- Lake Louise reopens a week after an intentionally-set fire displaced hundreds of employees.
- Okemo temporarily closes due to Vermont flooding.
- Lift-free Colorado resort Bluebird Backcountry fails after three seasons.
- Sterling Vineyards load tests its new D-Line gondola, with wine of course.
- Both Solitude and Brighton offer old high speed quad chairs for sale.
- Summer operations at Brundage remain paused due to issues with the Bluebird Express.
Utah Department of Transportation Selects Gondola for Little Cottonwood Canyon
The State of Utah has selected a 3S gondola as the winning alternative for Little Cottonwood Canyon mobility after a multi-year environmental impact study. The study considered roadway widening, enhanced bus service, rail and two different gondola options. UDOT received and analyzed some 50,000 public comments in the lead up to its decision.
The selected gondola alternative B will start with enhanced bus service in 2025 and other road improvements before the gondola is constructed and State Route 210 becomes tolled. The 3S system would be capable of carrying 1,050 passengers per hour from a base terminal at La Caille to stations at Snowbird and Alta. The innovative system would include four sections with 35 passenger cabins departing stations every two minutes.
“The gondola provides the highest travel reliability, as it can operate independently of State Route 210, avoiding delays related to adverse weather, crashes, slide offs, and slow moving traffic,” wrote UDOT in its Record of Decision. “While the gondola does have high visual impacts, it has low impacts to the watershed, wildlife movement and climbing boulders, along with low operations and maintenance costs.”
The gondola itself would cost $370 million to construct and would become the most expensive and capable lift system ever built in the United States. A new parking garage, tolling infrastructure and trailhead improvements would bring all-in capital cost to $729 million. However, because the gondola would cost less than $8 million per year to operate, it has the lowest 30 year lifecycle cost of all the options studied.
Once the gondola is complete, UDOT expects the Utah Transit Authority to discontinue bus service in Little Cottonwood with transit riders transferring to the gondola at the base of the canyon. Skiers and resort employees alike could reliably access Snowbird in 27 minutes and Alta in 37 minutes whenever the gondola is operating. The road would remain open for private vehicles with tolling in the upper canyon to help pay for improvements.
Although gondola alternative B is now officially the state’s selected alternative, lawmakers have not yet funded the project. As such, no timeline has been set for gondola construction to begin.
Instagram Tuesday: Holiday Valley
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: The Desert
- Matterhorn Glacier Ride II opens, connecting Switzerland and Italy via 3S gondola.
- A fire destroys Lake Louise’s main employee housing complex, displacing 165 workers and closing the resort temporarily. Emergency relief fund here.
- The State of Vermont agrees to pay $16.5 million to settle claims over its role in fraud at Jay Peak and Burke Mountain.
- Vail Mountain to auction 65 retired triple and quad chairs for charity.
- Lots of ski terrain gets sculpted at Mayflower next to Deer Valley.
Instagram Tuesday: Glacier Ride II
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: 7-3
- Sugarbush affirms plans to build both a detachable and fixed grip chairlift next summer.
- Jackson Hole applies to replace Sublette with a detachable quad.
- Alterra partners with Colorado Mountain College on an intensive four week lift maintenance training course at Steamboat.
- Breck’s new high speed quad will be named FIVE SuperChair.
- Whiteface’s will be called The Notch.
- Park City puts more old gondola cabins on sale, new Red Pine cabins debut.
- Crested Butte mechanics and electricians vote 7-3 to unionize.
- Aspen Skiing Company managing partner and Alterra part owner Jim Crown dies unexpectedly.
- Brundage loses its only summer lift until further notice due to a mechanical issue.
Instagram Tuesday: Upgrading Existing Lifts
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Public Dollars
- California Mountain Resort Company (owner of China Peak/Dodge Ridge/Mountain High) buys Taos’ outgoing Lift 4 for reinstallation next summer.
- One of New Zealand’s largest ski resorts faces liquidation right before ski season.
- Solitude’s next three lift replacement priorities, in order, are Link, Sunrise and Powderhorn II.
- Buck Hill holds a chair sale. Middlebury Snowbowl too.
- Gatlinburg SkyLift Park simplifies its name to SkyPark.
- A New York public broadcaster highlights the Olympic Regional Development Authority’s $700 million in recent spending subsidized by taxpayers.
- A one year delay over sewer issues increases the cost of Gore Mountain’s new Ski Bowl detachable quad by $681,000, will now be built next year.
- New Hampshire commits $18 million to a major overhaul of the Cannon Mountain tramway.
- The Forest Service approves the replacement of Wilbere at Snowbird with a fixed grip quad.
- Leitner releases its 2022 annual report showcasing installations across Europe.
- Loon Mountain shares a South Peak construction update.
- Big Sky’s new tram cabins are complete and ready for shipping.
Instagram Tuesday: South Peak
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
New Gondola Planned for Canyons Village at Park City
Visitors to Park City’s Canyons Village will soon have a third out-of-base lift option. Today the Canyons Village Management Association board voted to sign a joint funding agreement with Vail Resorts for construction of a new 10 passenger gondola linking the south end of Canyons Village to Red Pine Lodge. Canyons Village has seen immense growth in recent years with new hotels, commercial space and employee housing opening while lift investment lagged. Once the project is complete, Park City skiers will be able to choose between the new Sunrise Gondola, the existing 8 passenger Red Pine Gondola and four passenger Orange Bubble Express chairlift at Canyons Village. The new machine will provide a much-needed out-of-base capacity and create a second downloading option for end-of-day egress.
The 6,512 foot long gondola will replace the Sunrise double and run along an undulating alignment crossing the existing Over and Out quad. 10 passenger cabins will carry riders 1,103 vertical feet between the village and mid-mountain. The bottom terminal will be located near the new Pendry hotel and the top will sit near the Saddleback Express and High Meadow Express lifts.
No manufacturer has been announced but lift equipment is expected to cost $18 million with an additional $9 million non-lift costs. The Canyons Village Management Association will fund up to $9.24 million of the $27 million total, though Vail Resorts will own and operate the gondola. The agreement between the two parties stipulates the new lift is to be completed within 36 months. “Park City Mountain and CVMA are pleased to be moving forward together toward this important future investment,” the two parties said in a statement. “A future gondola will enhance the Canyons Village experience and contribute to the operation of a world-class resort. Today’s CVMA board vote was one step in a process we are excited to continue as we partner to reimagine Canyons Village as a world-class destination.”
