- Nitehawk removes three lift towers which were carried away from their original locations by a landslide.
- Walt Disney World hasn’t set a Skyliner reopening date but cabins were back on the Epcot line last week.
- The Telluride’s Mountain Village public transit gondola returns to service.
- LST Ropeways and Bartholet will partner to build a 50 passenger urban aerial tramway on the island of Réunion.
- Dodge Ridge begins removing Chair 6 for an upgrade project.
- A fire threatens America’s southernmost ski area.
- When it opens later this year, Medellín’s sixth Metrocable line will become the world’s first urban gondola with 12 passenger cabins.
- The Juneau Tram will not operate at any point in 2020.
- Timberline’s Palmer Express opens for summer glacier skiing.
- Aspen Skiing Company says hiring a lawyer was a last resort in an ongoing dispute between Liftopia and Mountain Collective resorts.
- Aspen Snowmass skier visits fell 20 percent last season.
- Many Vail Resorts properties will reopen over the next few weeks but most of the company’s bike parks will remain closed.
- Mt. Sunapee and Stevens Pass are suspending summer operations entirely.
- On all Vail Resorts lifts, face coverings will be required when loading/unloading and at all times while on gondolas and bubble chairs.
- Authorities seek information on a vandal who damaged lift sensors and other property at Pine Knob.
- Pajarito cancels summer operations.
US Skier Visits Declined 13.9 Percent Last Season
American ski resorts were on track for their fourth best season in history before coronavirus forced closures, according to data released today by the National Ski Areas Association. Spring traditionally accounts for about 20 percent of total visitation and the shortened season yielded a total of 51.1 million skier days. On the heels of 59.3 million skiers in 2018/19, 2019/20 will go down as the worst season since 2011/12 and second worst since 1991/92.
Despite visitation declining in all six NSAA regions, there is reason for optimism. “To have two years in a row potentially rank in the top five seasons ever shows the strength of the industry,” said NSAA President and CEO Kelly Pawlak, referring to the 2018/19 winter and truncated 2019/20 season. “That being said, it is astounding how quickly this season went from promising to a complete disappointment.” The impact of snowfall, traditionally a major factor in visitation, was difficult to assess this year due to many resorts ending reporting in mid-March.
The Kottke National End of Season Survey also revealed six fewer operational areas in 2019/20 with a total of 470. Each resort was open an average of only 99 days, down from 121 in the 2018/19 season. That means each resort averaged about 108,000 visits. A skier visit is defined as a skiing or snowboarding guest visiting a resort for any part of a day.
The industry group estimates COVID-19 will cost resorts at least $2 billion and as much as $5 billion depending on continued impacts during the 2020/21 season. Within weeks of closing early, many resorts opted to delay capital projects such as new lifts planned for next winter. At least nine major projects were postponed in the month of April. As of today, new lift orders are pacing almost 30 percent below last year.
Instagram Tuesday: Ferrying
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Searchmont to Install Two New Lifts
Ontario’s Searchmont Resort will add two Skytrac triple chairs this summer as part of a major modernization. US-based Wisconsin Resorts purchased Searchmont in 2018 from a public economic development agency and promised to make significant capital investments. The longer of the two lifts will replace the mountain’s original double chairlift, built in 1972. The double ran up the center of the mountain and was one of the last remaining Borvig lifts in Canada (only eight remain now.) Chairs from the lift are being sold tomorrow on a first come, first served basis for CA$200 apiece.
A second new triple chair will service a dedicated beginner area, which Searchmont lacks currently. This lift will be 2,000 feet long and open new terrain west of current trails. Combined, the lifts will cost US$2.6 million and will be installed by local contractors. An existing Doppelmayr quad chair and a Blue Mountain triple chair will remain in service as well.
Searchmont is one of four mid-sized ski areas in North America installing more than one new chairlift this summer. The others building two are Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, Gore Mountain, New York and Timberline Mountain, West Virginia.
News Roundup: Workers
- Alterra, Aspen, Arapahoe Basin and Boyne file a petition to force Liftopia into bankruptcy, claiming the company owes them a combined $3 million.
- The only North American ski resort accessible exclusively by aerial tramway will reopen at 30 percent capacity.
- Leitner-Poma is seeking installation labor for a major project at Nordic Valley, Utah.
- The Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola, which suffered two separate incidents before the Covid shutdown last winter, won’t operate this summer.
- High Country News profiles one group of workers’ quest to unionize at a Vail resort.
- The first concrete is poured for Arizona Snowbowl’s big new Telemix.
- Granby Ranch goes dark.
- The developer of American Dream, home to Big Snow, may be in trouble.
- An old Yan heads from Idaho to Mt. Baldy, California.
- The Indy Pass generated close to 9,000 skier visits last year.
- As Florida theme park Busch Gardens reopens, its gondola won’t be spinning. No word yet on the Disney Skyliner.
- Newly-purchased Bousquet Mountain will add a used Poma triple to replace its Summit Double this summer.
- Poma wins the contract to build $75 million urban gondola system in Grenoble, France.
- Hermitage Club founder Jim Barnes is still trying to appeal the sale of club assets to a member group.
- Leitner Ropeways releases its 2019 Annual Report.
Could a Gondola Solve Little Cottonwood Canyon’s Woes?
Between crush loads of cars, large avalanches and frequent collisions, Utah State Route 210 can be a nightmare in winter. The 13.5 mile road connects the Salt Lake Valley to Little Cottonwood Canyon’s legendary Alta and Snowbird resorts. Utah’s Department of Transportation is currently studying ways to improve mobility in and out of the canyon with a focus on peak winter demand. Starting with 105 possibilities, the DOT last week narrowed its focus to three options: enhanced bus service, bus service combined with road widening and a hybrid bus/gondola option.
Stretching more than eight miles, the gondola would be among the longest in the world with more stations than any 3S system built to date. A tricable design was chosen for its ideal balance of speed, capacity and tower spacing. The lift would begin at the bottom of LCC, pass through an angle station at Tanners Flat and arrive at Snowbird 24 minutes later. Another 10 minute hop would link the eastern terminus at Alta Ski Area. The premise of the gondola is not to replace the road but rather divert a portion of trips to the air. This would be the second lowest capacity 3S ever built with thirty 30 passenger cabins arriving at stations every two minutes. A modest capacity would help manage costs and allow for towers spaced thousands of feet apart.
The Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola could operate in winds up to 68 miles per hour and strategically placed towers could keep it running when snow slides and crashes close the road. Guests and employees would enjoy an aerial journey through the canyon unlike anything in the United States. The system would cost $393 million, $77 million less than road widening but $110 million more than an enhanced bus solution. The gondola itself would run $240 million while the other $153 million is associated infrastructure such as parking and tolling. The aerial option would cost the least to operate, just $4.5 million per year versus $6.2-9 million annually for the bus options.
Instagram Tuesday: Granite
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Switzerland to Italy
- In Massachusetts, Bousquet sells to a private investment firm which will be advised by Jon and Jim Schaefer.
- Magic Mountain resumes work on the Black Line Quad project.
- Bravo to many more ski areas offering up ski lifts for graduation ceremonies: Big Bear, Canyon, Copper Mountain, Deer Valley, Giants Ridge, Jackson Hole, Mountain High, Snow Valley and Treetops.
- Nub’s Nob says goodbye to the Blue Chair.
- There will be no summer skiing on Blackcomb Glacier this year.
- A Canadian government decision means no Alaska cruises will sail in 2020 and it will likely be 2021 until Icy Strait Point’s dual gondola system debuts.
- The creator of the Indy Pass argues shared revenue models are the future of ski passes.
- Poma’s 2019 Reference Book is here.
- Doppelmayr begins building Saddleback’s $7 million high speed quad.
- The Aspen Mountain Telemix may happen in 2022.
- Mountain Collective adds a fifth new resort for 2020/21: Sun Peaks, British Columbia.
- Set to become the world’s longest alpine 3S, Jungfrau’s Eiger Express will open early.
- Launching tomorrow: another spectacular 3S which travels 705 feet above the sea in Vietnam. Three more sections will eventually form a 12.1 mile gondola chain.
- Demaclenko creates a fully automated fogging/disinfection solution for moving gondola cabins.
- Construction gets underway on the first bubble chairlift in the Pacific Northwest, which will load and unload inside buildings.
- In Minnesota, both Welch Village and Spirit Mountain pull the plug on summer operations.
- Vail Resorts lost $40 million less than anticipated in March and April and reported a net income of $152.5 million for the quarter ended April 30th.
- Purgatory proposes building a detachable quad chair and four low intermediate trails in an area known as Ice Creek.
- On Mt. Hood, Summit Ski Area seeks a boundary extension to the Timberline border, a first step towards a possible lift link.
- Leitner-Poma President Daren Cole pens a letter addressing challenges facing the ski industry in the age of coronavirus.
- Alterra extends the Ikon Pass deferral option to April 2021 and introduces a credit policy in the event of resort closures next season.
- A new English edition of International Ropeway Review profiles Treeline Cirque at Alpine Meadows and the Express du Village at Bromont.
- Utah’s Department of Transportation narrows its Little Cottonwood Canyon mobility study to gondolas and buses.
- The Snowbird tram will carry only 25 passengers when it reopens June 13th.
- The City of Idaho Springs, Colorado conditionally approves the Mighty Argo Cable Car, a 1.2 mile gondola on the site of a historic mine.
Instagram Tuesday: Lupine
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Wild Times
- Arapahoe Basin becomes the fourth US resort to reopen for skiing during coronavirus, including the soon-to-be-replaced Pallavicini chair for one final run.
- Washington’s Crystal Mountain will host two weeks of socially distanced spring skiing beginning Monday.
- While open for skiing with two high speed quads, Timberline Lodge works to replace the rope on a third and starts building the new Pucci Express all at the same time.
- The only amusement park with a chairlift in Indiana isn’t going out of business after all.
- Many state fair lifts won’t run at all this year: the California State Fair, Minnesota State Fair, Ohio State Fair and Wisconsin State Fair have all been canceled.
- Mt. Roberts Tramway rebrands as Juneau Tram.
- Sunshine Village cancels its entire summer season.
- A local resident continues to push for a San Diego urban gondola.
- One of the only people allowed to enter New Zealand recently is an expert helping to complete The Remarkables’ new D-Line six pack.
- Homewood announces a two year upgrade of Ellis: Skytrac line gear in 2020 and a fresh haul rope, drive terminal and chairs in 2021.
- Coronavirus hurts the bottom line and sale prospects for Jay Peak.
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