Cablebús

News Roundup: Sunshine

Peter Landsman21 Comments
  • The Summit at Snoqualmie shuts Hidden Valley for the season due to an “unusual mechanical problem.”
  • Sugarloaf closes King Pine due to a sheave assembly issue.
  • Dave Brownlie, former head of Whistler Blackcomb and current Revelstoke President, weighs in on the state of the British Columbia ski industry and his company’s plans for Grouse Mountain.
  • The Colorado Sun interviews three Colorado resort pioneers about industry trends and challenges.
  • As the gondola at Mont-Sainte-Anne reopens, the resort says an external power issue caused last month’s sudden stop.  A lawsuit has been filed and the power company denies responsibility.
  • Just the Leitner portion of Mexico City’s new urban gondola network will feature seven stations and 300 cabins.
  • Experienced resort executives Andy and Jace Wirth may take over operations at Granby Ranch.
  • Limited Ikon/Mountain Collective visits to Arapahoe Basin are 69 percent lower than unlimited Epic visits last year and the “experience is way up,” says Al Henceroth.
  • Another informative podcast from Stuart Winchester features an executive from Mountain Creek and Big Snow talking about the next new lift and a possible Big Snow Miami.
  • Smugglers’ Notch has no intentions of losing its independence or ditching its fleet of fixed grip double chairs.
  • Whitefish will begin work in Hellroaring Basin this summer and move the current Hellroaring triple to a new alignment in 2021.

News Roundup: Alterra

Peter Landsman20 Comments
  • Neighbors aren’t happy about light and noise from Woodward Park City, though the new area was able to turn down the start alarm on the Hot Laps chairlift.
  • Mt. Baldy in Thunder Bay, Ontario plans to buy a new quad chair for next season.
  • The City of Durango considers whether building a new chairlift at Chapman Hill makes sense at an increasingly marginal elevation for natural snow.
  • Spout Springs will remain closed this season and is still for sale.
  • Mexico City begins work on Cablebús Line 2, a Leitner system with 7 stations, 308 cabins and 59 towers.  (Line 1 is Doppelmayr and already under construction.)
  • Seven people are injured and a gas station destroyed when a gondola haul rope being installed in Medellín, Colombia lets loose.
  • Alterra closes on Sugarbush and Win Smith transitions from owner to employee.
  • A French paraglider is lucky to survive being caught in a platter lift‘s haul rope.
  • To address crowding concerns, Crystal Mountain eliminates walk up lift ticket sales on weekends and holidays, effective immediately.  The resort will also no longer offer group discounts, gift card ticket redemptions or rental/ticket packages on weekends and holidays.
  • New York State opens its newest gondola in Lake Placid, called the SkyRide.
  • Geyser Holdings offers $4 million for the Hermitage Club and Boyne Resorts separately bids $3.6 million for the Barnstormer lift.  An auction could be held next month.
  • Skytrac’s Hilltrac people movers now feature Sigma cabins.
  • Montana Snowbowl opens its Snow Park expansion for the first time.
  • The owners of Perfect North Slopes plan to build at least one new top-to-bottom lift at newly-acquired Timberline, West Virginia this summer.
  • The State of Maine postpones a decision on a loan guarantee related to the sale of Saddleback Mountain.
  • A creditor claiming to be owed $62 million files to foreclose on Granby Ranch.
  • Edmonton urban gondola backers release robust ridership projections.
  • A gondola from Boise to Bogus Basin would be too long and cost too much to be practical.

 

News Roundup: Powerhouse

Peter Landsman4 Comments

News Roundup: Long Days

Peter Landsman5 Comments

 

News Roundup: Cirque

Peter Landsman14 Comments
  • The Salesforce Transit Center tram opens Monday.
  • Volunteers are determined to complete the Ascutney Mountain T-Bar project in time for next winter.
  • Peak Resorts reports a great fourth quarter with $36.9 million in earnings on $85.5 million in revenue, up from a year ago 52.5 and 71.5 percent, respectively.
  • Mexico City awards the contract for the first Cablebús urban gondola line to Doppelmayr, which will utilize D-Line technology.

  • The reopening of Big Tupper, NY hits a snag.
  • Proposed changes to the NEPA process would streamline approval of projects on National Forest lands impacting less than 20 acres, such as chairlift replacements.
  • The Balsams goes up for sale.
  • At Squaw Alpine, the extended Hot Wheels replacement will be named Treeline Cirque.
  • Seattle’s ABC affiliate checks in on Stevens Pass’ trio of lift projects.
  • Five months before its grand opening, Woodward Park City is really coming along.  Bonus: it looks like Doppelmayr has a new, more modern lift operator shack option (also seen at Manning Park.)

News Roundup: Skier Days

Peter Landsman1 Comment
  • After missing last season, Mt. Timothy gears up to reopen under new ownership.
  • Tariffs on imported Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum are history as of last weekend.
  • The “Balsams Bill” becomes law in New Hampshire.
  • Creditors seek an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy of the Hermitage Club.
  • Jackson Hole wants to increase clearance under the aerial tramway for big snow years.
  • The first indoor chairlift in America should finally open this fall in New Jersey.
  • Utah crushes its previous skier visit record, hosting more than five million skiers for the first time in history.
  • Jay Peak and Burke Mountain’s former owner and ex-CEO are indicted by a federal grand jury on 14 counts.
  • As of April 30th, 26 potential Jay Peak buyers had signed non-disclosure agreements.  The resort says revenue was up 4 percent this season, skier visits increased 3.5 percent and room nights shot up 11 percent.
  • Burke Mountain is still losing money but revenue increased by 26 percent this season, skier visits were up 20 percent and room nights 47 percent.
  • With the Forest Service’s blessing, Ski Cooper embarks on adding 71 acres and a Leitner-Poma T-Bar for next season.
  • The Poma-built urban cable car in the Dominican Republic capital transported over four million passengers in its first year.
  • Mexico City’s transportation authority rejects all three Cablebus bids from Leitner, Bartholet and Doppelmayr.
  • A Loveland, Colorado developer still wants to build a gondola as part of an amusement complex.
  • The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority selects Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build a new people mover over Doppelmayr.
  • Still no opening date for the Disney Skyliner but gondola merchandise has arrived.
  • In a few years, you may be able to ride twin tramways between Russia and China with immigration and customs facilities at each end.

News Roundup: Back to Work

Peter Landsman11 Comments