- In a real estate sales presentation, Red Mountain leaders say expansion lifts on Mt. Kirkup and White Wolf Ridge are a higher priority than replacing existing lifts.
- Sasquatch Mountain, BC provides an update on the Green Chair, which hasn’t spun all season.
- An avalanche strikes a closed detachable lift in France.
- Another French avalanche takes out a tower and hits a terminal.
- Rime ice topples a lift tower in Spain.
- A double chair rolls back during operation in China (likely a lift from BHMRI, not a western manufacturer.)
- Also in Asia, a viral video shows a gondola cabin dragging through deep snow.
- Bluewood, Washington upgrades Triple Nickel with Partek carriers, will sell old Borvig ones.
- Anakeesta offers up chairs from its former Chondola but not the gondola cabins.
- The 13 year-old critically injured in an unloading incident at Ski Vorlage, Quebec last week died four days later, her family says. Quebec’s ropeway regulator inspected the lift post-accident and identified several unspecified corrective actions, now completed.
- A five year old is hospitalized after falling from Sunday River’s Jordan Mountain double.
- Groundbreaking could come soon for the Aspen development that includes a new Lift 1A.
- Skytrac to construct both new lifts at Little Switzerland, Wisconsin.
- Five people board a quad chair on the Sourdough Express at Vail, one later jumps off after the lift stops (unclear if they were directed to do so by Vail Resorts staff.)
- Wisp temporarily closes two lifts for separate repairs.
- Tye Mill at Stevens Pass goes out of service.
- Also two lifts at Pico.
- Stratton’s gondola to remain closed into next week due to a maintenance issue.
- Sundance Express at Sun Peaks to be closed this weekend for maintenance.
- Castle Mountain, Alberta temporarily closes the new Stagecoach Express to swap a motor.
- At Marquette Mountain, Michigan, a misload bends apart a Riblet chair (quickly replaced without incident.)
- The Supreme Court strikes down some of President Trump’s import tariffs but not Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs most affecting lift manufacturers. In response to the decision, the President orders a 10 percent global tariff to last 150 days (USMCA compliant goods and items already subjected to Section 232 tariffs are exempted).
Aspen Mountain
News Roundup: Power Problems
- Crescent Hill, Iowa to install a new (used) drive terminal on its double chair.
- Approval of a new gondola in Hawaii may be rescinded.
- The private ski resort planned near Steamboat faces a mix of public backlash and support.
- Deer Valley President & COO Todd Bennett says several more lifts are planned for Deer Valley East, timeline TBA.
- Megève, France joins the Ikon Pass.
- Doppelmayr wins the tender to build a nine station urban gondola in Puebla, Mexico.
- Val Bialas, New York to reopen after several years closed.
- Lifts and ski trails return to Google Maps after a one year hiatus.
- A power outage leads to a rope evacuation at Sunburst, Wisconsin.
- Electric infrastructure problems will delay the start of Mont-Sainte-Anne’s season for at least another week.
- Skeetawk, Alaska seeks public funding for a second lift, possibly a gondola.
- Eaglecrest extends the bid deadline for a gondola general contractor, wants to open in 2028 but doesn’t have enough money to finish.
- Lost Ontario ski area Talisman to be preserved as conservation land.
- Aspen Mountain’s Nell Bell approval moves along.
- The New York Times spends a day with Snowbird’s mountain operations team.
- Holiday Mountain, New York sends a Poma bullwheel and gearbox to help Whaleback, New Hampshire revive its chairlift.
- Welch Village, Minnesota’s new quad is named Joy Ride.
- Spirit Mountain’s new trail map shows where the Highline Quad runs.
- Toronto Zoo’s SkyPod to open in 2027.
- Leitner-Poma and Skytrac celebrate completing 20 lifts on time or early.
- Pico to auction 1965 Bonanza chairs for charity.
- Bear Mountain, California purchases new Skytrac chairs for Lift 7.
News Roundup: Chinook
- Kicking Horse’s gondola reopens after a six month closure with new hanger arms.
- Vail Resorts might announce new lift projects on Monday, September 29th with fiscal year end earnings.
- Arizona Snowbowl to use gondola cabins as dining rooms for five course dinners on select nights.
- Colorado Mountain College in Leadville to reinstall Steamboat’s former Rough Rider platter as a training lift.
- Purgatory postpones construction of the Gelande lift to next summer, citing permit delays.
- Mt. Bachelor will upgrade the Northwest Express next summer with new operator houses, controls, a night drive system and expanded parking.
- Alterra outlines $400 million in improvements for this season.
- A Doppelmayr gondola station is set on fire in Nepal as part of widespread protests.
- Doppelmayr’s first vertical RopeCon material ropeway to be built somehwere in the Americas.
- The bottom terminal for Alpental’s new Chair 2 is set by Chinook helicopter.
- Aspen receives county approval to build the Nell Bell detachable quad next summer.
- America’s first Bike Cab gondolas arrive in Colorado.
- Two people are killed when a chairlift de-ropes on Russia’s Mt. Elbrus. Videos show challenging conditions for a rope evacuation.
- Lake Louise’s Richardson’s Ridge expansion to open early spring 2026, eventually will include a surface lift from Temple Lodge.
- Doppelmayr reports a 13 percent increase in revenue for fiscal 2024-25, completing 93 ropeways in 25 countries. Approximately 24 percent of €1.2 billion in turnover came from the US and Canada.
- Doppelmayr also reveals a contract to replace a Poma-Otis automated people mover at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
- The new gondola at Hawks Nest State Park in West Virginia nears completion.
News Roundup: A Long Time Coming
- Powderhorn, Colorado formally proposes replacing West End.
- Off-the-grid Mt. Baker to construct a central generation facility to power numerous chairlifts once driven by diesel prime movers.
- The plan for Aspen Mountain’s Lift 1A replacement “continues to evolve.”
- The Forest Service releases a map of the proposed Nell Bell high speed quad on Ajax, which would span 8,300 feet and 2,650′ vertical.
- Over at Snowmass, crews work to build the new Elk Camp Express while the old lift continues spinning in nearly the same alignment for a few more weeks.
- The WestJet Skyride in downtown Calgary may be shortened or removed to make way for a hotel.
- Urban gondolas are catching on nearly everywhere. Why not the US and Canada?
- Repairs to Kicking Horse’s Golden Eagle Express, closed since early March, will take longer than expected due to supply chain issues.
- The Okanagan Gondola breaks ground in BC.
- Towers go in for the Mighty Argo Cable Car, set to open in March 2026.
- A soon-to-open 3S in Italy will feature automatic cabin washing, a heat recovery system and impressive 3,200 foot vertical rise.
- Doppelmayr updates its Ropeway Configurator to include new products like Stella.
- Analysis shows a new urban gondola in Norway will have lower lifecycle emissions per passenger kilometer than most other forms of transport.
- Deer Valley invites the public to watch tower flying for the upper East Village Gondola and Pinyon Express.
News Roundup: Gondola Mania
- The Forest Service green lights Breckenridge to construct a Peak 9 gondola, remove A-Chair, replace C-Chair, remove Eldorado Platter and relocate Camelback Platter.
- Aspen Mountain proposes replacing Little Nell and Bell Mountain with one new chairlift.
- Another insightful Deer Valley East Village construction update.
- Park City identifies specific gondola alignments for study between Old Town and Deer Valley.
- Park City Municipal councilors and the new owner of Town Lift Plaza float replacing the existing Town triple chair with a gondola.
- I got to tour Sunrise Gondola construction at Park City’s Canyons Village earlier today.
News Roundup: Ajax
- Epic Pass adds one more Austrian partner – the mighty Sölden.
- Kirsten Lynch resigns as CEO of Vail Resorts and is succeeded by former CEO Rob Katz.
- Vail details the next phase of its Resource Efficiency Transformation Plan, including reorganizing resort divisions, combining snowmaking/grooming/terrain parks into one department and restructuring summer operations.
- President Trump delays implementation of a new 50 percent tariff on the European Union to July 9th.
- The 10 percent “Liberation Day” tariffs are briefly struck down then reimposed by different federal judges.
- Entabeni Systems closes on its purchase of Black Mountain, New Hampshire.
- Holiday Mountain, New York looks to fund a new chairlift in part by making the top station a billboard along NY-17/future Interstate 86.
- A guest gets caught hanging from clothing on a Mammoth chairlift over Memorial Day Weekend.
- Bartholet releases its 2025 Reference Book.
- A new chairlift project pops up in the Forest Service NEPA system for Aspen Mountain.
- No one bids on privatizing Marble Mountain; the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will continue operations.
- A new aerial tramway in Texas gets $7 million closer to construction.
- Deer Valley won’t break ground on Snow Park Redevelopment this summer after all.
News Roundup: Ever Optimistic
- Vail Resorts reports annual skier visits down 9.5 percent, net income down 14 percent, EBITDA down 1 percent and season pass sales down 3 percent in units but up 3 percent in dollars. The company announced no new 2025 lift projects and will lay off 14 percent of corporate staff along with limited operational staff.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina retires the Laurel double, plans to build a new chairlift eventually.
- County planners unanimously reject the Shadow Mountain Bike Park proposal in Colorado.
- Sleeping Giant, Wyoming will hibernate again this winter.
- Huff Hills, North Dakota reaches a one year agreement to operate this winter.
- Aspen’s proposal to replace Lift 1A remains alive.
- Whitetail, Pennsylvania to sell Hall chairs from Jib Junction.
- Leitner to build a seven station urban gondola in Morella, Mexico for $100 million.
- Mexico’s President and President-elect inaugurate a six station urban gondola line by Doppelmayr in Mexico City.
- A Hezbollah rocket strikes a chairlift in Israel held territory.
- Snowbird turns an old tram cabin into a bar.
- Sandia Peak proposes replacing Chair 1.
- Tamarack scales down expansion plans to seven new chairlifts and an extension of the Wildwood Express with no new gondola.
- The under construction One&Only resort with a two station gondola connecting to Big Sky Resort catches fire.
- Ever optimistic Les Otten still aims to re-open The Balsams with three new chairlifts in phase one.
News Roundup: Ikon Addition
- Sierra-at-Tahoe joins the Ikon Pass, Taos returns to the Ikon Base Pass.
- Owners of Mt. Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village express dismay at an American company’s proposed purchase of the Jasper SkyTram.
- Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania is for sale.
- A local group considers bidding for Mt. Bachelor.
- Copper thieves damage the only lift at Blizzard Mountain, Idaho.
- Killington’s future owners promise a massive capital improvement push and numerous lift upgrades, reveal Powdr considered closing the Skyeship Gondola.
- The government of Newfoundland and Labrador tries again to sell money losing Marble Mountain.
- The proposed Shadow Mountain Bike Park in Colorado would include a detachable six pack.
- Mountain Capital Partners seeks a Director of Lifts to oversee maintenance, new installations, used lift sourcing and more.
- Steamboat removes Priest Creek‘s old towers and repairs damage on the Christie Peak Express.
- Aspen Mountain to remove Gent’s Ridge this fall.
- Gent’s Ridge and Jackson Hole’s old Sublette parts will head to Maverick Mountain, Montana.
News Roundup: Metrics
- Aspen Mountain’s Lift One project inches closer to reality.
- Aspen Skiing Company reports skier visits declined 2.3 percent last season.
- Colorado as a whole reports its second best season ever, down five percent from last year’s record.
- New Hampshire was down four percent.
- Vail Resorts reports a 5 percent increase in lift revenue but a 7.7 percent decline in visits with season pass unit sales down 5 percent for next season.
- Colorado’s Estes Park Tram reopens after an extended closure.
- Nordic Valley works to reactivate Apollo, which missed last season.
- Legoland New York’s new 10 passenger gondola to open June 24th.
- A Park City resident files an appeal of Deer Valley’s Lift 7 approval.
- Sun Peaks flies towers for the new West Bowl Express.
- Leitner’s 2023 annual report is out highlighting global projects.
News Roundup: Ten Figures
- Mont Sutton, Quebec becomes the latest resort to announce a loading conveyor addition this season.
- Mt. Bachelor says the new Skyliner Express is on track to open in December despite some shipping delays.
- Sunlight releases a fresh master plan with a series of lift upgrades and additions.
- Vail Resorts plans to wrap gondolas at multiple resorts with messages of diversity and inclusion.
- Breckenridge offers old Five chairs for sale.
- Park City says new, heavier cabins will require Red Pine Gondola towers to be reinforced, acknowledges the Sigma cabins list 2 degrees when empty.
- Aspen Mountain’s new Pandora’s lift will now be called Hero’s.
- Ikon Pass resorts invest over one billion dollars in improvements for this season.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania names a new operator for closed Denton Hill.
- Multiple factors contributed to the deadly collision between a gondola cabin and drill rig at Tremblant this summer.
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