- Alterra details its 2024 capital plan, totaling $300+ million with six new chairlifts.
- Following yesterday’s announcement of three new lifts this year, Deer Valley also outlines the seven detachable lifts opening in 2025 for a total of 10 in two years (counting the two section gondola as two.)
- A presentation details massive construction underway at Deer Valley.
- Deer Valley will hold an open house to update the community on construction and future plans next Thursday.
- Park City continues to explore a gondola connection from Main Street to Deer Valley.
- Speaking of megaprojects, here are some unofficial photos of the two D-Line gondolas with six total stations under construction at Big Sky.
- The world’s largest indoor ski area opens near Shanghai with a detachable chairlift and gondola from Poma.
- Parks Canada approves the Banff Gondola owner’s purchase of the Jasper SkyTram.
- A Swiss newspaper reports Alterra may be as interested as Vail in acquiring Swiss resorts.
- Vail Resorts to report earning September 26th, traditionally when lift projects are announced for the following year.
- Vail to sell Wildcat Express gondola cabins, run only chairs in the future.
- Solitude will auction 29 chairs from the Moonbeam quad, which operated only four years.
- Wachusett orders a Doppelmayr UNI-G six pack to replace the Polar Express.
- A rider is injured and airlifted after falling while boarding Schweitzer’s Great Escape Quad.
- Five years since the Sea to Sky Gondola‘s haul rope was first cut and four years since it was cut again, police are still looking for the perpetrator(s).
- Maintenance workers on London’s IFS Cloud Cable Car plan a strike.
Deer Valley
Deer Valley to Open Three New Lifts This Season
Deer Valley has unveiled the names for three chairlifts that will open this winter in phase one of the Expanded Excellence expansion. The three inaugural lifts, being constructed by Doppelmayr, include a high speed six pack with bubbles, a detachable quad and a fixed grip quad. Skiers will gain access to 300 acres and 20 trails this season via a temporary gateway with 500 parking spaces, a rental shop and ticketing services. “In just a couple of months, we are looking forward to welcoming our guests to experience the beginning of Deer Valley’s Expanded Excellence vision,” said Todd Bennett, President & COO of Deer Valley Resort.
The flagship D-Line Keetley Express will load near the new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley and lift skiers to Keetley Point. This lift will feature Deer Valley’s first-ever bubble comfort chairs and provide access to the existing Sultan Express lift. Next door, the shorter Hoodoo Express quad will service beginner terrain above the East Village. This lift will be a UNI-G detachable designed to look like the D-Line next door. The third new lift for this season, called Aurora, will provide a short return route back to the East Village. This Alpenstar quad will feature a loading conveyor to maximize efficiency. Keetley Express is expected to open in December with Hoodoo Express and Aurora to follow shortly thereafter.
Concrete work is also underway for six additional lifts set to open for the 2025-26 season. These include a two stage, 10 passenger gondola and five detachable chairlifts. The final four lifts in the expansion will open in future seasons with the exact timeline yet to be determined. When the expansion is complete, Deer Valley will have added 3,700 acres of skiable terrain and 135 new ski runs, making it one of the largest resorts in North America.
News Roundup: Antitrust Scrutiny
- Deer Valley initiates construction on Lifts 2, 3 and 4A with the rest of Expanded Excellence lifts in final engineering and procurement.
- Detroit Mountain’s mountain biking lift goes down for the much of June due to a mechanical problem.
- Proponents of the Cascade Skyline Gondola project criticize British Columbia’s slow approval process.
- Snowbird and Jackson Hole both offer very expensive chairs with portions going to charity.
- Doppelmayr introduces an underground vertical ropeway for the mining industry.
- The American company which owns the Banff Gondola acquires the Jasper SkyTram from the Canadian firm that owns Marmot Basin for CA$25 million.
- The Department of Justice seeks information on Alterra’s proposed purchase of Arapahoe Basin.
News Roundup: Act 2
- Sundance plans to build a detachable from the base of Wildwood to the summit of Red’s in 2026.
- Snowmass proposes replacing both Alpine Springs and Elk Camp.
- Park City breaks ground on the Sunrise Gondola.
- The appeal of Deer Valley’s Lift 7 approval is dropped.
- Angel Fire faces an extended closure of the Chile Express due to gearbox failure.
- A former Eaglecrest manager questions the installation of a used pulse gondola.
- Eaglecrest may not complete the gondola until 2026 or 2027, five years after it arrived in Alaska.
- Vermont reports 4.1 million skier visits, down less than half a percent from last year.
- A team from the University of Utah works to develop a better adaptive bike carrier.
News Roundup: Bonus Project
- Ski Santa Fe proposes a second chairlift project for this summer, replacing Easy Street #4 with the old Santa Fe Super Chief #1.
- The Balsams extends a deadline to complete phase one construction, may refurbish existing lift infrastructure.
- Dave Scanlan, the general manager behind installing a 35 year old used pulse gondola from Austria, is ousted from his post leading Eaglecrest, Alaska.
- MND’s prototype detachable nears completion in France.
- Big Sky’s old Six Shooter is spotted at Sugarloaf.
- The capital of the Dominican Republic to build a third urban gondola line.
- Deer Valley may pour concrete for more Expanded Excellence lifts this summer to get a jump on next year.
- Cochran’s, Vermont secures a grant to design and engineer a used T-Bar.
- Mont Grand-Fonds says its upcoming Doppelmayr six pack will be the first of its kind in Quebec.
- Jackson Hole’s new Sublette will feature Leitner comfort chairs.
- Snowmass to auction Coney Glade chairs.
- Mount St. Louis Moonstone also lists Poma quad chairs for sale.
- Work begins on the Aspen Meadows project adjacent to Brian Head.
- Quebec records six million skier visits, a decline of 10 percent from last year’s record.
News Roundup: In Memoriam
- U.S. skier visits totaled 60.4 million this season, down from last year but fifth highest ever.
- The Colorado Supreme Court rules a liability waiver doesn’t protect Crested Butte from a chairlift fall claim.
- Huff Hills, North Dakota may pack up and move to a new location.
- Leitner-Poma parent company HTI reports a 13 percent revenue increase with strong sales in North America.
- Alterra-owned Schweitzer postpones the next phase of the Schweitzer Creek Village expansion.
- Castle Mountain plans to reinstall a 1988 detachable from Sunshine Village as soon as next summer.
- The municipality of Park City approves Deer Valley’s proposed Lift 7.
- Park City Mountain to begin construction shortly on the new Sunrise Gondola.
- A Maine developer will try again to revive Big Moose Mountain.
- A proposed lift-served bike park in Conifer, Colorado moves toward public hearings.
News Roundup: Winter Park Learning Center
- The proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort in British Columbia signs a letter of intent for a Bartholet Ropetaxi gondola system.
- Another proposed BC ski resort project changes hands, must begin construction soon or face losing environmental approval.
- Community members look toward reopening lost Big Tupper, New York.
- MND’s majority shareholder seeks to take the company private.
- Construction of MND’s prototype Orizon detachable moves along in France.
- Highlander Lift Services and Wasatch Peaks Ranch settle a lawsuit in which both parties sought close to $1 million in damages over a difficult and late lift install.
- Ski Sundown will auction retired chairs.
- Whistler Blackcomb to sell Jersey Cream chairs for $600.
- A deep dive into private equity’s dominance in unincorporated Big Sky, Montana.
- Deer Valley’s proposed Lift 7 bubble remains in limbo.
- Alta prefers metered traffic lights over a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
- A Sun Valley property owner sues Sun Valley Resort over noise and visual impacts of the new Flying Squirrel lift, seeks its removal.
- Mountain Capital Partners acquires La Parva, Chile, its 12th ski resort.
- Mt. Ashland’s top lift replacement priorities are Ariel followed by Windsor.
- Mt. Ashland will also leave the Indy Pass.
- The Forest Service met today with objectors to Monarch Mountain’s proposed No Name expansion in hopes of resolution.
- Berkshire East to remove the Mountain Top triple.
- Beartooth Basin Summer Ski Area won’t open this year due to low snow.
- Winter Park seeks environmental approval to replace Gemini with a 10 seat gondola, upgrade Endeavour and Discovery to quads, remove Looking Glass and install the Copper Creek South six pack as proposed in the 2022 master plan.
News Roundup: Sunrise
- An avalanche crushes a six pack terminal in France.
- Doppelmayr’s latest customer magazine focuses on North America overtaking Europe as the company’s largest market and achieving more than 50 percent market share in our highly competitive region.
- Two bears climb a very tall tower on Steamboat’s new Wild Blue Gondola.
- A prototype MND Orizon detachable is under construction at the factory and expected to be operational in early summer for testing. The first customer installation may be in Uzbekistan.
- Sun Peaks resumes construction on the West Bowl Express after a winter break.
- Homewood seek approval for its Madden Gondola in a modified alignment.
- Huff Hills, North Dakota to close following a lease dispute with the mountain’s landowner.
- Tenney Mountain eyes replacing Hornet with a detachable lift.
- Alterra’s CEO discuses lift construction costs and more in a wide ranging interview.
- Plans show four major lifts at the planned Stagecoach Mountain Ranch near Steamboat.
- Legoland New York’s new gondola appears mostly complete with the first Diamond EVO cabins in North America.
- Quebec Ski Resorts Company says if it acquired the lease to Mont-Sainte-Anne, it would install a 10 passenger Doppelmayr gondola in 2025 and two detachable chairlifts in 2026. Resorts of the Canadian Rockies insists the mountain is not for sale.
- The Park City planning Commission delays a decision again on Deer Valley’s proposed Lift 7, citing wildlife concerns.
- Park City’s upcoming Sunrise Gondola will be constructed by Leitner-Poma with Vail Resorts’ first direct drive.
- An unnamed New Hampshire resort is looking for CTEC quad chairs for an upcoming relocation.
News Roundup: Mountain Planet 2024
- MND posts a replay of its Orizon product launch at Mountain Planet.
- Doppelmayr and Poma release their annual yearbooks.
- Poma launches an open air gondola concept where passengers will stand harnessed.
- Doppelmayr wins a $115 million contract to build a 3S and 10 passenger gondola in Chamonix.
- Okanagan Gondola receives final approval for construction near Kelowna, BC.
- The Highlands, Michigan will auction chairs for charity.
- Turkey arrests multiple people over last week’s fatal gondola incident.
- Jackson Hole says goodbye to Sublette.
- Opposition emerges to Deer Valley’s proposed Lift 7.
- Quebec Mountain Resorts Company, owner of Mont Grand-Fonds and Mont Lac-Vert, offers to buy Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, says it would invest tens of millions in new lifts and snowmaking.
- Vail Resorts reports skier visits were down 7.8 percent this season but revenue was up. Same story for 24-25 season pass sales with units pacing down but revenue up.
- Bluewood, Washington looks to replace Skyline with a detachable quad.
News Roundup: New Double Chair
- The private equity firm working to build a gondola in Idaho Springs, Colorado will reopen the Estes Park Tramway.
- A surveyor is spotted for that Idaho Springs gondola.
- Utah environmental groups seek to consolidate three lawsuits against the Little Cottonwood Gondola.
- Extell says three new lifts will open at Deer Valley next winter.
- Chicopee, Ontario looks toward lift upgrades.
- Hogadon, Wyoming closes the season early due to lift issues.
- Grizzly at Bear Valley, California suffers multiple breakdowns and closes for the season early.
- Long waits have Snowmass leaders asking for a Sky Cab “Skittles” pulse gondola replacement.
- ORDA commits $1.1 million for new grips on Gore Mountain’s Northwoods Gondola and $5 million to replace Little Whiteface with a new double chair in 2025.
- Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina plans a detachable gondola across the Saluda River.
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