than $16 million in settlements to families of victims of the 2021 Stresa-Mottarone tram disaster.
- A D-Line gondola in Austria will run entirely on solar energy produced on site this summer.
- Grouse Mountain provides a gondola construction update.
- A raccoon rides Sugarbush’s Village quad.
- Costs double for the proposed gondola-served transit center at Steamboat.
- Also at Steamboat, Leitner-Poma appears to have won the contract to replace Sunshine Express.
- Leitner-Poma also appears to have upcoming projects at Big Bear Mountain Resort, Snowbasin and Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
- Chapman Hill will replace its main rope tow with a Leitner-Poma platter.
- Wachusett nears a decision to replace Polar Express with a six pack.
- The Town of Alta passes a resolution opposing the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola.
- Red River shares renderings of its upcoming Copper Chair, will sell retiring Riblet chairs.
The Highlands, Michigan to Replace Interconnect Chair
The Highlands at Harbor Springs will forge ahead with another lift replacement project this summer, retiring the Interconnect Riblet triple for a faster Doppelmayr version. The new fixed grip triple will feature a height adjustable loading conveyor, RFID gates and safety bars, all of which the current triple lacks. The Alpenstar machine will move 33 percent faster and improve access to North Peak terrain. The move comes hot on the heels of this season’s debut of Camelot 6, the first bubble detachable in the Midwest and fastest chairlift in Michigan.
When the new Interconnect lift is complete, The Highlands will have replaced four aging Riblet chairlifts with new technology over just two seasons. “We are eager to upgrade our Interconnect lift with a new Doppelmayr fixed-grip design to enhance the experience for guests next winter season,” said Mike Chumbler, president and general manager of The Highlands. “With improved speed, efficiency, modern conveniences, and safety features, we are confident that this addition will help build on the overall skiing and riding adventures at The Highlands.”
For the second year in a row, Boyne Resorts has announced more new lifts at more mountains than any other North American operator. Boyne plans at least six lift projects this summer at its resorts in Maine, Michigan, Montana and Washington.
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