Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Marmot Basin Announces New Knob Chair
It’s been an open secret for months but Marmot Basin made it official this weekend: a new summit chairlift will debut this winter. Not only will the new Knob Quad replace the mountain’s oldest lift, it will also increase Marmot Basin’s lift-served vertical by 415 vertical feet. The Doppelmayr fixed grip quad will replace a 47 year old Doppelmayr double of the same name but run in a modified alignment. The new machine will be longer and taller, rising 1,289 vertical feet over 3,566 feet of slope length. A Chairkit conveyor will enable loading at 2.3 meters per second with up to 1,200 skiers per hour enjoying a sub eight minute ride. The new lift will improve access to the Cirque terrain as well as Marmot Peak.
When the project is complete, Marmot Basin will feature one of the youngest lift fleets in Canada. Marmot and Doppelmayr plan to open the Knob Quad this coming season as soon as snow permits.
News Roundup: Enhancement
- Four years after the Sea to Sky Gondola’s haul rope was first cut, the criminal case remains open.
- Adventureland, Iowa decommissions its SLI double chair.
- An assessment finds extensive damage to lifts at Snow Ridge.
- Echo Mountain, Colorado appears to be for sale.
- Tremblant’s gondola reopens a month after a fatal accident.
- Fernie shifts hiking and biking operations from one side of the mountain to the other due to a mechanical issue with the Elk chair.
- Utah Governor Spencer Cox says the Little Cottonwood gondola should be a public-private partnership.
- Baghdad, Iraq plans an urban gondola.
Sun Valley Plans Two More Six Packs
Two of Bald Mountain’s most popular lifts – Christmas and Seattle Ridge – will be upgraded from quads to larger lifts under a plan up for Forest Service approval. The project follows hot on the heels of two similar upgrade projects taking place this summer at Sun Valley. Construction crews with Doppelmayr are working to replace Greyhawk and Challenger with new four and six seat chairlifts on the Warm Springs side of the mountain. When both projects are complete, Sun Valley Resort will have replaced four of its seven Yan detachable quads built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The last three up for replacement will be Frenchman’s, Lookout Express and River Run Express in future seasons.
The new Christmas lift will feature both six passenger chairs and enclosed gondola cabins. This will create a base-to-summit gondola route in conjunction with the existing Roundhouse Gondola, which runs from River Run Day Lodge to the mid mountain Roundhouse. Christmas Chondola will load at the Roundhouse and increase capacity from 2,400 guests per hour to 3,000 per hour. The top terminal location will move slightly to provide better connectivity with the Lookout Day Lodge for foot passengers riding the new chondola.
On Seattle Ridge, another new six pack will similarly increase capacity from 2,400 to 3,000 skiers per hour. This new lift will also travel in a slightly modified alignment to accommodate a new ski patrol facility. “Both of the existing lifts are over 35 years old and are nearing the end of their operational lifespans,” the Forest Service wrote in its scoping letter. “Replacement of the lifts would ensure a safe and reliable user experience, and increased lift capacity would help address the long lift lines experienced at both lifts in their existing condition.”
A public meeting about Sun Valley’s latest projects is scheduled for Thursday, August 31st from 4:30 to 6:00 pm at the Ketchum Library. Public comments can also be submitted online to comments-intermtn-sawtooth-ketchum@usda.gov.
Instagram Tuesday: High Wire
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Great Causes
- Alpine Ski Club, Ontario lists the Arrowhead Quad for sale with a replacement planned for 2024.
- Big Moose Mountain, Maine fundraises to revive trails abandoned since the summit double last ran in 2004.
- Snow Ridge, New York shares more photos of devastating tornado damage and fundraises for rebuilding. A volunteer cleanup day is scheduled for August 26th.
- Nonprofit Skiland, Alaska seeks donations to operate next season.
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay teases a reopening of its gondola that has been closed since Covid.
- A power outage strands hundreds of guests overnight at the Banff Gondola.
- Seven Oaks leaves the Indy Pass.
Instagram Tuesday: Centennial
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Tornado Damages Lifts at Snow Ridge, NY
An large tornado damaged several lifts and other buildings at Snow Ridge Ski Resort late last night. The ski area, located in Turin, New York, posted this morning that all three of its chairlifts sustained damage from extreme wind and falling trees. Photos showed lift buildings overturned, safety bars blown off chairs and towers de-roped.
All of the lifts at Snow Ridge date back the 1950s through 1970s. The Little Mountain and North doubles appeared to sustain the most damage from the storm. “The Ridge got hit pretty hard by last evening’s tornado,” Snow Ridge wrote this morning on Facebook. “Everyone is safe, which is the most important thing but this damage really hurts. We are devastated but will rebuild,” the mountain wrote.
Update: The National Weather Service determined the tornado was an EF-3 with peak wind gusts estimated at 140 mph near Snow Ridge.
News Roundup: Ponderosa
- Garaventa commences building the first TRI-Line tricable gondola in Switzerland.
- The Kemmerer family sells Jackson Hole to a local investor group.
- Lee Canyon’s expansion lift to be called Ponderosa.
- Lutsen backs away from proposed expansion to consult with local tribes.
- More chair sales: White Pass, Washington and Lutsen, Minnesota.
- A new trail map shows the rebirth of lost terrain at Holiday Mountain, New York.
- Park City shows renderings of the proposed Sunrise Gondola.
- I took a break from skiing at Mammoth last week to snap some pictures of the Canyon Express project.
Instagram Tuesday: High Altitude Projects
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
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