- Highland readies for mountain bike season with new chairs acquired from Nashoba Valley.
- Alterra makes modest changes to Ikon in light of recent events: delaying price increases by a month and increasing renewal discounts. Late today, the company added Adventure Assurance, permitting purchasers to defer their 2020-21 Ikon value to a 2021-22 pass if desired.
- The Forest Service expects to have a decision on Keystone’s Bergman Bowl expansion by December.
- Residents in opposition to Mexico City’s Cablebús Line 1 win an injunction stopping some construction.
- The Colorado Sun goes inside the decision to close Colorado’s ski industry five Saturdays ago.
- Saddleback decides to decommission Sandy alongside Rangeley and Cupsuptic. Old chairs are for sale at $2,000 apiece.
- A class action lawsuit is filed against Vail Resorts alleging fraud, misrepresentation and false advertising for this spring’s early closures.
- Sinclair Oil Company may be exploring a sale although the firm’s two ski resorts (Snowbasin and Sun Valley) would not be included.
- Doppelmayr may build a unique triangle shaped gondola in Australia.
Atlantic Canada’s First Gondola to Open at Cape Smokey
A modern Leitner-Poma gondola is coming to Nova Scotia’s beautiful Cape Breton Island. The new lift will become the centerpiece of a thousand foot mountain called Cape Smokey, which features views of the Atlantic Ocean. With summer visitation outpacing winter in this region, the gondola will provide year-round access to skiing, sightseeing, mountain biking and a new tree canopy walk.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7dRd1tF-RT/
Cape Smokey was recently rescued by a New York-based investor group after falling into disrepair as a nonprofit society. Developer Joseph Balaz purchased the mountain from the province of Nova Scotia for just CAD$370,000. The area’s 1995 Blue Mountain quad last operated in 2006, leaving only a Poma platter lift operable in recent seasons.
Removal of the mountain’s quad chair has already begun and the base-to-summit gondola is expected to open in July 2021.
Mt. Rose Gains Expansion Approval
New terrain at Mt. Rose, Nevada could be accompanied by a rare two-stage detachable chairlift under a plan signed last week. Known as Atoma, the expansion would feature 112 acres of beginner terrain across the Mt. Rose Highway from the existing Wizard quad. The project would include eleven developed ski trails, a skier bridge and new snowmaking. A dual purpose detachable chairlift would provide both egress from the new terrain and a connection back to the top of Wizard. Skiers and riders seeking to lap the new trails would unload at an angle station near the highway while others would remain on board. Capacity of the lift would be 2,000 skiers per hour, providing a low-density beginner experience away from more advanced terrain. The plan does not specify a chair size, though Mt. Rose’s two existing detachables both feature six place chairs.
Chairlifts with angle stations are quite rare in the United States, in part due to their high cost. Garaventa CTEC built the first such lift on Vail’s Golden Peak in 1996. Nearby Breckenridge debuted the Peak 8 SuperConnect in 2002, allowing mid-line loading. Utah’s Alta Ski Area completed America’s first chairlift angle station with two separate drive systems in 2004 (Alta once planned to build a second such lift but opted instead for a gradual line turn with no loading or unloading.) Steamboat’s Christie Peak Express followed in 2007 with unloading for beginners at an angled mid-station. After a 12 year gap, Alpine Meadows and Leitner-Poma completed the Treeline Cirque quad in 2019 featuring an angle station at a cost of $10 million. If the angle concept ends up proving too expensive for Mt. Rose, the Forest Service authorized installation of one 3,000 foot beginner lift and a separate 1,650 foot connector chair as an alternative.
Mt. Rose has not released a timeline for construction or identified its lift manufacturer partner yet.
Instagram Tuesday: Optimism
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: First to Go
- Timberline Lodge, unsure whether its ordered new lift can be built this summer, holds off on removing Pucci.
- In Serbia, the world’s longest multi-stage gondola gets set to open next month (29,088′ slope length!)
- Another postponement: the Goldenhorn surface lift at Aspen Highlands, now scheduled to be built next year.
- Carvatech, an independent manufacturer of gondola and tramway cabins, launches a cool new website.
- Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta updates customers on COVID-19 and includes awesome footage of its future gondola system.
- As tax revenues fall, a new chairlift for Great Bear may be one of the first items to go from the City of Sioux Falls’ 2021 budget.
- Jon Schaefer, the first US ski area owner to close due to the coronavirus and creator of Goggles for Docs, turns his attention to getting resort employees back to work.
- Aspen Skiing Company delays updating plans for the Pandora’s expansion due to COVID-19.
- The new owner of Teton Pass calls reopening a success.
- A Vail lift operator may not have been paying attention leading up to a man’s death on the Skyline Express in February.
- Citing favorable financing conditions, Zermatt Bergbahnen AG commits to spending $62 million on lifts over the next two years, including a D-Line gondola and the Alpine Crossing 3S.
Instagram Tuesday: Lighter Days
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
Alterra Furloughs Staff, Delays Mammoth Lift Construction
In addition to 17,000 early layoffs of seasonal employees, Alterra Mountain Company has made the difficult decision to furlough many of its year-round workers and defer capital projects. Affected workers will remain employed with benefits such as health insurance but will not receive any pay for the foreseeable future. CEO Rusty Gregory will forego his entire salary as long as full time employees are furloughed. Employees in key roles who continue to work will receive full salaries for now. “While it is my fervent intent to avoid reducing anyone’s full pay rate for work going forward, we do not know how long this crisis will continue,” said Gregory in a letter to employees. “It is imperative that we ensure that our finite resources last long enough to get us to the other side of this pandemic and fully open for operation when the time comes.”
More than 50 percent of planned capital spending will be cut. In a sign of just how fast the coronavirus changed everything, Alterra announced $223 million worth of improvements just four days before being forced to shut down all 15 of its resorts. Postponed Alterra lift projects are both located at Mammoth Mountain in California, where Doppelmayr was slated to replace the mountain’s two oldest high speed quads with six place models. The Broadway Express and Canyon Express were constructed in 1988 and 1994, respectively. Alterra also announced last month the purchase of a Doppelmayr high speed quad for Tremblant, Quebec to be installed in 2021. The future of that project will be determined at a later date.
Big Sky and Loon Mountain Postpone Lift Projects to 2021
Boyne Resorts and Doppelmayr have reached an agreement to delay construction of two major lifts due to the Coronavirus emergency. Both Swift Current 6 at Big Sky Resort and Kancamagus 8 at Loon Mountain will now be constructed in 2021. “Proceeding with a complex and deadline sensitive construction project during the COVID-19 emergency would not be a prudent decision,” stated Troy Nedved, General Manager at Big Sky Resort. “Concerns about construction worker health and the unknowns related to the construction supply chain make the project too risky to undertake in 2020,” he continued.
Site preparation and limited construction may proceed this summer if public health conditions permit. Manufacturing of Swift Current’s components is nearly complete and the lift will be stored either in Wolfurt, Salt Lake or the Bozeman-Big Sky area until next year. When completed in 2021, Swifty will become the fastest six place chairlift in North America.
At Loon Mountain, skiers and riders will have to wait another year to ride the east’s first eight passenger chairlift, Kancamagus 8. “Although significant investment has already been made, we cannot proceed with a project of this scale knowing the COVID-19 situation could further complicate its installation – potentially cutting off the Governor Adams Lodge and base area from the rest of the resort next winter,” said Loon General Manager Jay Scambio in a letter to season passholders. “This postponement allows us to better support our team, our guests, and the greater Loon community at a time when it is needed most.” Permitting and planning will continue in preparation for 2021 installation.
I spoke with Boyne Resorts President Stephen Kircher this morning about the decision and his outlook during this challenging time. The company will closely monitor impacts on summer business as well as season pass sales and proceed accordingly. “We are going to be assessing our capital projects each week,” said Kircher. “We’ve got milestones on every single project and last possible start dates to meet deadlines for next winter. We’re optimistic we are going to be executing a number of projects but we need to see clarity.”
As long duration, all-or-nothing projects, the two D-Line lifts had to wait. Boyne knew it needed to be underway this week at Loon and within two weeks at Big Sky in order to meet aggressive construction schedules. Bubble lifts by definition include carrier storage buildings that are as complex to build as the lifts themselves. “What happens if work stoppages occur again in the middle of summer or the fall?” lamented Kircher. “Once we tear the existing lifts down, we’re at risk. We would be dead in the water [without Swift Current or Kancamagus.] The second worst thing other than this shutdown would be not having a key lift coming out of the base next winter.”
Boyne’s decision is the second such deferral among North American multi-resort operators this week. On Wednesday, Vail Resorts delayed seven different lift projects with two different manufacturers in order to cut costs. Kircher acknowledged his decision was difficult for both customer and supplier but in some ways proved clear. “We are working with a great partner in Doppelmayr. Obviously they are dealing with a lot of difficult conversations across the planet,” he said. “We talked through what the best scenario was for both companies. They don’t want to be in a situation where they can’t finish a lift either. I want to install a lift that we own and is sitting in warehouses more than anybody but it’s just not prudent.”
News Roundup: Ripple Effect
- Saddleback demolishes the Rangeley double to make room for its upcoming high speed quad.
- Debt-laden Ski Granby Ranch lays off all its employees and won’t issue refunds to guests with canceled vacations.
- The $2.2 trillion phase three stimulus package passed by Congress doesn’t include assistance specifically for ski areas but there is hope phase four might.
- Vail Resorts borrows more than $500 million from existing lines of credit in order to increase its cash position and maintain financial flexibility during the outbreak.
- While many Leitner-Poma staffers work from home, a skeleton crew continues production.
- Even in hard-hit Italy, one major lift customer plans to commence construction as soon as the immediate health danger has passed.
- Many Doppelmayr employees are also working from home and production continues in Wolfurt.
- Aspen Snowmass intends to complete all capital projects as planned this summer including the $10.8 million Big Burn chairlift.
- Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz personally donates $2.5 million to mountain community charities and an employee assistance fund.
- Yet another lift project cancelled by Vail Resorts: replacement of Peachtree at Crested Butte this summer.
- NSAA estimates costs from early closings and lost pass sales will exceed $2 billion in the United States and forecasts capital spending will plunge 50 percent this year.
- Magic Mountain’s Geoff Hatheway offers a small ski area perspective on COVID-19.
- Coronavirus may impact the review timeline for Snow King Mountain’s proposed expansion and other projects on Forest Service lands.
- Katharina Schmitz officially takes the reigns of Doppelmayr USA from Mark Bee, who retired on March 31st.
- Boyne Resorts estimates $22 million in lost revenue as a result of this winter’s abrupt end.
- The Vietnamese developer behind both the world’s longest and tallest 3S gondolas plans another island-hopping 3S in the country’s north.
Vail Resorts Cancels All 2020 Lift Construction
Ski industry fallout from the global pandemic continues. Vail Resorts today announced the deferral of lift construction projects slated for Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Okemo due to a dramatic decline in revenue, which is expected to continue into fiscal year 2021. The suite of projects was first announced last December, the same month COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, China. While the virus spread across Asia, lift manufacturers were gearing up to build lifts that now won’t happen this year. Beaver Creek had planned a major expansion into McCoy Park and Okemo earmarked a new bubble six pack for Jackson Gore. Both Breckenridge and Keystone planned new chairlifts to increase uphill capacity in high traffic areas.
Vail said weeks ago coronavirus will cost the company between $180 and 200 million in March and April alone. Eliminating lift construction, terrain expansions and discretionary base area improvements will save the publicly-traded company $80 to 85 million while allowing the vast majority of maintenance capital projects to proceed. “The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 are unprecedented and the financial impact to our Company and the broader travel industry has been significant,” noted Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts. “We are taking proactive steps to align our capital spending and return of capital approach to ensure that we remain positioned for long-term success.” Other steps revealed today include the furlough of nearly all year-round hourly employees, suspension of the company’s shareholder dividend, salary reductions for non-hourly employees and elimination of cash compensation for the CEO and board of directors.
The decision to postpone lifts is a blow to both major lift manufacturers but particularly Leitner-Poma, which like Vail itself, is Colorado-based. The firm had been awarded contracts to build three detachable chairlifts and move another this summer. Doppelmayr USA had planned to install the two machines at Beaver Creek.
As goes Vail, often go others. While I’m hopeful some lifts (and the jobs that come with them) are safe, more deferrals are possible. Rival Alterra Mountain Company planned to add only two lifts this year, both six place chairlifts at Mammoth Mountain. The privately-held group has not announced any changes to its capital plan thus far. In tough times, every company is understandably revisiting capital budgets and commitments, however.
The sudden onset of such deep uncertainty in this critical period of the lift production cycle is unprecedented. With the elimination of Vail Resorts projects for 2020, announced US and Canada complete new lifts stand at 24, fewer than Doppelmayr built by itself last year.
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