- Berkshire East and Catamount to join Burke Mountain and Smugglers’ Notch under unified ownership.
- Quebec’s CMSQ takes over management of a fifth mountain, Belle Neige, and sets sights on a sixth.
- A private ski area with five chairlifts is approved in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
- Doppelmayr’s CEO highlights the importance of the United States market.
- In the wake of a fatal crash, Swiss media report Garaventa offered a voluntary retrofit for DT-108 grips on the Titlis Xpress several years ago.
- One person is killed and six injured when an aerial tram cable snaps in India.
- A law firm files an antitrust lawsuit against Alterra and Vail, claiming both “unlawfully inflated prices and suppressed competition through anticompetitive bundling practices tied to their multi‑mountain season passes.”
- Park City’s Cabriolet replacement to be called the Canyons Village Skyway.
- Park City officials get another chance to approve Eagle and Silverlode replacements.
- MND provides an update on its 10 lift project in Uzbekistan, including the first Orizon detachable.
- A Denver TV station looks back at the 1976 Vail gondola disaster with a multi-part series.
- Here’s a cool primer on how a splice comes together.
- Jackson Hole to debut a golden gondola in honor of Olympian Breezy Johnson.
- A tree falls on the Silver Mountain gondola.
- Alaska public radio explores how a gondola project supposed to cost under $10 million more than tripled in price.
- Big Sky will shorten Powder Seeker 6 this summer, slightly lowering the top terminal due to moving glacial rock.
- The Zincton proposal in BC faces local opposition.
- Nub’s Nob to replace the Orange triple with a Skytrac quad this summer.
- Skytrac will also build Lee Canyon’s expansion lift.
- Sponsored job: Electrical Lift Installer – Okanagan Project – Doppelmayr Canada
Eaglecrest
News Roundup: Spring Debuts
- Whaleback’s chairlift is back in action after being closed all season.
- Angel Fire performs a mid-season splice on the Southwest Flyer, now back open.
- A child is okay after falling from a chairlift at Blue Knob, Pennsylvania.
- Another child falls from a chair and is airlifted from Sierra-at-Tahoe.
- Telluride sues several current and former elected officials seeking millions of damages incurred during the December patrol strike.
- The latest Eaglecrest gondola complication: cabins shipped on their side rather than upright.
- The Mighty Argo Cable Car in Colorado will soft open next month.
- OZ Trails Bike Park to open with Arkansas’ first detachable chairlift in June.
- BC’s Okanagan Gondola set to open in April 2027.
- Vail Resorts reports an 11.9 percent decline in North American skier visits and lowers financial guidance.
- Park City Billionaire Matthew Prince still wants to buy Park City Mountain from Vail.
- Alterra CEO Jared Smith steps down.
- Vermont considers regulating both lift operator breaks and staffing levels.
- Leitner to build the world’s first jig-back tramway with a direct drive in Italy.
- Both the Green Mountain Express and North Ridge Express go down at Sugarbush’s Mt. Ellen, leaving hiking as the only access to the summit.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire won’t become a co-op after all, will continue to be managed by Entabeni Systems.
- Mt. Sima, Yukon to reactivate its T-Bar after many years.
- A massive nearby rockslide closes Whistler’s Peak Chair indefinitely.
- Magic Mountain, Idaho won’t open this season.
News Roundup: Indy to Ikon
- Mountain Capital Partners may enter the Midwest with a deal to operate Spirit Mountain, Minnesota. Under the proposal, MCP would lease the mountain for a minimum of 20 years beginning in October.
- Vail raises Epic Pass prices approximately 3.5 percent, offers a discount to young adults 30 and under.
- Alterra raises Ikon prices roughly 5 percent, adds Tamarack, Idaho and Devil’s Head, Wisconsin to its bonus mountain tier while removing SilverStar, BC.
- Granite Peak, Wisconsin; Lutsen Mountains, Minnesota and Snowriver, Michigan switch from Indy Pass to Ikon Pass.
- Snowmass returns and Arapahoe Basin will go unlimited on the Ikon Base Pass.
- The Wall Street Journal visits Telluride owner Chuck Horning, who says he’s “never selling.”
- The BBC profiles lift operations at Whistler Blackcomb.
- The LA Times visits independent Mt. Baldy, surrounded by Alterra in Southern California.
- SAM digs into how a small Wisconsin ski area went from closed to buying two brand new Skytrac lifts.
- Snowbird will replace Chickadee this spring.
- Pomerelle, Idaho’s General Manager buys the mountain with his wife.
- Shanty Creek, Michigan also sells to new owners.
- The cost of used gondola installation at Eaglecrest balloons from under $9 million to as much as $37 million. A report finds the gondola would make the ski area profitble on an operating basis and canceling the project would cost taxpayers $10.9 million.
- In Iowa, a government-owned ski area fundraises for a brand new chairlift.
- Revelstoke’s Stoke chair to be out of service at least three days for gearbox repair.
- Stagecoach Mountain Ranch inches toward approval near Steamboat.
- The top operator house on Chair 1 at Titus Mountain, New York burns down, rendering the lift inoperable.
News Roundup: Settlement
- The Hermitage Club to build a detachable quad to mid mountain this summer.
- Snowmass likely to replace the Sky Cab pulse gondola with a detachable system in 2027.
- Under a proposed settlement, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies would pay some 300 riders who were on the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola during two abrupt stopping incidents in 2020 a total of CA$5.1 million.
- Blackcomb closes Catskinner for a few days for haul rope inspection/repair.
- Glen Eden’s Limestone quad goes out of service for repairs.
- Also Luckey’s at Table Mountain.
- And Lift 2 at Loveland.
- Ragged Mountain works to return Barnyard to service.
- Tremblant runs the rarely open Casino Express as a substitute for the Soleil Express for a few days.
- Two workers are killed on a Bartholet construction site in Oman when a work carrier falls.
- A snowboarder dies in Japan after being dragged by a backpack while trying to disembark a lift.
- A Graffer gondola for the Cortina Olympics may not be finished in time.
- An unseated passenger is okay after falling from height at Mammoth.
- Nonprofit Badger Mountain, Washington fundraises to maintain utilities and insurance.
- Another transit gondola route is floated in Park City.
- After two incidents and two lawsuits, Sun Peaks stops allowing a concessionaire to load “Snow Limos” on chairlifts.
- Closed Sleeping Giant, Wyoming in talks to sell to an unnamed operator with properties in Colorado and New Mexico.
- Gore Mountain conducts a high-profile evacuation of its gondola following a deropement.
- Cornerstone General Contractors is the low bidder to be construction manager/general contractor on the Eaglecrest used gondola install.
- An update on the sale of Eldora to a nearby town.
- Several Oregon ski areas suspend operations due to minimal snowpack.
News Roundup: Boxing Day
- Another real estate access lift called Powdercrest is on the horizon at Big Sky.
- The Whitetail Express at Whitetail, PA goes down until further notice after just one day of operation this season.
- Wildcat’s Snowcat lift, which missed all of last season, won’t reopen for a bit longer.
- A viral video from Austria shows gondola cabins surging up and down, blamed on speed and changed drive parameters.
- A grip slip incident claims a life in Montenegro.
- A skier is hospitalized after falling from a lift at Sunshine Village.
- Powderhorn performs a rope evacuation of the Flat Top Flyer.
- Following Washington floods, Crystal Mountain reopens at full capacity and Stevens Pass will open Monday with a four hour detour from Seattle.
- Workers at Le Massif, Quebec reject a contract proposal and authorize a strike beginning January 2nd.
- Eaglecrest’s used gondola project will cost at least five times initial estimates.
- A worker is seriously injured in Italy when wind lifts a safety net into the path of a chair.
- The sale of Eldora is taking longer than expected.
News Roundup: Plan Maps
- Cuchara, Colorado plans to open a chairlift this season for the first time in 25 years.
- The New York Times check in on Killington’s efforts to modernize and compete with western resorts.
- Club Med to build on the Soleil side of Tremblant alongside “significant upgrades to the mountain.”
- Greater Paris joins the urban gondola club tomorrow.
- After millions of dollars and years of delays trying to install a gondola, Eaglecrest faces a $650,000 tariff bill and $450,000 cabin refurbishment bill amid questions whether the project should continue at all.
- Big White, BC amends its master plan to focus on the Backcountry expansion, Gem Lake 2 and infill lifts, shelving plans for East Peak and Gem Lake West.
- Telluride’s ski patrol votes down a contract proposal; could strike in the coming weeks. Telski owner Chuck Horning contends meeting the union’s demands would yield higher lift prices.
- Alberta designates Fortress, Castle and Nakiska its first designated all season resort areas targeted for development.
- Wachusett apologizes for another delay completing the new Polar Express.
- Ecosign’s Paul Mathews reflects on designing dozens of mountains and differences between the US and Canada.
- Big Sky is auctioning seats on Explorer Gondola’s first cabins for charity.
- Powder Mountain’s new trail map shows where the private Primetime detachable quad runs.
- Cache County approves Powder’s master plan for the northern half of the resort including two new lifts on James Peak and three near Cobabe Canyon.
News Roundup: Power Problems
- Crescent Hill, Iowa to install a new (used) drive terminal on its double chair.
- Approval of a new gondola in Hawaii may be rescinded.
- The private ski resort planned near Steamboat faces a mix of public backlash and support.
- Deer Valley President & COO Todd Bennett says several more lifts are planned for Deer Valley East, timeline TBA.
- Megève, France joins the Ikon Pass.
- Doppelmayr wins the tender to build a nine station urban gondola in Puebla, Mexico.
- Val Bialas, New York to reopen after several years closed.
- Lifts and ski trails return to Google Maps after a one year hiatus.
- A power outage leads to a rope evacuation at Sunburst, Wisconsin.
- Electric infrastructure problems will delay the start of Mont-Sainte-Anne’s season for at least another week.
- Skeetawk, Alaska seeks public funding for a second lift, possibly a gondola.
- Eaglecrest extends the bid deadline for a gondola general contractor, wants to open in 2028 but doesn’t have enough money to finish.
- Lost Ontario ski area Talisman to be preserved as conservation land.
- Aspen Mountain’s Nell Bell approval moves along.
- The New York Times spends a day with Snowbird’s mountain operations team.
- Holiday Mountain, New York sends a Poma bullwheel and gearbox to help Whaleback, New Hampshire revive its chairlift.
- Welch Village, Minnesota’s new quad is named Joy Ride.
- Spirit Mountain’s new trail map shows where the Highline Quad runs.
- Toronto Zoo’s SkyPod to open in 2027.
- Leitner-Poma and Skytrac celebrate completing 20 lifts on time or early.
- Pico to auction 1965 Bonanza chairs for charity.
- Bear Mountain, California purchases new Skytrac chairs for Lift 7.
News Roundup: Bonus Mountains
- Snow Partners and Mountain Collective form an alliance, offering discounts on each other’s multi-mountain products for passholders.
- Snow Triple Play adds Kissing Bridge, NY to its partner lineup.
- Ikon Pass signs three more mountains to the two day bonus tier: Grouse Mountain & SilverStar in BC and Ski Butternut in Massachusetts (full Ikon only, subject to blackout dates.)
- The Black Mountain Community Corporation completes land acqusition and seeks initial accredited investors.
- Investors in Burke Mountain’s EB-5 projects will get only 36 percent of their principal back as part of the mountain’s sale.
- Cannon Mountain partners with SCJ Alliance to perform structural analysis on the soon-to-close aerial tramway and determine what components could be re-used on a new tram.
- A jury finds the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and a drop ride manufacturer liable for $205 million after a child’s death; the gondola-accessed park says “the size of the total jury verdict award puts the existence of Glenwood Caverns at serious risk.”
- Camelback removes two chairlifts from its trail map: Marc Antony and Cleopatra.
- Amid removal rumors, I asked Hunter Mountain about D-Lift and the Highlands Poma. GM Trent Poole shared the following:
“We’re in the process of removing the D-Lift. Thanks to last year’s Epic Lift Upgrade – the new Broadway Express – our updated lift infrastructure provides faster, more efficient access than what D-Lift provided, and similar terrain can be accessed at Hunter North via the Northern Express. At this point, the lift is both redundant and outdated, and the time and resources needed to revive this lift are better focused where guests will see a positive impact to their experience on mountain, like our snowmaking upgrades.
The Highlands Poma is something our team has discussed as part of long-term planning. We’re always exploring ways to enhance the guest experience, and that lift remains part of the broader conversation. For now, our focus is on showcasing the significant upgrades we’ve already delivered—Broadway Express, Otis, and automated snowmaking additions—along with maximizing the terrain available on Hunter North, West, and East. It’s also worth noting that Hunter is the only ski resort in New York to feature three high-speed six-passenger lifts: Northern Express, Katskill Flyer, and Broadway Express. For now, we’re confident in the strength and efficiency of our current lift system.”
- A lift and parking expansion pops up the Forest Service system for Lost Trail, Montana.
- White Pass to sell and auction Riblet double chairs.
- A mechanic is killed after becoming entangled in terminal machinery in Switzerland.
- Grand Junction’s newspaper catches up with a busy Leitner-Poma.
- The first urban gondola in the Paris region to open December 13th.
- More than 5.4 million people rode Mexico City’s Cablebús Line 3 in the first year of operation.
- Vermont’s Brattleboro Ski Hill seeks donations to continue offering $5 lift tickets to the community and upgrade controls on its 1964 T-Bar.
- Eaglecrest begins gondola road construction and issues an RFP for a general contractor:
News Roundup: On & Off
- The first towers and top terminal are set for the new gondola in Idaho Springs, Colorado, which will feature 22 cabins and North America’s first five Bike Cabs.
- Winter Park’s proposed town gondola secures local approval.
- Also at Winter Park, a draft Forest Service decision green lights removal of Looking Glass, replacement of Gemini, Discovery and Endeavour as well as construction of the Copper Creek six pack (subject to an objection period.)
- Holiday Mountain plans to re-use 1969 towers on a new chairlift.
- Sommet Saint-Sauveur commissions the first Mantis AI software in North America tied directly into a lift control system.
- An update on Deer Valley’s six lifts going in this summer.
- Park City flies towers for the Sunrise Gondola.
- Utah posts its third highest skier visits in history.
- Teton County, Wyoming to oppose Grand Targhee expansion; Teton County, Idaho not sure yet.
- The Forest Service approves Sipapu to replace Lift 3 with completion slated for Fall 2025.
- The Forest Service hosts a public meeting on the proposed Green Peak gondola.
- Jay Peak President and General Manager Steve Wright tells US Senators the Bonaventure replacement is sidelined by Canadians’ redicence to visit and tariff-related cost increases.
- Eaglecrest permanently closes the Black Bear double, will focus on upgrading Ptarmigan to a triple and installing a used gondola.
- Garaventa and CWA debut tram cabins in Switzerland made to look like wood with flower pots on the ends.
News Roundup: Austrian Giants
- Austria’s Saalbach, Zell am See-Kaprun, Mayrhofen, Hintertux and Silvretta Montafon join the Epic Pass as partner resorts, bringing Epic to nine European destinations.
- Poma releases its 2024 Reference Book highlighting projects around the world.
- Eaglecrest may not meet a 2028 deadline to complete its used pulse gondola.
- America’s only summer only ski area will open this year for the first time in three.
- Whaleback meets a $250,000 fundraising goal for lift repairs.
- Opposition organizes against proposed Grand Targhee expansion.
- Bluewood, Washington to sell chairs if its new lift project is on track by September 1st.
- Hawaii’s first gondola is proposed on the North Shore of Oahu.
- A gondola is floated for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
- Also Anaheim, California.
- Marmot Basin’s visitation drops 30 percent due to last year’s fire in Jasper.
- Silver Mountain delays summer opening due to gondola repairs.
- Timberline Helicopters, the company that installs the majority of lift towers in the West, breaks ground on a $13 million expansion in North Idaho.
- The nonprofit organization that’s been trying to revive Cuchara, Colorado inks a 40 year operating lease for the mountain.
- Vail Mountain intends to begin work on the lift projects I wrote about last week next summer, subject to Forest Service approval.
- President Trump proposes a 50 percent tariff on imports from the European Union starting June 1st.
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