Doppelmayr

A Solid Year of Lifts

Peter Landsman20 Comments

As 2024 draws to a close, most of the 57 lifts installed this year are spinning over the holidays, a testament to hard work across the industry. The sheer number of installations fell slightly from last year but remains elevated from pre-pandemic. The business split nearly evenly between fixed and detachable lifts in 2024 with major projects coast to coast in both the United States and Canada.

At Mont Grand-Fonds, new owner Compagnie des Montagnes de Ski du Quebec replaced an aging T-Bar with the most modern lift in the province, a Doppelmayr six place detachable.

As always, the Rocky Mountain states led the charge, with 24 ropeways completed across Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. Deer Valley added a whopping five chairlifts (three of which will open this season) and Powder Mountain added four. The Rockies comprised nearly half the total market, followed by Canada and the Eastern US. New lift construction reached its second highest level in decades across Canada, with projects in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The midwestern states lagged, falling to just two new lifts on the heels of a bad snow year in 2023-24. The west coast was down modestly with zero projects in the Lake Tahoe region, three elsewhere in California, just one in Oregon and two in Washington.

Lake Louise, Alberta debuted one of two new six place bubbles in the Banff region, the Pipestone Express.

Four detachable gondolas opened in 2024 – at Legoland New York, Big Sky, Montana; Wasatch Peaks, Utah and Grouse Mountain, British Columbia. That’s about normal for the post-covid era with three of those built by Leitner-Poma. Four bubble chairlifts also opened, all of which were six or eight packs. The number of detachable chairlifts declined from 29 to 22 and fixed grip chairlifts declined from 25 to 21. Little Chapman Hill in Durango, Colorado, added a cool platter lift, the only major surface lift this year. We’ll probably need to wait another decade for a new aerial tram following last year’s debut of the Lone Peak Tram.

Skytrac installed a Leitner platter from Italy at the community-owned Chapman Hill in Durango, Colorado.

This year was the second best for expansion lifts since the 2008 financial crisis, signaling resorts are looking to grow operations rather than simply replacing old lifts. Part of that is of course the Deer Valley East Village megaproject, encompassing five projects this year and many more to come.

Deer Valley’s Keetley Express, left, opened today, to be followed by the Hoodoo Express in early 2025.

Doppelmayr installed slightly more lifts than competitors Leitner-Poma and Skytrac but the Austrians’ number of projects declined the most from 2023. Partek, MND and SkyTrans fabricated no aerial lifts, leaving customers with a true duopoly in 2024.

The Coney Express at Snowmass features Leitner-Poma comfort chairs and an angled mid-station.

Doppelmayr dominated the fixed grip market with 57 percent share while detachables were split exactly evenly between the two builders. Doppelmayr supplied fewer D-Line detaches this year, installing two big ones at Big Sky Resort and one each at Mammoth Mountain and Deer Valley. Signs point to more D-Lines in 2025.

The Sunrise Quad at BigRock Mountain, Maine, one of the first new lifts completed this fall.

Leitner-Poma built the only new lift of the year not at a ski resort – the Minifigure Skyflyer at Legoland New York, which opened in June. The short 10 passenger gondola features individually themed cabins and carries riders between the park entrance and the base of a hill.

The Minifigure Skyflyer at Legoland New York was the first new lift to open in 2024.

One segment that grew strongly was used lifts, which tripled from three installations in 2023 to nine in ’24. As the cost of new lifts continues to rise, more operators are looking to high quality used equipment. In some cases the original manufacturer refurbishes and reinstalls, such as at Pleasant Mountain, Maine and Hunter Mountain, New York, while other ski areas chose to install used lifts themselves or hire a contractor.

Leitner-Poma designed everything from the second largest lift by vertical transport feet per hour (Grouse Mountain gondola) to the smallest at Legoland. Doppelmayr also completed a broad range of projects from the world’s longest eight seat chairlift at Big Sky all the way down to the short Aurora quad at Deer Valley. Skytrac continued serving the middle of the market with fixed grip chairlifts ranging in size from the largest at Powder Mountain’s Raintree expansion to the smallest at Mt. Ashland, Oregon.

The Super Angel Express became Sunshine Village’s second heated bubble chair in early November.

Alterra bought the most new lifts this year – eight – followed by Boyne Resorts with six. Vail Resorts pulled back from 18 new lifts in 2022 to five in 2023 and just three in 2024, one of which was a relocation and another of which was manufactured in 2022 but not installed until ’24. The fourth largest operator of North American ski areas, Powdr, purchased just two lifts this year. Really the largest customer for lifts was independent ski areas, which collectively added dozens of lifts.

This direct drive at Copper Mountain is one of five new direct drives installed in 2024.

As we wave goodbye to 2024, we also say goodbye to 50 lifts that were retired. The average age of a lift removed from service in 2024 was 41 years old. The industry retired 11 Poma lifts, nine Riblets and seven Halls over the past year.

Announced installations for 2025 are pacing about 15 percent below the same time last year. That could be a sign of actual pullback or resorts are waiting longer to make announcements. Of course Deer Valley is an exception, where an additional eight-ish lifts are planned for 2025 with more to follow. Some ’25 installs are already under construction, including Big Sky’s Explorer Gondola and Alpental’s Chair 2. One strong area for 2025 is non-ski lifts, with projects announced in Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia that have nothing to do with sliding downhill.

Red River, New Mexico continued its fleet modernization with a Doppelmayr triple called Copper replacing an aging Riblet double.

2024 marked a milestone for me, as I finished visiting every public ski area in the United States and Canada. The 752nd and final spot was Moose Mountain, Yukon, which took thousands of miles and multiple days to reach in June. Many industry friends surprised me at the Salt Lake City airport on my way home and we celebrated in the terminal. I’ll continue documenting lifts in 2025, writing about project announcements and industry news. Thanks as always for reading Lift Blog and Happy New Year!

Chairs Collide on Comet Express at Heavenly

Peter Landsman55 Comments
Photo credt: TGIFaanes via Reddit

A lift incident occurred on the Comet Express at Heavenly this morning, injuring five people. Two quad chairs could be seen stacked together near the base of the lift with several guests on the ground below being assisted by ski patrol and one guest pinned between the chairs. “Chair slid backwards with people on it into the chair behind it,” wrote a witness on Reddit. “The people in the front chair fell off,” the person said. The lift was closed for the day and remains closed. “Heavenly Mountain Resort can confirm an incident occurred on its Comet Express chairlift today, Monday, December 23, 2024,” the resort said in a statement. “The safety of our guests is our top priority and the resort is investigating the incident.” A flight tracking website showed a medevac helicopter landed in one of Heavenly’s parking lots before continuing to a Reno hospital.

Comet Express was built by Doppelmayr and opened in 1988. It is the oldest detachable lift at Heavenly and features DS series grips.

Photo credit: xamfed via Reddit

News Roundup: Deer Valley Green

Peter Landsman13 Comments

News Roundup: Pleasant

Peter Landsman8 Comments

Tower Crossarm Falls from Helicopter in Big Sky

Peter Landsman42 Comments

Several Doppelmayr construction employees escaped injury in Big Sky today when a crossarm fell from a helicopter and crashed to the ground. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook and its crew, working to assemble towers for Madison 8, were also unharmed. “During construction of the Madison 8 chairlift, a cross arm assembly fell during installation due to a rigging failure,” said a Big Sky Resort spokesperson in a statement. “Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the flight teams were able to resume operations shortly after the incident.” The helicopter is owned and operated by PJ Helicopters of California.

It was not immediately clear whether the mishap would delay opening of Madison 8, set to become the longest eight seat chairlift in the world this winter. Doppelmayr typically manufactures crossarms for its largest D-Line chairlifts in Austria and ships them to the United States via ocean container. “The resort is working with our partners at Doppelmayr to mitigate any construction delays, and both organizations are optimistic that the impacts are minimal,” said Big Sky’s statement.



Rigging failures and helicopter incidents, though rare, have happened before during lift installations. In 2022, a helicopter pilot setting a lift at Cypress Mountain, British Columbia, jettisoned a tower in thick fog. The same year, crane rigging failed during installation of one of Snowbird’s new tram cars, destroying it. In both cases, Doppelmayr manufactured new equipment to replace what was dropped.

News Roundup: Fresh Logo

Peter Landsman16 Comments

Killington to Replace Superstar Express and Upgrade Skyeship Gondola

Peter Landsman24 Comments

The sale of Killington and Pico to local investors has closed and today the group announced their initial tranche of capital investments. Over the next 12 to 16 months, Killington plans to spend roughly $30 million to build a Superstar Express six pack, add 1,000 HKD low energy new snow guns and replace all 116 Skyeship Gondola cabins. Skyeship’s cabin storage facility will also be replaced in the near future. The current Superstar lift is the oldest detachable chairlift in New England, dating back to 1987 (tied with two other lifts at Killington/Pico and the Grand Summit Express at Mount Snow.)

The news comes just over a month since Powdr announced the sale of Killington and listing of three other resorts. “Over the next 10 years, our goal is to reinvest all the profits the mountain creates,” said Michael Ferri, one of two lead investors in Killington Independence Group, LLC, comprised of 16 total investors. “[Profits] will stay here in Vermont, they will stay here at Pico and they will stay here at Killington,” said Ferri.

A new Sigma Diamond cabin installed on the K-1 gondola, the same model Skyeship will receive.

Surprisingly after 37 straight lifts from other manufacturers, Killington selected Doppelmayr to construct the new Superstar Six. Unlike Killington’s Snowdon Six, the new lift will not feature bubbles. “There are a number of factors, but this lift is a relatively short ride which makes having bubbles on the lift less impactful, especially considering the added complexity of needing a storage barn for overnight storage of bubble chairs,” said Killington. Superstar has one of the longest winter operating schedules in the country, spinning for World Cup ski racing in November all the way until the end of the season in May or June. “The Superstar lift replacement will affect spring skiing this season and potentially the 2025 Stifel Killington Cup, noted Killington President and CEO Mike Solimano. “We do plan to make more snow in North Ridge to extend the season in the Canyon this year and are working with the lift manufacturer to finalize the construction plan for the lift before making the call on the Killington Cup,” he continued.

Skyeship Gondola, set to receive new cabins and a new maintenance facility.

Leitner-Poma will supply new cabins for Skyeship, the same Diamond model the K-1 Gondola received in 2018. “Many of our current operational challenges with [Skyeship] can be attributed to the older cabins,” noted Killington. “The challenges are exasperated by not being able to store the cabins in a heated building causing door opening and closing mechanisms to become frozen overnight.” All of these improvements are slated for the next two years with more expected to follow over the next decade.

Expanded Excellence Takes Shape at Deer Valley

Peter Landsman8 Comments

Hundreds of workers are racing to finish the initial phase of Deer Valley’s Expanded Excellence addition, scheduled to open in December. Garrett Lang, Deer Valley’s Director of Mountain Operations and Mike Walker, Senior Construction Manager, kindly gave me a personal tour of the megaproject yesterday.

Top drive terminal for the Keetley Express, set to open this winter.

This winter will be a 316 acre preview of what will be a much larger expansion totaling 2,900 acres over two years. Winter 2024-25 will launch the mountain’s first six pack – a bubble – and two quad chairs rising from the new East Village. Additional lifts are in varying states of completion, including a monster 10 passenger gondola set to open in 2025-26. Simultaneously, a Grand Hyatt hotel, 500 new day skier parking spaces, miles of snowmaking pipe, electrical infrastructure and temporary skier services are also coming together.

Those driving by on U.S. Route 40 probably won’t grasp the full scale of the expansion, which encompasses 2,850 vertical feet and 110 new trails by 2025-26. Several new lifts will be among the longest at Deer Valley. While 500 paved parking spots will open this season, 700 more are being reserved for lift construction laydown. Workers from both Doppelmayr and Highlander Ski Lift Services & Construction are piecing together the lifts, which are being manufactured in Austria, Canada and the United States.

Rocky Mountain Power built an entire new substation to service the vast snowmaking system and burgeoning village. A brand new mid-mountain maintenance facility will support lift, snowmaking and vehicle maintenance needs. Employee housing is also included in the project.

Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, the first of several hotels set to anchor the East Village.

The main attraction this season will be Keetley Express, a D-Line sixer loading steps from the Hyatt. Keetley is the name of the town once buzzing nearby but overtaken by the Jordanelle Reservoir in the 1990s. Like all Deer Valley lifts, Keetley Express will sport a thoroughly green livery with white accents. The flagship will feature gray bubbles and European-made seats. From the top of Keetley Express, skiers will gain access to Deer Valley’s existing footprint via either Mayflower or Sultan Express.

Map showing this winter’s preview lineup, center in yellow.

Directly adjacent to Keetley is Hoodoo Express, a UNI-G high speed quad (the word Hoodoo means a column or pinnacle of weathered rock; all the expansion’s trail and lift names were chosen from a pool of 500 historic mining claims in the vicinity.) Hoodoo will parallel Keetley but stop after only a handful of towers, creating an ideal beginner area above the East Village. Because of its proximity to Keetley Express, the bottom terminal will be modeled to look like a D-Line.

Galena Express lift line and completed foundations.

Finally a quad named Aurora will load in a drainage near the East Village and return skiers to the Hyatt zone. Aurora is the only fixed grip lift in the entire expansion and will feature a loading conveyor. Three carpet lifts are also planned for beginners.

Several other lifts are well on their way to reality. Near the top of Keetley Express, foundations are also complete for Galena Express, a UNI-G high speed quad set to open next winter. The East Village Gondola, made up of seperable upper and lower segments, is coming along with foundations being formed. Two major lifts have yet to start construction: the upper mountain Pinyon Express bubble and the giant Revelator Express six pack on Park Peak. These two systems will service a vast network of high elevation trails miles above the East Village. The final two lifts set to open next year are Neptune Express and Pioche Express, detachable quads primarily serving lower elevation real estate.

2025-26 footprint.

The East Village and planned terrain expansion are just part of Deer Valley’s ambitious roadmap. Later phases may include lifts on both South Peak and Hail Peak. Simultaneously, Alterra Mountain Company aims to redevelop the Snow Park base, including the replacement of Silver Lake Express with a gondola and Carpenter Express with a six seat detachable. A third new gondola is being eyed to connect Silver Lake Village to Park Peak, where the gondola from East Village lands. Both gondolas landing on Park Peak will share an underground cabin parking and maintenance facility. Deer Valley also plans to begin replacing aging existing lifts such as Northside Express and Wasatch Express in the coming years.

One of hundreds of new HKD stick guns, supplemented with TechnoAlpin fan guns.

Although no specific grand opening date has been announced, we are likely only around 90 days out from what’s sure to be a celebration and huge milestone for Deer Valley.

News Roundup: Fire Recovery

Peter Landsman2 Comments

Deer Valley to Open Three New Lifts This Season

Peter Landsman19 Comments

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.