- Sunday River explains why Jordan 8 came before Barker replacement.
- Brighton proposes swapping Crest Express for a six place D-Line.
- Snowbird looks to replace Wilbere.
- This document details Snowbird’s temporary one car tram operation.
- A hearing to consider the sale of Jay Peak is scheduled for August 26th.
- Eaglecrest and Mt. Spokane join the Freedom Pass alliance.
- Flash flood cleanup closes the Palm Springs Tram for the week.
- A power outage leaves guests waiting hours at the top of the Sandia Peak Tram.
- Eleven ski areas in the White River National Forest paid a record $24 million in profit sharing to the Forest Service last year.
- Steamboat and Doppelmayr fly towers for the Wild Blue Gondola.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers display a Sigma 3S gondola cabin which could provide future stadium transport.
- Mt. Shasta releases a preliminary map of the Grey Butte expansion.
- Bartholet begins construction of the first Ropetaxi with cabins that will move individually based on passenger demand and destination.
- The restoration plan approved for Keystone’s Bergman Bowl requires annual monitoring through 2033.
- Boston Mills/Brandywine will auction double and quad chairs next week.
Brighton
Updated: Ikon Pass Adds Brighton, Solitude, Taos & More
Alterra Mountain Company added both Big Cottonwood Canyon resorts to its flagship season pass today, giving buyers access to five resorts encompassing almost 10,000 acres of the Wasatch. Brighton is the fifth Boyne Resorts-owned mountain to sign on to Ikon and will give passholders seven unrestricted days. Ikon Base passholders will get five with blackout dates. Alterra agreed to acquire Solitude in June and, as expected, access there will be unlimited and unrestricted with full pass. “The Ikon Pass is expanding, and with the addition of Solitude Mountain Resort and Brighton Resort, we are excited to offer unparalleled access to Utah, a state known around the world for its snow quality, variety of terrain, and accessibility,” noted Erik Forsell, Alterra’s Chief Marketing Officer in a media release. “We are nearly 70 days away from opening day in North America and are thrilled to jump start the ski and snowboard season by adding more premier Ikon Pass destinations for winter 2018/2019.”
This could be a huge week for what is already the most expansive season pass on the market with varying degrees of access to 413 lifts at 34 mountains and currently priced at $999. The direct competitor is the Epic Pass by Vail Resorts, which includes skiing at 24 North American destinations with 309 lifts for $899 (the Vail Resorts owned mountains are unlimited and unrestricted while partners Resorts of the Canadian Rockies and Telluride offer seven days each.) The Mountain Collective Pass ($449 right now) includes two days at many of the same mountains as Ikon and offers access to 194 North American lifts. Ikon, Epic and MCP all offer additional days in the Alps, Japan, Australia and/or New Zealand. Another offering is the Powder Alliance, a free benefit for 18 participating resorts’ season passholders to ride a combined 132 lifts across the western US and Canada.
The above Instagram post implies that six more resorts will be added to the Ikon Pass by the end of the week – one tomorrow, four on Wednesday and one more on Thursday. Obvious candidates are Mountain Collective resorts not yet included on Ikon – Snowbasin, Sun Valley and Taos – and remaining ex-MAX Pass resorts:
- Alyeska, AK
- Belleayre, NY
- Boreal, CA
- Boyne Mountain, MI
- Boyne Highlands, MI
- Buck Hill, MN
- Crystal Mountain, WA
- Cypress Mountain, BC
- Granite Peak, WI
- Gore Mountain, NY
- Lee Canyon, NV
- Lutsen Mountains, MN
- Mountain Creek, NJ
- The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
- Wachusett, MA
- Windham Mountain, NY
- Whiteface, NY
Of those, groupings that could be Wednesday’s announcement are the four outstanding Boyne Resorts or the four New York resorts. The Pacific Northwest is another emerging battleground in the season pass war with Vail Resorts’ recent purchase of Stevens Pass. Alterra has so far invited larger destination resorts onto Ikon and the biggest outstanding mountains in order of vertical are Panorama, Whiteface, Sun Valley, Mt. Bachelor, Taos, Crystal Mountain, Red Mountain, Sun Peaks, Mt. Hood Meadows, Smuggler’s Notch, Le Massif, Alyeska and Whitefish. Stay tuned all week for updates!
Update 8/28: Ikon announced Taos, New Mexico this morning, bringing the pass to 35 mountains with a combined 422 lifts. Access will be 7 unrestricted days or 5 with blackouts for the Ikon Base pass.
Update 8/29: As expected, today is Boyne day with the addition of Boyne Highlands, Boyne Mountain, Cypress Mountain and The Summit at Snoqualmie. 39 mountains with a combined 466 lifts now participate in Ikon. That’s approximately one in every five ski lifts in the US and Canada. In addition, Boyne-owned Sugarloaf, Sunday River and Loon Mountain are now considered separate destinations. Ikon passholders will get 7 days at each (5 with the Ikon Base pass.)
Update: 8/30: The final addition for the week is Niseko, Japan. There may be more resorts coming up as the Ikon Facebook page says “Ikon Pass is known for news. Stay tuned.”
Instagram Tuesday: Glory
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVYB6W_Ai2w/?tagged=leitnerropeways
Instagram Tuesday: Red
Every Tuesday, we pick our favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
One Wasatch: How Four Lifts Could Link 18,000 Acres
If you’ve never driven over 9,700′ Guardsman Pass in the summer, you might not realize just how close Brighton Ski Resort is to the upper reaches of Park City Mountain. In fact, from Brighton’s fire station to the top of the Jupiter lift is less than 7,000 linear feet. It’s this reality and a similar one in Alta’s Grizzly Gulch that makes Ski Utah’s One Wasatch concept tantalizingly close to becoming reality. But the feeling that the Wasatch just isn’t that big also has environmental groups scrambling to prevent any more of these mountains from becoming ski runs. The challenge for Save Our Canyons, the Sierra Club and others is that all the land needed to complete One Wasatch is already in the private hands of Royal Street Land Company (owner of Deer Valley,) Iron Mountain Associates (developer of The Colony) and Alta Ski Lifts Co.
Over the Pass
I’m convinced Park City and Brighton will be connected first. Ski Utah calls the two lifts needed for this connection Guardsman A and Guardsman B. They would rise from a common point adjacent to Guardsman Pass Road between Brighton and Park City’s Jupiter pod on land owned by Royal Street a.k.a. Deer Valley. Operationally, it would make the most sense for CNL/Boyne to build and operate these lifts as part of Brighton. Guardsman A, which would need approval from UDOT to cross State Route 190, would likely be a detachable quad approximately 4,065′ long with a vertical rise of 740′ ending near the top of Jupiter. Guardsman B would rise back towards Brighton and be a detachable quad about 3,800′ long with a vertical of 1,235′.
Royal Street Land Company has a strong interest in completing the Guardsman connection because it now also owns Solitude. With Guardsman in place, a Deer Valley skier at the top of Lady Morgan Express could ride 4 lifts (Pioneer and Jupiter at Park City, Guardsman B and Milly Express at Brighton) and be at Solitude in less than an hour. The return trip would be almost as easy – Summit Express to Great Western Express to Guardsman A and Park City Mountain, which already abuts Deer Valley. Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County would both need to approve the Guardsman lifts before construction could begin.
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