- Indy Pass adds Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont; Mt. Pisgah, New York; Winter4Kids, New Jersey; Spring Mountain, Pennsylvania; Veterans Memorial, New Hampshire and Ski Saint-Bruno, Quebec plus new international partners.
- Ikon Pass adds Caberfae Peaks, Michigan and Snowy Range, Wyoming as two day bonus mountains alongside new Asia partners.
- Manning Park. BC’s new master plan includes replacements for Blue and the T-Bar as well as a new terrain pod.
- 5,800 acres surrounding closed Big Tupper, New York to go up for auction.
- A pivotal vote regarding the proposed Rock City, Georgia gondola to take place September 21st.
- Canada imposes new tariffs on certain US goods including chairlifts, surface lifts and funiculars.
- Developers break ground on Aspen’s new Lift One base area with completion expected in 2030.
- A hotel project causes a gondola tower to shift in Romania.
- New carrier auctions: gondola cabins in Telluride, chairs from Seven Springs.
- Alterra outlines $350 million in CapEx this year.
- Wisp replaces two towers on Lift 4.
- A gondola could link Québec City and Lévis over the St. Lawrence River.
- An activist investor nominates a slate of candidates for the Vail Resorts board.
- A criminal investigation is opened following a chairlift death at Vorlage, Quebec last winter, though no charges have been filed.
Alterra
News Roundup: Apparent Low Bidder
- Doppelmayr/Garaventa submits the apparent low bid to rebuild the Cannon Mountain tram for $44.6 million, 36 percent above the state’s estimate. Leitner-Poma’s $49.5 million bid comes in 50 percent higher than estimated.
- Bromley to replace the Plaza double with a rope tow.
- Park City’s twice approved Eagle and Silverlode replacements face yet another lawsuit.
- Indy Pass adds Ski Land and Skeetawk, Alaska; Showdown, Montana; Kendall Mountain, Colorado; Frost Fire, North Dakota; King Pine, New Hampshire; Powder Ridge, Connecticut and Mont Kanasuta, Quebec plus international partners with more to come next week.
- Indy loses Midwest mountains Caberfae Peaks, Michigan and Crystal Ridge, Little Switzerland & Nordic Mountain, Wisconsin.
- Telluride’s planned gondola replacement may not receive federal transit funding due to political optics, Buy America requirements and flat ridership on the current system.
- An update on the Stagecoach Mountain Ranch private ski area approval process.
- Several riders fall from the beach chairlift at Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
- Loon Mountain unveils a 272 acre, lift free expansion and new trail map.
- Brundage ends summer early due to a lift issue.
- Alterra will move to downtown Denver.
- Two of Vail Resorts’ three Australia mountains close weeks early due to snowmelt.
Tremblant to Complete Timber Expansion in 2027
Alterra-owned Tremblant today announced a CA$42.5 million investment catering to a broad range of skiers. Expanding the Soleil side of the mountain, Timber will open in two phases – a beginner pod with conveyor for winter 2026-27 followed by eight new trails and a detachable quad for 2027-28. “Timber Summit represents much more than an expansion of our ski terrain,” said Patrice Malo, President and Chief Operating Officer of Station Mont Tremblant. “It reflects our commitment to continually elevating the Tremblant experience and creating new opportunities for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities, today’s families, and generations to come.”
Tremblant first announced this project March 10th, 2020, just five days before the entire North American ski industry shut down for Covid. After a six year pause, work began anew last month with tree clearing on the summit. The beginner portion of the expansion will include a 1.1 acre slope ideal for learning and a covered surface lift. “The gentle terrain and dedicated infrastructure will be designed to support progression from guests’ very first turns through the early stages of their skiing journey,” noted Tremblant. On weekends and peak periods, guests will access the zone from the village via the existing Casino Express Gondola.
Higher up on the mountain, crews are working to clear one new trail on the North side of Timber and seven trails on the Soleil side. These will total 62 acres and include 100 percent snowmaking coverage. The Timber Express high speed quad will ascend 1,388 vertical feet and transport 2,400 skiers per hour from the Soleil base, where a new Club Med is also under development. The new lift will become a modern alternative to the aging Soleil Express and span more than a mile (5,900 feet) with 125 chairs. A manufacturer hasn’t yet been selected.
Tremblant’s news comes during a busy period of expansion for Canadian ski areas. At least 16 resorts plan to build new lifts in 2026 and 2027 across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
News Roundup: Dreamer
- Italian ski operators settle an antitrust probe with a €30 million compensation fund.
- Bartholet unveils its next generation detachable utilizing HTI’s Ropera technology with Arosa, Switzerland the launch customer.
- Alterra lays off employees in both corporate and destination roles.
- Voting opens for this year’s SAM Rise Up Challenge with six resorts in the running.
- A Leitner urban gondola stops and shakes but otherwise fares well during a severe earthquake in Cali, Colombia.
- A China-Russia tramway originally set to be built by Poma will finally be completed this year.
- The future longest monocable gondola goes vertical in Dominica.
- Photos show fire severed the haul rope on Maverick Mountain’s chairlift, scattering chairs everywhere.
- Eagle Point’s owner updates the public on the path path to fire recovery.
- Loon Mountain says goodbye to the Little Sister double.
- 49 Degrees North’s new quad to be named Dreamer.
- Thanks to readers Matt and Tyler for these photos of Sugar Bowl’s new gondola.
News Roundup: Powder
- Aspen Mountain retires Lift 1A with replacement plans uncertain.
- Bartholet completes its first tramway with Sigma Cabins and a new design utilizing tubular towers.
- Cape Smokey, Nova Scotia teases what looks like a major expansion with a new lift.
- An Eagle Point damage assessment shared with the Utah Passenger Ropeway Safety Committee finds one lift undamaged, another with light to moderate damage and three lifts heavily impacted by fire and heat. The resort might partially reopen this winter but faces a lengthy road to recovery.
- Telluride’s transit agency postpones selection of a new gondola manufacturer while officials clarify Buy America requirements with the Federal Transit Administration.
- A Poma Alpha quad briefly catches fire in Chile.
- Alterra could receive millions in public financing to relocate headquarters within Denver after considering a move to Salt Lake City.
- Park City’s Eagle and Silverlode replacement approvals are upheld, moving the projects closer.
- The Forest Service publishes the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Brian Head’s proposed expansion with several new alternatives.
- Whistler leaders receive a preliminary study into a valley gondola connecting Whistler Village, Creekside and Function Junction.
- Thanks to reader Roger for sharing shots of Powder Mountain’s four lifts under construction and reader Auston for flying me overhead yesterday.
News Roundup: Breathtaking
- Four cabins pileup on a tall Poma gondola tower in Russia.
- Eagle Point posts another update including photos and videos of heavy fire damage.
- Lifts at Asessippi, Manitoba flood for a second time this summer.
- The WestJet Skyride at the Calgary Stampede reopens in a modified, shorter configuration.
- Alterra and Vail seek dismissal of a proposed season pass competition class action.
- Aspen auctions chairs from both Bell Mountain and Little Nell; Loveland to raffle Lift 5 chairs to employees and season passholders.
- 49 Degrees North will soon offer chairs from Payday.
- Both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr are listed as qualified bidders for the Cannon Tram replacement RFP with bids due August 5th.
- Whitecap Mountains emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under existing management.
- The Forest Service accepts a fresh Monarch Mountain master plan which includes five lift replacements, a base-to-ridge detachable quad and second lift in No Name Basin.
News Roundup: Around the USA
- Alberta conceptually approves the master plan for a Fortress Mountain reboot.
- Waterville Valley and the Forest Service to host a public meeting regarding a proposed gondola on June 26th.
- Revelstoke will host an info session on the future of the resort June 24th.
- Cannon Mountain issues a request for bids for an 80 passenger tramway reusing certain components from the last tram with an expected completion date of December 1, 2028.
- Amid bankruptcy, Whitecap Mountains lists a disused CTEC for sale.
- Vail Resorts reportedly hires takeover defense bankers.
- Alterra says a new law in Colorado could unlock public funding for a Winter Park town gondola.
- Aspen-Pitkin County Airport’s new terminal design leaves room for a future gondola to town.
- The federal government will fund a new haul rope for Whaleback, New Hampshire’s double chair.
- Both ladder trucks and ropes are used to rescue riders from the skyride at Dutch Wonderland, Pennsylvania.
- Teton County, Wyoming plans an objection to Grand Targhee’s expansion plan.
- A black bear cub climbs a tower on Whistler’s Fitzsimmons 8.
- A new operator plans to reopen Spout Springs, Oregon with help from the family that owns Timberline Lodge.
- Big Sky dismantles parts of Powder Seeker to move the top terminal due to ground movement.
- Lots of construction pictures from readers this week starting with Deer Valley’s Hail Peak expansion:
- Next Caberfae Peaks, Michigan’s expansion lift:
- And finally Powderhorn, Colorado’s Wild West Express:
News Roundup: Spring Debuts
- Whaleback’s chairlift is back in action after being closed all season.
- Angel Fire performs a mid-season splice on the Southwest Flyer, now back open.
- A child is okay after falling from a chairlift at Blue Knob, Pennsylvania.
- Another child falls from a chair and is airlifted from Sierra-at-Tahoe.
- Telluride sues several current and former elected officials seeking millions of damages incurred during the December patrol strike.
- The latest Eaglecrest gondola complication: cabins shipped on their side rather than upright.
- The Mighty Argo Cable Car in Colorado will soft open next month.
- OZ Trails Bike Park to open with Arkansas’ first detachable chairlift in June.
- BC’s Okanagan Gondola set to open in April 2027.
- Vail Resorts reports an 11.9 percent decline in North American skier visits and lowers financial guidance.
- Park City Billionaire Matthew Prince still wants to buy Park City Mountain from Vail.
- Alterra CEO Jared Smith steps down.
- Vermont considers regulating both lift operator breaks and staffing levels.
- Leitner to build the world’s first jig-back tramway with a direct drive in Italy.
- Both the Green Mountain Express and North Ridge Express go down at Sugarbush’s Mt. Ellen, leaving hiking as the only access to the summit.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire won’t become a co-op after all, will continue to be managed by Entabeni Systems.
- Mt. Sima, Yukon to reactivate its T-Bar after many years.
- A massive nearby rockslide closes Whistler’s Peak Chair indefinitely.
- Magic Mountain, Idaho won’t open this season.
News Roundup: Granite State
- Tenney Mountain rope evacuates Hornet.
- Two people are injured falling from the Panorama Express at Gunstock.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina loses its main lift due to a mechanical issue.
- Cuchara successfully opens Chair 4 for the first time since 2000.
- Mt. Jefferson, Maine may close after this season.
- The publicly-owned ski hill in Des Moines, Iowa seeks a new chairlift.
- With a strike dragging on, Le Massif announces the end of ski season, then promptly reaches a deal to reopen tomorrow.
- With public and private funding secured, Mont-Sainte-Anne plans to sign a contract to replace three aging detachables in March.
- A mixed-use development near Park City could include a gondola connection to Deer Valley East Village.
- Vail CEO Rob Katz discusses unionization efforts in the ski industry and reflects on last season’s strike at Park City.
- A rider who died after falling from a chairlift at Cypress Mountain last week may have lost consciousness before falling.
- Elected officials are under investigation for meeting with the owner of Telluride about a sale during the patrol strike.
News Roundup: Chairlift Ban
- A ranch in Hawaii scales down its proposed gondola in hopes of allaying community concerns. Even so a State Representative plans to introduce a bill to ban chairlifts and gondolas from ever being constructed in Hawaii.
- A lightning-caused fire burns the drive terminal of Camp 10, Wisconsin’s Red T-Bar.
- Mountain High revives the Discovery lift damaged in a 2024 wildfire.
- Alterra introduces Reserve add-on passes with line cutting privileges and other perks at Big Bear, Blue Mountain, Crystal Mountain, Solitude, Sugarbush and Tremblant.
- Thousands of Crystal skiers aren’t happy about the Reserve Pass.
- Steamboat takes another step toward a detachable base area transit gondola.
- Hermon Mountain, Maine will close after this season if a buyer can’t be found.
- Hickory, New York leaves Indy Pass.
- Skytrac commissions its on-site wind turbine.
- Waterville Valley shares a wild picture of bubble chairs during a fall winds and a T-Bar construction update.
- Deer Valley unveils its 25-26 trail map depicting eight new lifts.
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