Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Perfect
- Squaw Valley President and COO Ron Cohen explains why the resort’s name is changing and gives an update on the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
- The other Squaw ski area will not be changing names.
- Whitefish cuts the line for its future Hellroaring lift.
- Icy Strait Point, home to two new Doppelmayr gondolas, is in the running for Global Cruise Port of the Year.
- Nitehawk commences fundraising to replace its destroyed chairlift, though the community ski area may only be able to afford a T-Bar.
- Jay Peak reopens its tram tomorrow with freshly-slipped track ropes.
- The public is asked to weigh in on three Burnaby Mountain Gondola alignments.
- Red Mountain becomes the eighth Ikon Pass destination in Canada.
- Big Snow’s reopening first chair goes up empty in honor of the more than 14,000 New Jerseyans who have died from Covid.
- The first lifts at Mayflower Mountain Resort are now set to open in 2023 instead of 2021. A new project video suggests it will be worth the wait.
- Mad River Glen will get a James Niehues trail map if fundraising efforts succeed.
- Granby Ranch gets a new owner and operator.
- The Perfect family has pumped more than $13 million into Timberline Mountain this offseason, including the two new chairlifts which are 75 percent complete.
Instagram Tuesday: September
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Endless Winter
- Construction will begin early next year on a new point of interest chairlift in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
- Amazon files a patent for a skier-pulling drone.
- Mission Ridge provides another fantastic construction update.
- 2020-21 is the final season the largest ski resort in California will be known by the name Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.
- The Forest Service seeks public comments on eight lift projects and more included in the Grand Targhee master plan.
- Big Snow American Dream reopens Tuesday after nearly six months closed. The snow never melted!
- Utah Olympic Park expects to add a fourth chairlift and new terrain next summer.
- After years focusing on snowmaking, Telluride’s owner considers lift upgrades.
- Ski Santa Fe fires up snow guns to help protect lifts from wildfire.
- Glenwood Caverns reopens today following a 16 day fire closure.
- Riders get stuck on the Sandia Peak Tramway for hours.
- Vermont may provide direct payments to ski resorts.
- Harry’s Dream at Beaver Mountain gets a new Skytrac return terminal.
- Vail Resorts won’t sell day tickets early season and will require passholders to make reservations at all 34 of its North American mountains for 2020-21.
- The Denver Post catches up with Colorado mountain leaders to talk winter plans.
- The Lower T-Bar at Pass Powderkeg, AB is being extended.
- Doppelmayr begins testing its D-Line gondola to the beach in Mexico.
- The City of Los Angeles releases four gondola alignment alternatives it’s studying for Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign.
Instagram Tuesday: Top Tier
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: 2020 and Beyond
- A dozen years after closing, North Carolina’s Hawksnest lists two Hall doubles for sale.
- As it attempts to lower its tax bill, Jay Peak reveals it received several non-binding offers ranging from $38 million to $70 million.
- Burke Mountain argues it’s worth only $11.2 million, citing seven figure losses each of the last three years.
- Wachusett will sell four different sessions this winter rather than day and night tickets.
- Garibaldi at Squamish now plans to break ground in 2023 and spin lifts circa 2027.
- For the second time in a year, the tram in Juneau, Alaska has a new name: Goldbelt Tram.
- An American visitor caught riding the Banff Gondola faces a CA$750,000 fine.
- Not good: a paraglider gets tangled up in a chair.
- Sugarloaf reiterates its commitment to West Mountain, which will include a lengthy detachable lift.
- Holimont plans to eventually move Chipmunk, replace Sunset and build a new lift on WestMont Ridge.
- Maine’s closed Eaton Mountain becomes a non-profit and will aggressively seek funding for a new chairlift.
- Park City won’t be seeing gondola transit any time soon.
- Nitehawk’s only chairlift will remain out of service for the entire 2020-21 season following last spring’s landslide.
- Elk Mountain has not been sold.
- North America’s 2019-20 ski season will come to an end August 30th.
- Sunday River plans to build the Merrill Hill lift in 2022.
- Quebec-based Samson Industries, which built more than 100 ski lifts, calls it quits after 160 years.
- What was supposed to be New Zealand’s first 10 passenger Doppelmayr gondola will sit in shipping containers until tourism recovers.
- Big Sky and Doppelmayr get to work on Swift Current 6 (shown below.)
Nordic Valley to Debut Six Passenger Lift
The once sleepy ski area in Eden, Utah will grow dramatically this winter with the addition of a high speed lift and new terrain. Leitner-Poma of America will supply the yet-to-be-named six place chair, which will move 2,500 skiers per hour and service approximately 50 acres of terrain the first season. When completed, the expansion will more than triple skiable terrain with 300 new acres. “The pioneers who started Nordic Valley dreamed of sharing this amazing terrain,” said Brandon Fessler, Nordic Valley general manager. “Our team has worked hard to realize that dream, and we cannot wait to share it with our guests, our friends and our neighbors this winter.” The lift will rise 1,400 vertical feet in just 4.2 minutes with a slope length of 4,213 feet. It will become the first six passenger lift built by Leitner-Poma in Utah.
Fast-growing Mountain Capital Partners took over operations of Nordic Valley in 2018. This expansion project will be located entirely on private property, though more lifts could eventually be added on Forest Service land at higher elevation.
MCP is also partnering with Leitner-Poma to add a base-to-summit Telemix at Arizona Snowbowl this summer. The two projects combine to form the largest lift investment in North American skiing for the 2020/21 season. While some resort groups have paused expansion capital due to the pandemic, Mountain Capital Partners and select others continue to forge ahead.
Nordic Valley expects to open the new six passenger lift early this winter, increasing its vertical drop by 65 percent.
Two New Detachables Coming to Holiday Valley Resort
Western New York’s Holiday Valley will build high speed lifts each of the next two years on the heels of $2.9 million worth of investments in 2020. Next summer, a realigned high speed quad will replace the Yodeler fixed grip quad and the mountain’s first six place chairlift will follow in 2022. The second project will replace the Mardi Gras Xpress, a key out-of-base workhorse constructed in 1996.
Holiday Valley is privately owned by a small group of shareholders. “We have a long range plan and are able to continue moving forward on resort projects,” noted General Manager Dennis Eshbaugh in a statement. “We are thinking positive about the future and we hope that by continuing to invest in this community, it will help stimulate the economy and instill confidence in others to follow suit.”
No manufacturer was announced for the new lifts. Holiday Valley currently operates a high capacity fleet of eleven quads from the Doppelmayr and CTEC families.
Instagram Tuesday: Big Projects
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Lake Louise Set to Open West Bowl
Work is underway to add 480 acres of new high alpine, advanced terrain at Lake Louise for next winter. West Bowl will be accessed by a Doppelmayr fixed grip quad replacing the old Summit Platter. This expansion will feature natural, side country-style terrain with gladed trees. The only groomed portion will be a new ski-out trail to the front side of the mountain.
The new Summit quad will be Lake Louise’s first Doppelmayr chairlift. It will run in a new alignment from Top of the World to Mt. Whitehorn. That means a lap will in West Bowl will require three lift rides: Glacier Express or Grizzly Express, Top of the World and Summit. Eventually, a new Upper Juniper lift will eliminate the need for West Bowl skiers to transit the base area and ride three lifts.
Lake Louise plans to replace and make more lift additions in future years as part of its new Long Range Plan in partnership with Parks Canada.
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