- Woods Valley takes delivery of a used CTEC quad, likely the former Kenny’s Parkway.
- West Mountain considers adding a lift as part of a real estate play.
- Big Snow is a bright spot at the otherwise struggling American Dream mall.
- The Ever Vail project and related gondola plans are dead.
- Mt. Spokane seeks state funding to replace Chair 1 and Chair 2, one of which could be done this summer.
- Mark Brownlie is named Chief Operating Officer of Alterra’s resort portfolio.
- MND wins a $21 million contract to build lifts at a new ski resort in Russia.
- Starting next year, most Big Sky Resort lift tickets, season passes, Ikon and Mountain Collective passes will no longer include access to the Lone Peak Tram.
- Cape Smokey provides an update on Canada’s only new gondola this year.
- Schweitzer introduces a new logo and brand identity.
- Despite losing a significant portion of the season, another Ontario ski area still plans to complete a new chairlift for next season.
- Doppelmayr France is selected to build and maintain a five station urban gondola in Paris.
- Doppelmayr also will build the first urban gondolas in Guatemala.
- Retired cabins from Killington’s K-1 Gondola fan out across the country as dining venues.
- Under new ownership, Sleeping Giant increases visits by 71 percent.
- Vermont skier visits decline 40 percent.
- New Mexico also reports a significant drop in visitation.
- A company called Trident tried to buy Brundage Mountain last year with the intention of creating a much larger resort.
- Here’s a preview of Snow King’s gondola cabins.
- Leitner-Poma seeks employees to help build the new high speed quad at Breckenridge.
- PyxisAI announces a successful beta test of technology designed to alert lift operators when slows or stops might be needed.
- Whitefish Mountain Resort smashes its previous visit record by more than 20 percent.
Alterra
News Roundup: RFP
- The European Union will pay French ski operators up to 49 percent of lost revenue from this winter.
- Ober Gatlinburg’s tram closes for two months for track rope and drive replacement projects totaling $4.5 million.
- Bluewood’s general manager explains why fixing a 43 year old lift still makes sense for the mountain vs. buying a new one.
- The Burke Mountain and Jay Peak receiver says in a court filing the mountains are “desperately in need of liquidity” while battling financial services giant Raymond James.
- Whiteface issues a request for proposals to replace the Bear double with a fixed grip quad starting lower in the base area.
- Kelly Canyon’s new Skytrac will be a triple reaching 600 feet beyond the top of Chair 2.
- With one Doppelmayr gondola finished but never opened to the public and another partially complete, Icy Strait Point removes all booking availability until April of 2022.
- Skiland performs a rope evacuation of the northernmost chairlift in the Americas.
- The National Ski Areas Association updates its lift safety fact sheet.
- Mission Ridge isn’t done with On the Way Up just yet! Episode 18 explores the parking system and more.
- At a leadership forum in Park City, Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory says his company will invest $200 million on capital improvements this year and plans to build the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
- We also learned Deer Valley is in talks with Mayflower Mountain Resort about shared access.
- Rusty next joined the Storm Skiing Podcast, confirming the Ikon Pass will add at least one new resort for 21-22.
- Vail Resorts slashes Epic Pass prices by 20 percent.
- Developers say the Moosehead Mountain project is “moving fast” with a lift to be ordered as soon as May for completion late this year.
- Two more days until Snow King’s Summit double stops for good to make way for a gondola, though the Forest Service’s Record of Decision has not been signed and litigation looms.
- Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry confirms it’s investigating last weekend’s chair fall at Camelback but does not expect to make the report public.
News Roundup: Government Relations
- Bogus Basin shells out $53,000 to settle alleged environmental violations related to the construction of the Morning Star Express and other projects.
- Former owner Ariel Quiros will plead guilty to orchestrating a fraudulent investment scheme at Jay Peak.
- The Jay Peak receivership has racked up more than $8 million in attorney and accountant bills so far.
- Aspen Snowmass hasn’t decided whether the Big Burn six place will get bubbles.
- A near collision leads to an evacuation of a Leitner-Poma six pack in New Zealand.
- Skiing in that country proves super popular even without international travel.
- The State of New York makes huge investments at Whiteface this summer: $2.4 million worth of gondola upgrades, a new quad chair, a new lodge and snowmaking enhancements.
- Skytrac is the low bidder to replace Howelsen Hill’s Barrows double with a quad next summer.
- Alterra characterizes season pass sales for next winter as “shockingly strong.”
- Mt. Norquay will try again for approval to build a gondola linking the ski area to Banff.
News Roundup: Tough Choices
- The Italian parent of Leitner and Poma reports record revenue of €1.06 billion, having completed 78 ropeway projects in 2019, though the company expects sales to fall 30 percent in 2020.
- Public comments are now being solicited regarding Steamboat’s proposed Wild Blue Gondola, Sundown Express replacement and Priest Creek removal projects.
- Vail Resorts suspends operations at two Australian resorts just three days into the season due to the evolving Coronavirus situation.
- Even though American Dream and Big Snow in New Jersey are closed, a second American Dream location remains in development in Miami.
- Vail Resorts-owned OnTheSnow.com and sister websites will shut down Monday due to the challenging financial landscape. A Vail-owned TV station is also closing.
- Bloomberg speaks with the CEOs of both Alterra and Vail about next winter.
- Today is the last day to comment on Little Cottonwood Canyon transportation alternatives, including a 3S gondola.
- Walt Disney World won’t allow unrelated parties to ride together in gondola cabins when the Skyliner reopens.
- Doppelmayr USA, Leitner-Poma of America, MND America, Skytrac and SkyTrans all received Paycheck Protection Program loans supporting more than 400 American jobs.
- A key link located on a receding glacier, the Horstman T-Bar at Whistler Blackcomb is no more.
- Design work continues for Aspen Mountain’s Lift One Telemix and related developments.
Under Alterra, Steamboat Considers More Big Projects
A 17,000 foot gondola. Two boundary expansions. Three six place chairlifts. Those are among the items on Alterra Mountain Company’s new wish list for its flagship Colorado resort. The two year-old operator acquired Steamboat in 2018 from Canadian developer Intrawest, which struggled to complete the volume of sustained improvements needed at this premier destination resort. The same was true for prior owner American Skiing Company.
Nonetheless, Ski Town USA grew to become Colorado’s fifth largest resort, hosting nearly 1.1 million skier visits in 2018/19. A new master plan amendment seeks to build on Steamboat’s success by boosting out-of-base capacity, enhancing experiences for varying ability levels and more efficiently moving guests around the mountain.
Perhaps most exciting is the prospect of a base-to-summit lift called Wild Blue. This would be the longest gondola on the continent, rising an impressive 3,465 vertical feet. Intrawest and Alterra spent millions to transform the existing Steamboat Gondola into a modern 3,600 per hour machine, but it’s still not enough to handle the more than 16,000 skiers who show up on peak days. Wild Blue would carry 3,200 riders per hour to a learning center in Bashor Bowl before ascending Sunshine Peak. The two stage gondola would pass over a total of four other lifts.
News Roundup: More Skiing?
- Mt. Baldy runs out of snow, ending North American lift served skiing for now.
- Aspen Skiing Company expresses frustration with the Colorado governor’s order for ski resorts to remain closed until at least May 23rd.
- Arapahoe Basin still wants to reopen.
- Oregon may beat Colorado to the punch.
- Eaglecrest, Alaska joins the Powder Alliance.
- Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory says his company is well-capitalized and delayed projects should be completed next year (plus he’s still looking to buy more resorts!)
- Skeetawk completes its chairlift, becoming the first new ski area in Alaska since 1983.
- Mountain planner Paul Mathews of Ecosign talks about the development of Sun Peaks and future plans in the West Bowl and the Gil’s areas.
- Norwegian Cruise Line reiterates its commitment to Alaska including the funding of two gondolas currently under construction in Hoonah.
- As part of a land swap, the Yellowstone Club seeks to gain 500 acres of expert terrain.
- Cuchara remains on track to reopen next year with one lift.
- The Utah Department of Transportation will evaluate gondolas from the Salt Lake Valley and Park City as two possible options to improve mobility in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
- Doppelmayr’s first Wir magazine of 2020 highlights new installations from around the world.
Following Cancellations, How Will Lift Construction Recover?
When Vail Resorts spelled out its suspension of operations in mid-March, the shutdown was hoped to last only a week. Fifty days later, all 37 resorts remain shuttered and the company has borrowed more than a billion dollars to weather a possible extended recession.
Almost immediately, Vail Resorts postponed discretionary capital improvement projects including seven new chairlifts. Vail is just one of numerous operators of lifts facing epic challenges due to COVID-19. The impacts trickle down to suppliers, particularly global suppliers of large machinery like the Leitner Group and Doppelmayr. While the two major lift manufacturers are of similar size and structure, their customers are incredibly diverse, from mom and pop outfits to governments, NGOs and Fortune 100 companies.
As regular readers of this blog know, the lift business is not the same as the ski business. Leitner-Poma, Skytrac and Doppelmayr USA have all completed projects for non-ski venues recently such as theme parks, zoos, stadiums and cruise ports. Not only are these projects making up an increasing share of contracts, they tend to be large in scope and often include lucrative operation and maintenance deals. Some of these non-traditional customers are in even worse shape than the ski business, more dependent on high guest densities and air travel. Put another way, there is little chance the Walt Disney Company, Carnival Corporation or the Miami Dolphins would have signed to build their recent lift projects in today’s environment. So-called “point of interest” projects may disappear entirely for a few years.
One bright spot could be urban transport. The Portland Aerial Tram and Roosevelt Island Tramway have both remained operational throughout the pandemic, albeit at reduced capacity (the Portland Tram carries health care workers to three different hospitals and is about as essential as it gets.) Large aerial tramways have been ceding market share to monocable, 2S and 3S gondolas, a trend which will probably accelerate with new personal space concerns. With gondolas, each person or family can take their own cabin unlike on trains or buses. There are lots of great concepts for urban gondolas in North America and infrastructure spending programs could finally get one or two off the ground. Mexico already has a large urban gondola system in operation with two more under construction.
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.
Coronavirus Shutters Vail Resorts, All of Alterra and Many More
North America’s ski industry is following in the unfortunate footsteps of its counterparts in Asia and Europe, forced to end winter operations early to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Among the first to pull the plug the past two days were Berkshire East, Jay Peak, Taos and Nub’s Nob.
What started as a trickle became a deluge Saturday. In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis issued an executive order compelling all resorts to close following outbreaks in Eagle, Pitkin, and Summit counties. Even before the order, the continent’s two largest resort companies almost simultaneously announced complete shutdowns effective tomorrow. The 37 Vail facilities will remain closed until at least March 22nd and will continue to pay scheduled employees. Many independent mountains are staying open for now.
This is uncharted territory but I’m certain the ski business will be okay. Unlike other industries, we are used to doing this between seasons, albeit under very different circumstances. The United States government has promised help to small and mid-sized businesses along with hourly employees who are missing work and pay. Canada and governments around the world will likely do the same. Hopefully many full time, year rounders can keep working and get important maintenance done.
Normally March on this blog features announcement after announcement of exciting new projects from lift manufacturers and their customers. At this point, already formalized projects are pacing about the same as last year and none have been publicly canceled. Hopefully production can continue and this mess abates in time for construction to get going as snow melts. There are many unknowns, however.
Those of you on Instagram know I’m in one of the world’s most amazing places right now: Alaska. Operations at resorts were normal across the board the past few days and the weather was perfect in a state with only one confirmed case of COVID-19. Tomorrow I will attempt to fly home and reassess. As of this writing, Jackson Hole intends to stay open and I will be in on Monday if there is work to go to.
With so many resorts shut down and the global economy struggling, there may not be much lift news to report for awhile. When there is, I’ll write, and will get back to exploring as soon as I can.
News Roundup: Viral
- The Mountain Collective adds four awesome resorts for 2020-21: Chamonix, Grand Targhee, Panorama and Sugarloaf.
- Kicking Horse celebrates 20 years of operation on the site of the former Whitetooth Ski Area.
- Sun Valley’s Cold Springs double is about to end a 50 year run but will live on at a resort in California.
- Arizona Snowbowl’s Agassiz reopens for one last hurrah after being down since January 18th with a gear issue.
- Hundreds of ski resorts in Austria, Italy and Switzerland are forced to close for the season due to coronavirus.
- Berkshire East, Catamount, Middlebury Snow Bowl and Mt. Abram become the first US ski resorts to shut down due to the virus.
- Belleayre, Gore, Whiteface and the Lake Placid Olympic Complex close gondolas for the season for the same reason. Snowbird’s tram is shut down until further notice. Aspen Snowmass will no longer load unrelated parties in the same gondola cabins.
- Indiana Beach, one of only four venues with an aerial lift in the Hoosier State, closes permanently.
- The two year old LST Ropeways detachable in France shuts down indefinitely again. Instead of the LST design, MND America will offer Bartholet detachables in the United States.
- Vail Resorts reports financial results: skier visits are down 5.3 percent percent this season through March 1st but lift revenue is up 0.8 percent. On a conference call, CEO Rob Katz addresses coronavirus, lift lines at Vail and possible future acquisitions.
- Timberline Mountain promises to make multiple big announcements at a media event Tuesday. All three existing lifts are in poor condition and being dismantled.
- Arctaris Impact Fund doesn’t expect to realize a profit on its Saddleback investment until it sells the resort in 7-10 years.
- An enterprising family is building the first Australian-designed and manufactured chairlift in 30 years for private use only.
- Alterra Mountain Company CEO Rusty Gregory will deliver a keynote address on Monday in Park City covering the rise of Alterra, industry consolidation and multi-resort pass products.
- For the second time in three weeks, a sudden stop on the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola elicits an emergency response and the lift is once again closed indefinitely.
Lift Blog 
