- Indy Pass promises 200 resorts next season, Powder Mountain will no longer be one of them.
- Garaventa Chief Rigger Cédric Aellig talks about building America’s newest tram.
- Big Sky shows what Madison 8 chairs will look like.
- The Wall Street Journal tackles billionaires buying ski areas such as Taos, Powder Mountain and Windham.
- Speaking of billionaires, here’s a peak inside Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
- Bystanders make a very good catch of an unseated passenger on Blackcomb’s Crystal Ridge Express.
- A European cat driver climbs on the roof of his machine to help another unseated passenger.
- A profile of Stephen Kircher, lift visionary and President of Boyne Resorts.
- Snow Ridge owner Nick Mir explains why North Chair kept rolling after a deropement last week, says the lift won’t reopen until next season.
- Eaglecrest is approved to break ground on its pulse gondola project this summer.
- Skytrac shows off progress on its new factory, gears up to build 9+ complete lifts this summer.
- Steamboat works toward building an 8 or 10 passenger gondola from the Meadows area to the village.
- Sponsored: Skytrac is hiring parts and service technicians.
Eaglecrest
News Roundup: Cost Overruns
- Eaglecrest needs $1.86 million in additional parts for its used pulse gondola, which has already cost $3.1 million before construction.
- 2023 was “by far the most successful year” in North America for the Doppelmayr Group.
- An upcoming Garaventa tram in Europe will feature robotic cargo loading.
- Mechanics at the Portland Tram vote not to unionize.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City reach a two year contract with Vail Resorts.
- Gore Mountain issues an RFP to replace Northwoods Gondola cabins in 2024.
- Doppelmayr wins a contract for a 189 cabin urban gondola in Bogotá, Colombia and begins construction on a 122 cabin urban gondola in Santiago, Chile.
- A viral video shows a chairlift in China bouncing wildly due to a malfunction.
- Heavy rains close Sunday River for 5 days and knock the Chondola out of service.
News Roundup: Baldy
- Blue Mountain and Camelback, Pennsylvania join the Ikon Pass.
- Willamette Pass converts its backside chairlift from diesel to electric.
- California’s newest gondola opens October 29th.
- Big Sky’s new trail map shows the new tram route.
- New Hampshire lost ski area Mt. Whittier goes up for sale.
- Vail Resorts resurrects plans for a new six pack at Perisher.
- Silverton Mountain is sold to new owners from Aspen.
- Revelstoke adds more chairs to The Ripper.
- Eaglecrest hopes to open its used pulse gondola in fall 2025.
- Doppelmayr wins a contract to build a six station, 94 cabin urban gondola in Uruapan, Mexico.
- Mt. Ashland plans to build a new chairlift in long lost terrain with $2.5 million from Lithia Motors.
News Roundup: Big Numbers
- Vail Resorts declines to voluntarily recognize the Crested Butte lift maintenance/electrical union, triggering a National Labor Relations Board election process.
- Eaglecrest offers an updated pulse gondola construction timeline with opening targeted for summer 2025.
- Magic Mountain plans to finish the Black Line Quad this summer after four years of trying.
- Utah skier visits rose a whopping 22 percent this season to 7.1 million.
- Quebec reports its strongest season in 16 years with 6.6 million skier visits.
- A single round trip ride on Europe’s newest 3S gondola will cost a whopping $265.
- Big Sky posts more photos of its new tram cabins taking shape in Switzerland.
- Smugglers’ Notch adds a section to its website about the proposed Stowe connector gondola.
- Holiday Mountain, New York sells to a new owner with plans to revive lost ski terrain.
- Park City begins loading new Sigma cabins on the Red Pine Gondola.
News Roundup: Interconnect
- Eaglecrest secures a $10 million investment to install a used pulse gondola.
- Ex-Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acquires a minority stake in Powder Mountain, looks to fund lift improvements.
- Whistler Blackcomb will auction quad chairs from Big Red and Fitzsimmons.
- The Forest Service lists a new proposal by Alterra to connect Big Bear and Snow Summit with two new lifts.
- Vail Resorts reports successful season results with skier visits up 6.1 percent with ski school, dining and retail/rental revenue all up as well.
- Doppelmayr’s 2023 yearbook is out. Poma’s too.
News Roundup: Viral Videos
- Sunshine Village seeks to replace Angel Express by 2024, manufacturer TBD.
- Bromont’s outgoing Versant des Épinettes quad will get a second life at Mont Rigaud.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne reopens without its gondola. The FIS postpones a February World Cup event there.
- Whitefish won’t operate Bad Rock this winter.
- A child falls from a lift at Whitetail.
- A Park City guest is charged with assault for a mid-ride fight on the Saddleback Express.
- A snowboarder falling down a T-Bar line sends four other riders to the hospital in Europe.
- Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania will open the Main Street Express tomorrow.
- Utah Olympic Park and Doppelmayr near the finish line on the West Peak expansion.
- Ditto for Leitner-Poma and Vail on the Sun Down Express.
- Chairs go on Sunnyside at Alta.
- Boyne Resorts looks looks to hire an internal Lift Construction Director.
- The proposed Los Angeles gondola scores a courtroom victory.
- The operator of the Goldbelt Tram agrees to fund $10 million of the Eaglecrest Gondola.
- Granite Peak celebrates expansion approval.
- Mountain Capital Partners acquires a majority stake in Valle Nevado, Chile.
- Silverton Mountain seeks approval for two more chairlifts (pages 63-67).
- Vail Resorts announces a big new lift for Perisher, Australia.
News Roundup: Back in Action
- Mt. Shasta unveils a new map showing the expansion onto Gray Butte.
- HTI Group celebrates 80 new ropeways installed this winter across its Leitner, Poma, Bartholet and Skytrac brands.
- Completion of the Lenawee Express at Arapahoe Basin is now expected in mid-December.
- Indy Pass adds Peek’n Peak, New York and Tussey Mountain, Pennsylvania.
- Doppelmayr shares energy saving operational tips with customers in Europe.
- Waterville Valley and MND postpone the load test of Tecumseh Express by a week due to delayed electrical components.
- Loon Mountain expects to open the delayed Seven Brothers some time in December.
- Sunday River plans a December 17th grand opening for Jordan 8.
- The operator of the Goldbelt Tram may invest $10 million in Eaglecrest’s pulse gondola project.
- Sterling Vineyards previews the first Omega V cabins coming to California.
- Kimberley spins the Northstar Express for the first time in nearly a year, hopes to open by the third week in December.
- The Village of Taos Ski Valley declines to sell a parcel needed for a base to base gondola, wants an easement instead.
News Roundup: Game Creek
- Indy Pass adds Calabogie Peaks and Loch Lomond, Ontario; Arctic Valley, Alaska and Mt. Crescent, Iowa plus more allied resorts.
- In Tennessee, Skyland Ranch will open November 11th with a brand new combination chairlift/gondola.
- Windham Mountain acquires 450 acres, hires SE Group to craft a master plan for Eastward expansion.
- Rusty Gregory, Stephen Kircher and Mike Kaplan talk recession, climate change and resilience at a virtual event.
- Montana Snowbowl’s new Skytrac will be called Transporter.
- Snowriver introduces a website and logo.
- Breckenridge will sell 85 double chairs from Rip’s Ride for charity.
- All systems are go for Kimberley’s Northstar Express to reopen this season.
- Cannon Mountain warns a big increase in energy costs will lead to higher prices this winter.
- Ober Gatlinburg becomes Ober Mountain with a new owner, new President and capital investments to come.
- Blue Mountain’s trail map shows the location of the the new Main Street Express.
- The Highlands closes Heather Express for the season early due to mechanical problems.
- Doppelmayr plans to build Mexico City’s new six-station gondola line in just 15 months.
- Season four of the Ski Utah podcast debuts with an episode all about the Snowbird Tram’s modernization.
- Eaglecrest chooses an alignment for its used gondola.
- Thanks to reader Mark for these great photos of projects nearing completion on Vail Mountain.
News Roundup: Changing Hands
- Vancouver’s transit authority begins the station design process for the Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
- Three Park City residents who own Pacific Group Resorts expect to close on Jay Peak next month.
- Burke Mountain may also soon be sold.
- Arapahoe Basin creates a podcast episode all about Lenawee Express construction.
- A Basin also explains why a big drop in skier visits is a good thing.
- Energy prices where many of the world’s lifts are operated and manufactured could spike eight fold this winter.
- Eaglecrest’s new gondola arrives in Alaska.
- Sugar Bowl joins the Mountain Collective.
- Hunter Mountain will sell chairs from the Z Lift next week.
- A thousand page report outlines negligence and poor management leading to deaths of 14 people on an Italian tramway last year.
- Dry Hill, New York gets new owners.
- The top station building for a 125 passenger aerial tramway partially burns in Switzerland.
- The Forest Service seeks public comments on Copper Mountain’s proposed Timberline six pack.
- The General Manager of Whitecap Mountains, Wisconsin assumes full ownership.
- A new neighborhood adjacent to Mayflower Mountain Resort will feature its own chairlift.
- Mt. Bachelor’s new Skyliner six pack will be D-Line.
- Loveland and Lookout Pass fly lift towers into place.
- British Columbia determines a volunteer ski patroller injured in a chairlift de-ropement is eligible for worker’s compensation.
- Leitner wins a four station urban gondola contract in Colombia.
- Here are some official and unofficial updates on the Palisades Tahoe Base-to-Base Gondola.
- Also an update on Thunder from Jackson Hole:
News Roundup: Alterra, Boyne, Powdr and Vail
- Sunday River explains why Jordan 8 came before Barker replacement.
- Brighton proposes swapping Crest Express for a six place D-Line.
- Snowbird looks to replace Wilbere.
- This document details Snowbird’s temporary one car tram operation.
- A hearing to consider the sale of Jay Peak is scheduled for August 26th.
- Eaglecrest and Mt. Spokane join the Freedom Pass alliance.
- Flash flood cleanup closes the Palm Springs Tram for the week.
- A power outage leaves guests waiting hours at the top of the Sandia Peak Tram.
- Eleven ski areas in the White River National Forest paid a record $24 million in profit sharing to the Forest Service last year.
- Steamboat and Doppelmayr fly towers for the Wild Blue Gondola.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers display a Sigma 3S gondola cabin which could provide future stadium transport.
- Mt. Shasta releases a preliminary map of the Grey Butte expansion.
- Bartholet begins construction of the first Ropetaxi with cabins that will move individually based on passenger demand and destination.
- The restoration plan approved for Keystone’s Bergman Bowl requires annual monitoring through 2033.
- Boston Mills/Brandywine will auction double and quad chairs next week.
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