- Vail Resorts to acquire a majority stake in and operate a Swiss ski resort with 32 lifts.
- A Vermont perspective on why some people are unhappy with Vail.
- Juneau Tram owner Goldbelt takes interest in financing a gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area.
- Homewood says its business model has failed, plans to turn into a private club with two new lifts.
- Taos seeks Forest Service approval to build a base to base gondola and replace two lifts.
- Jackson Hole finds success keeping reservations post-Covid.
- A river crossing pulse gondola is proposed in Red Deer, Alberta.
- The Sun Valley Company is not for sale, will consider a village to mountain gondola in the future.
- A Boise TV station produces an eight minute summary of Tamarack’s checkered history and plans for the future.
- Alpine-X ends its crowdfunding campaign with $1.4 million raised.
- Sommet Saint-Sauveur calls two mid-season breakdowns of the three year old Sommet Express “unfortunate, unacceptable and incomprehensible.”
- As spotted on Interstate 70, someone’s getting a Leitner-Poma detachable named Snow Flyer.
Alpine X
News Roundup: Flying High
- Sun Valley and Snowbasin ditch the Epic Pass, will be Ikon Pass and Mountain Collective partners beginning next season.
- Also for next season, Alterra pulls Mammoth, Palisades Tahoe and Sugarbush from the Mountain Collective Pass.
- Cascade Mountain lists the Mogul Monster triple for sale.
- New York State ski areas report a 26 percent increase in revenue so far this season.
- Newly nonprofit Skiland Alaska looks to raise $100,000 for upgrades to its chairlift.
- Jay Peak says it has two viable suitors currently.
- A great podcast features Andy Shepard of Saddleback taking listeners through the mountain’s closure, sale and reopening.
- The team behind Edmonton’s Prairie Sky Gondola says it’s working on another gondola in a different Canadian city.
- Fast Company features a story on gondolas as urban transportation gap fillers.
- Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory is quoted saying this season has gone “shockingly well” despite “pinch points.”
- Leaders in Alaska’s capital city vote to spend $2 million on a used pulse gondola for Eaglecrest Ski Area.
- Big Squaw owner James Confalone is ordered to pay $4.5 million in penalties for timber violations and failure to maintain the ski area.
- Alpine-X proposes a second indoor ski area in Dallas.
- Officials pause pursuit of a Gunstock expansion.
- Flying Yankee at Attitash will be down for the foreseeable future due to an issue with the tension system.
- The Colorado Sun catches up with me to talk about visiting every US ski area.
- A Panorama guest is helicoptered to a hospital after falling off the Mile 1 quad.
- Crystal Mountain confirms a $100 million capital plan will include new lift(s) and expanded terrain in 2023-24.
- The proposed Okanagan Gondola is already moving forward.
- Belleayre and Doppelmayr organize a major gearbox repair operation on the Belleayre Express.
- Skiers criticize staffing and operations at Hunter Mountain.
News Roundup: Many Uses
- Cranmore announces an over $1 million overhaul of the Skimobile Express to take place next summer.
- Granite Gorge’s owner says he’s unlikely to reopen skiing.
- Catamount and Berkshire East owner Jon Schaefer explains his strategy of relentless capital improvements.
- Park City Canyons Village skiers get stuck for a few hours when the Red Pine Gondola goes on wind hold.
- In Japan, a gondola lift doubles as a device to cure salmon.
- Carrabassett Valley Academy seeks to raise $1.6 million to build a T-Bar at Sugarloaf next summer.
- In other Sugarloaf news, pieces of Big Sky’s former Swift Current reportedly begin arriving.
- Telluride confirms it has ordered a Doppelmayr detachable quad to replace Plunge/Lift 9 in 2022. The existing triple will be sold to another resort.
- Chairs for Welch Village’s new Cannon Valley Quad arrive after a delayed journey from Asia through Canada.
- Alyeska’s tram will remain closed through December due to ongoing maintenance.
- Doppelmayr says its global market share stands at 55 percent.
- The gondola at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will reopen in Summer 2022 after a more than two year Covid closure.
- An interesting tidbit from the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board: a suspected bullet damaged the haul rope of Game Creek Express at Vail, requiring a repair.
- Vail Resorts sells more than 2.1 million season pass products, 700,000 more than last year.
- The 2022 Epic Lift Upgrade expands from 19 to 21 projects with additional lifts announced for Jack Frost and Big Boulder.
- Indy Pass will add yet another Western resort next week.
- Former Palisades Tahoe President Andy Wirth signs on to advise Alpine-X.
- Sundance says the Outlaw Express opening is delayed until December 22nd due to weather and construction timing.
- Doppelmayr flies towers in December for Juniper at Lake Louise, set to open in January.
- Steamboat considers a fourth gondola connecting the base area to town, Greenhorn Ranch will include a chairlift and eight passenger chairs are in play for future lift replacements.
- Maine’s Bigrock Mountain fundraises to purchase a Doppelmayr quad.
- Les Otten partners with Provident Resources Group to revive the Balsams redevelopment (same firm involved in reopening Big Squaw, Maine.)
- Boyne Highlands becomes The Highlands at Harbor Springs with lift improvements planned, starting with the southern end of the mountain.
News Roundup: Planning Ahead
- Indy Pass signs on Manning Park, British Columbia; The Rock, Wisconsin; and Seven Oaks, Iowa.
- Big Snow American Dream will remain closed several more weeks following last week’s fire.
- Leitner-Poma to build the previously announced Lakeview Express at Mt. Rose next year.
- The gondola to the gondola at Breckenridge nears approval.
- Rad Smith completes his largest illustration yet – a new map for Big White in the style of James Niehues.
- Another protest takes place against a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
- Nitehawk continues fundraising for a new chairlift as it nears a second season without one.
- Lookout Pass works to convert Timber Wolf from a double into a triple.
- Alpine-X seeks to raise up to $5 million through crowdfunding.
- An Iowa county agrees to purchase Sleepy Hollow, a chairlift-served tubing park.
- Palisades Tahoe renames two of its chairlifts Resort Chair and Wa She Shu.
- Doppelmayr arrives on site to assess and make recommendations regarding the storm-damaged chairlift in Gallix, Quebec.
- Amsterdam could see a river crossing 3S gondola.
- Sundance will host a party on October 10th to celebrate the final rides on Ray’s Lift before removal.
- Another gondola concept emerges in Los Angeles.
- Lake Louise’s new high speed quad will be called Juniper Express.
- Camelback says it has completed an extensive inspection and certification process for its lifts and implemented additional safety protocols in the wake of last season’s chair fall.
- Stuart Winchester gets the latest from Aspen Snowmass CEO Mike Kaplan on 1A, Pandora’s, Coney Glade, Burnt Mountain, Goldenhorn and other lift projects.
- The Superior National Forest will host a virtual open house Tuesday regarding the Lutsen Mountains expansion.
- West Mountain unveils plans for its first detachable lift, including an intermediate station.
News Roundup: A Long Time Coming
- Fairfax County will host an open house tomorrow regarding the proposed Alpine-X indoor mountain resort.
- Attitash fully removes what remained of the Top Notch double
- The Icy Strait Point Mountain Top gondola is now scheduled to debut in May 2022.
- I’m thrilled to report the quad chairlift in Wears Valley, Tennessee is open for business, nine years after construction!
- Summit Ski Area officially merges into Timberline Lodge, which becomes the largest vertical ski area in America at 4,540 feet.
- The former Colby College ski area in Maine fundraises to resume downhill operations for the first time since the ’70s with a T-Bar planned for a future phase.
- Also in Maine, Sunday River and Doppelmayr near completion of the Merrill Hill project as survey markers appear under the Jordan Bowl Express.
- In Australia, Thredbo closes a week early due to lack of guests.
- The Forest Service signs off on Copper’s Lumberjack Express project, though the resort does not yet have a timeline for construction yet.
- In a lawsuit, Alterra says it’s owed more than $200 million for lost business during the pandemic which should have been covered by insurance.
- Vail Resorts plans to load lifts to full capacity this winter at all 34 of its North American resorts. No passholder reservations required, employees must be vaccinated by November 15th and guests must show proof of vaccination to dine at indoor cafeterias.
- Vail also reports strong full year financial results with lift revenue up 17.9 percent from a year ago and operating expenses down 5.4 percent.
- Sierra at Tahoe says both Nob Hill and Short Stuff were damaged by the Caldor Fire.
- Great Bear will unveil the naming rights partner for its new chairlift on October 16th.
- Searchmont gets a new trail map showing two new lifts. Also its Blue Mountain triple chair will be inoperable until early February.
- Purgatory says its six pack will be closed at least two more weeks, gives summer season passholders next summer for free due to continued lift problems.
- Bartholet announces a major five section gondola contract with Switzerland’s LAAX. The Ropetaxi system will feature cabins which move autonomously in stations and can be directed to a specific destination by passengers.
News Roundup: Reopening x3
- New York lost ski area Hickory Hill may return next winter.
- Snow King’s former Summit double could live on at Sleeping Giant, although Snow King is selling the chairs today. Also here are some new renderings of the gondola.
- A hearing is ordered to determine whether Wachusett management knew an employee falsified lift operator training records following an accident.
- Even before Virginia’s indoor ski resort breaks ground, developers explore more locations.
- Just like that, the cool new 2S gondola in Germany is open.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania commits $10 million to revive Denton Hill but needs a private partner.
- Deer Mountain in South Dakota is sold and plans a reopening after four years shuttered.
- For the fourth time in its short history, the Sea to Sky Gondola receives a shipment of new cabins and will announce a reopening date soon. Finding criminal(s) who twice destroyed the lift remains the top investigative priority for Squamish police.
- Pictures of the Steamboat Gondola station move.
- A Loon Kanc 8 update.
- Canada’s first new gondola in three years will be named the Atlantic Gondola.
- The BC Ministry of Forests will choose between the Cascade Skyline Gondola and Bridal Veil Mountain Resort proposals, which have significant overlap.
- Leitner releases a third statement regarding the Stresa-Mottarone disaster. The manufacturer will join a civil lawsuit against the tramway’s operator and any compensation for damages will be donated to families of the victims.
News Roundup: California Dreaming
- The Town of Jackson, Wyoming inches closer to approving the Snow King Gondola five years after it was first proposed.
- Aspen Skiing Company eliminates nearly 50 positions citing the “ever shifting Covid landscape.”
- The Miami Dolphins won’t operate their SkyView stadium gondola this NFL season.
- In New Zealand, ski resorts say they are not the mask police.
- Alps resorts prepare to reopen this month.
- The Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board grants a variance for a new Telemix on Aspen Mountain.
- Ikon Pass holders will need a reservation to visit certain resorts this season while other mountains will not require reservations and more are still deciding.
- Big Sky’s Lone Peak Tram will be open this winter but guests may be allowed to boot pack to the summit as an alternative.
- A second indoor ski resort for the United States moves ahead near DC.
- Aspen Snowmass and other creditors will appeal a judge’s decision to keep Liftopia out of bankruptcy.
- Some Canadians aren’t happy with Vail’s pandemic-era customer service.
- Magic Mountain, Idaho is threatened by a wildfire.
- A study finds the proposed Oakland Athletics gondola would carry a million riders a year and generate $685 million in economic activity.
- This summer’s construction projects are just the beginning for the new Saddleback Mountain.
- A planned urban gondola in Los Angeles get a fresh name and website as it prepares for environmental review.
- Leitner Ropeways will build New Zealand’s first eight passenger chairlift.
- The Utah Department of Transportation continues to refine alternatives for Little Cottonwood Canyon and will release a report this fall.
- Great Bear solicits bids for a new chairlift.
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