- MND introduces a new brand with four divisions: MND Snow, MND Safety, MND Leisure and MND Ropeways (formerly LST.)
- MND expects a return to profitability next year and projects the global ropeway market will reach $4.3 billion in 2024.
- Construction gets underway on the third MND T-Bar in the United States.
- Wolf Creek leaves Colorado Ski Country USA.
- North America’s longest gondola misses Labor Day weekend due to a mechanical issue.
- Sun Peaks won’t spin the West Bowl T-Bar this winter.
- Jackson Hole will increase lift speeds and allow skiers to bypass the Aerial Tram by hiking to the summit this winter.
- China Peak reports minimal on-mountain damage from the Creek Fire so far.
- Killington will open later than normal with 50 percent lift capacity.
- Here’s the latest Timberline Mountain construction update.
China Peak
Wildfires Impact Ski Areas Across the West
As snow falls across the Rockies, resorts closer to the Pacific continue to deal with drought conditions and wildland fires. Most immediately threatened is California’s China Peak from the 153,000 acre Creek Fire. “We are aware that the fire has reached our mountain and a strike team is working hard to manage the flames and protect structures on the base area,” said a statement from the resort last night. “Employee housing has been damaged, but we have no other information at this time.” China Peak operates a total of six fixed grip chairlifts.
Eight different National Forests in California shut down to the public effective 5:00 pm on Labor Day due to extreme fire danger. Mammoth Mountain and Snow Summit are among those temporarily suspending mountain operations in partnership with the Forest Service.
In Oregon, a fire ignited within the Mt. Hood Meadows boundary on Monday. Meadows fired up the Stadium Express for firefighters, who were able to contain the blaze to a few acres without damage to lifts or facilities.
The Mt. Hood National Forest is now closed to the public. Timberline Lodge has suspended outdoor operations until further notice (skiing on Palmer Glacier ended August 30th this year.)
In Washington, Crystal Mountain remains largely inaccessible due to fire-related road closures.
On the good news front, the Medio Fire near New Mexico’s Ski Santa Fe is 90 percent contained and the Bridger Foothills Fire threatening Montana’s Bridger Bowl has been slowed by wet weather.
Please keep firefighters and resort employees working to protect ski areas in your thoughts during this challenging time.
News Roundup: Suits
- Skeetawk secures a 40 year lease to operate on public land in Alaska.
- The Salt Lake Tribune features a pro-Little Cottonwood Gondola op-ed by Ski Utah CEO Nathan Rafferty.
- D-Line stations, cabins and chairs and are now available as HO scale models.
- A disabled skier sues Aspen Snowmass over a 2019 lift fall.
- The haul rope is on North America’s third D-Line lift system.
- A helicopter flies concrete for tower foundations at Saddleback.
- The ever-growing Indy Pass adds Snow King Mountain, White Pine and Winterplace.
- Closed Crystal Mountain, BC still faces lawsuits more than six years after a lift deropement.
- Arapahoe Basin presses ahead with new lift projects despite taking a big Covid hit.
- China Peak bids farewell to the mighty Chair 3.
- Gore Mountain formally announces construction of two new quads.
- Court documents reveal more details on the Liftopia-Mountain Collective dispute.
- All new Whiteface gondola cabins arrive stateside.
News Roundup: On the Block
- Alterra’s David Perry says significant capital is likely be spent at Steamboat in 2018 and 2019 with phase two of the gondola rebuild and other big projects on the table.
- A Denver TV reporter heads to Texas for a two-part interview with the husband of Kelly Huber, the woman killed during a lift malfunction last year at Granby Ranch.
- Two loaded chairs collide at Owl’s Head, Quebec after the Green Chair was pressed into rare operation amid downtime on a neighboring high-speed quad. The 1972 Heron-Poma is the former Big Hitch lift from Stagecoach, Colorado.
- China Peak’s owner wishes he still had the $900,000 he spent to build a new lift last summer that can’t open with no snow.
- The new Peak triple was rope evac’d at Pats Peak last Monday, apparently due to a gearbox issue.
- Poma dedicates its newest factory in France.
- Disney Skyliner’s first tower is up and it’s tapered in the cool Wolfurt style.
- Ian Cumming, founder of Powdr and majority owner of Snowbird, dies at age 77.
- Granite Gorge’s chairlift opens for the season after a gearbox issue and other problems.
- Ariel Quiros officially settles with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $82 million, paving the way for the sale of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain.
- The world’s longest lift is open!
- Killington formally applies to replace the South Ridge triple with a quad chair, manufacturer unknown. The sample profile confusingly shows a Poma Alpha drive and Doppelmayr Eclipse return terminal.
- Teton Pass, Montana won’t reopen under current ownership and is up for sale.
- Skier visits have declined 30 percent in South Korea over the last five years and there are several lost ski resorts in the Olympic region.
- The Sawtooth National Forest tentatively approves Sun Valley’s project to replace the Cold Springs lift with a longer high-speed quad as soon as this summer.
- A chairlift will be studied studied for one of Alabama’s most popular state parks.
- Alterra names Mammoth veteran Rusty Gregory as the company’s first CEO.
Instagram Tuesday: Arrival
Every Tuesday, I feature my favorite Instagram photos from around the lift world.
News Roundup: Shuffle
- Bridger Bowl is sending Virginia City up to Teton Pass.
- Oakland Zoo’s California Trail gondola
opened Mondaywill open soon. - China Peak will replace Chair 2 with a Yan quad from Steamboat this summer.
- The Subway in the Sky celebrates three years.
- Alyeska is removing its oldest, longest and tallest lift with no replacement immediately planned.
- Eldora’s new six-place has a name: Eldo Express.
- Cranmore is moving the bottom terminal of the South Quad to make room for a real estate project.
- Intrawest shareholder sues to stop Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL purchase.
- Vail-Stowe deal closes.
- Vail Resorts says in its third quarter results that Epic Pass sales are up 10 percent over last year. The company typically announces new capital projects just after Epic Pass sales conclude in late November.
- The Indiana State Fair is getting a chairlift.
- Beartooth Basin’s two platters open for summer turns for the first time since 2014.
- Urban gondolas are changing the world.
- Leitner Ropeways finishes its newest urban gondola in Mexico.
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