- Its been six weeks since the Berry family, owners of Saddleback, Maine, said they would close the resort if they could not find financing to order a new lift by August 1st. Regardless of the outcome, this has been a PR disaster with a desperate announcement and then silence. Not a good sign when the general manager refuses to talk to the state’s largest newspaper. My take: despite the bluff they will find a way to open.
- Ligonier Construction awarded $4.6 million contract to re-build the State of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Mountain Ski Area. The project includes a new quad chairlift but I could not find a lift manufacturer identified in the bid documents. Nearby Seven Springs Mountain Resort will operate the ski area on behalf of the state.
- Snow Summit proves again that snowmaking systems can save lifts and buildings from wildfires.
- What if Aspen had a gondola from Ajax to Buttermilk and Snowmass?
- Not one but four 15-passenger gondolas proposed to link a cruise terminal with George Town in the Caribbean’s Cayman Islands. I’m thinking even that won’t be enough when Royal Caribbean’s newest ship shows up with 6,000 passengers tired of being on a ship with 6,000 passengers.
- “No one has contributed more to the task of transporting skiers and snowboarders up the ski mountains of the United States than Jan Leonard,” said the President of the NSAA in the Salt Lake Tribune’s obituary. Services will be held tomorrow.
Aspen
News Roundup: Glass Floors and Rainbow LEDs
- In Aspen, the Lift 1A saga continues.
- Poma has begun construction on a 13,000 foot gondola to the ancient Peruvian fortress of Kuelap. The $18 million system will span 2,170 vertical feet in 20 minutes and open by July of next year.
- Despite having a bunch of brand new lifts that haven’t spun since the Olympics, Russia is spending $76 million to build four new lifts in 2016 at Rosa Khutor.
- Sun Peaks Resort, already Canada’s second largest resort, is cutting new runs in preparation for a new West Morissey lift. If you haven’t gotten the chance to ski there, Sun Peaks has a very cool 360-degree layout with three mountains circling the village.
- Berkshire East’s former Summit triple is up for sale. It’s a 1988 Poma that was previously at Magic Mountain, Vermont. The other lift on there is from the defunct Ascutney Mountain.
- Alpine Valley, Wisconsin is getting a new beginner lift which will be a used Hall double with a new SkyTrac Monarch drive terminal. SkyTrac is also reportedly finishing the half-completed Stagecoach lift on the Moonlight side of Big Sky.
Instagram Tuesday: Heavy Lifting
North America’s Top Ten Longest Lifts
North America’s top ten longest lifts are all gondolas or aerial tramways and only half of them are directly used for skiing. Silver Mountain’s Gondola is number one although it is no longer the world’s longest. Since 2014, that title has belonged to the Bursa Uludag Gondola in Turkey which is a ridiculous 28,871 feet. This list does not include systems which have multiple haul ropes, such as Blackcomb’s Excalibur, which I consider to be two separate gondolas.
1. Silver Mountain Gondola, Silver Mountain, Idaho – 1990 VonRoll 8-passenger gondola
16,350′ ride time 16.4 minutes
2. Sunshine Village Gondola, Sunshine Village, Alberta – 2001 Poma 8-passenger gondola
14,894′ ride time 12.4 minutes
3. Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Whistler-Blackcomb, British Columbia – 2008 Doppelmayr 3S tri-cable gondola
14,497′ ride time 9.8 minutes
4. Sandia Peak Tramway, Albuquerque, New Mexico – 1965 Bell 50-passenger tramway
14,338′
5. Silver Queen Gondola, Aspen Mountain, Colorado – 1986 Poma 6-passenger gondola
13,216′ ride time 13.2 minutes
Instagram Tuesday: Flying High
News Roundup: Projects and Plans
https://instagram.com/p/3kGV5wiue-/?taken-by=pcski
- Doppelmayr and Bolivia break ground on Subway in the Sky part II.
- Steamboat has a new master plan proposal that includes two new six packs to replace the Elkhead and Thunderhead lifts.
- Will our nation’s capitol get it’s first aerial lift?
- Lake Louise abandons plan for Wolverine Ridge lift but still wants new lifts on Richardson’s Ridge and Hidden Bowl.
- A six-mile aerial tram across New York Harbor? The Gondola Project says no and even Doppelmayr says it may not be possible.
- The International Skiing Federation again tells Aspen to build a new lift or lose the 2017 World Cup Finals.
- Powderhorn and Leitner-Poma break ground on lift replacement.
- Helicopter removes “poles” at the Hermitage Club.
News Roundup: 80 Years
- Power company blames ski resort, ski resort blames power company for gondola downtime.
- The last of 12 Riblets at Snowmass is being replaced with a Leitner-Poma high speed quad.
- Doppelmayr already flying towers on Snow King Mountain.
- No improvements imminent at Vail Resorts’ newly acquired Perisher. (They already have an 8-pack!)
- Jury sides with Terry Peak in wrongful death tower pad lawsuit.
- Another setback for Jumbo Glacier Resort, the idea that just won’t go away. Does BC really need another Revelstoke or Kicking Horse?
- New Navajo nation president may not like the Grand Canyon gondola plan.
- Maine newspaper digs deeper into ski lift safety in the wake of Sugarloaf’s 2 major incidents. Be sure to check out the bottom of the page which has inspection records for every lift in Maine.
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