- Telluride opens the 6,000 foot long, 2,000′ vertical Plunge Express.
- Palisades Tahoe seeks approval for a second Base to Base Gondola cabin parking facility in Olympic Valley.
- Greek Peak rope evacuates Chair 2.
- Silverton Mountain plans to install a second used chairlift as soon as this summer.
- Whitefish reopens the Snow Ghost Express after additional mechanic training.
- New Hampshire’s Governor suggests Cannon Mountain consider a gondola rather than an expensive new tram.
- Arapahoe Basin explains why it switched from Epic to Ikon.
- A new Doppelmayr fixed grip quad will debut at Tremblant next year as part of a real estate development.
- Bretton Woods closes the Zephyr Express until further notice due to a mechanical problem.
- Aspen Skiing Company launches a Snowmass master plan website.
- Clearwater, British Columbia won’t open this season due to lack of snow.
- This profile offers a behind the scenes look at lift operations at Sunshine Village.
- I snapped a few photos of Mayflower construction progress today.
Greek Peak
News Roundup: Allegations
- With energy at a premium in Europe, Leitner showcases technology which regulates the speed of a ropeway based on rider demand.
- The nonprofit which has been running Big Squaw says the sale to Big Moose Development still hasn’t been completed and this season will continue as normal.
- Sugarbush confirms a Heaven’s Gate replacement is in the works but it won’t happen in 2023 as lift prices surge and lead times increase.
- Ropeway pioneer Willy Garaventa dies at the age of 88.
- Los Angeles releases the Environmental Impact Statement for the Dodger Stadium gondola project.
- Names for the five new Skytracs at Jack Frost Big Boulder are: Blue Heron, Harmony, Paradise, Pocono and Tobyhanna.
- Groupe Le Massif remains interested in acquiring Mont-Sainte-Anne from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies and would also be open to acquiring Stoneham as part of a deal.
- After multiple years of construction, Ontario’s Mt. Baldy finally has a new chairlift.
- Mount Snow will sell more double, triple and quad chairs for charity.
- New York’s Attorney General sues the owners of Labrador Mountain and Song Mountain, alleging their purchase and closure of nearby Toggenburg was anti-competitive. Former Toggenburg/current Greek Peak owner John Meier agreed to pay the State $195,000 and will cooperate in the case against Labrador and Song’s parent company.
- The Governor of Utah throws his support behind the Little Cottonwood gondola project.
- A new document shows where Mammoth’s relocated Panorama Gondola and new Big Bend chairlift would run as part of the Evolving Main project.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania again seeks an operator to revive the Denton Hill Ski Area.
News Roundup: Gunstock & More
- Indy Pass signs its largest partner yet by skier visits: Mt. Hood Meadows.
- Former Indy Pass resort Marmot Basin joins the Mountain Collective.
- Some 300 people show up to what was intended to be an executive session of the Gunstock Area Commission to discuss legal, financial and employment matters. Two commissioners end up walking out. Another meeting is scheduled for today.
- Resigned Gunstock Area Commissioner and former Stowe CEO Gary Kiedaisch attempts to un-resign.
- A New Hampshire State Representative alleges former Gunstock General Manager Tom Day improperly donated $500 in public money to Governor Sununu’s 2020 re-election campaign.
- Organizers of a music festival set to take place at Gunstock next weekend threaten legal action if the Panorama high speed quad doesn’t run as contracted.
- Deer Valley and Mayflower work toward an operating agreement.
- Eaglecrest General Manager Dave Scanlan goes on the radio to talk about the gondola project.
- Skytrac is still hiring folks to build ski lifts, particularly at Jack Frost and Big Boulder in Pennsylvania.
- Smugglers’ Notch gives a rundown of all the work that goes into servicing a bullwheel.
- Sierra at Tahoe completes haul rope replacements on two more lifts.
- A bolt tightening contractor is hit by a tram carriage and seriously injured at Jackson Hole.
- Skytrac begins building on Eagle Peak at Lookout Pass.
- Greek Peak starts construction of a new Chair 3.
- Utah Olympic Park’s big expansion won’t be open to public skiing with limited exceptions.
- The first D-Line in California is approved, will feature unique angle stations.
- Closed Connecticut ski area Woodbury goes back up for sale.
- The company seeking to build a gondola in Edmonton, Alberta would pay $1.1 million a year to lease city right of way.
- A woman found dead under Anakeesta’s chondola last night is believed to have fallen from the lift, which remains closed today.
- Two men are killed while working to build a Doppelmayr gondola in France.
- Below is the July 8th Notice of Noncompliance the Forest Service sent Keystone regarding unauthorized road construction in Bergman Bowl. Since the letter is three weeks old, Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams sent an update on where things stand.
News Roundup: Quiet Week
- Juneau buys the Austrian gondola for $1.33 million.
- The Colorado Sun reports on independent mountains thriving in the mega pass era.
- The Burnaby Mountain Gondola remains a top priority in Vancouver.
- ORDA issues RFPs for a detachable quad at Whiteface and a fixed quad at Gore.
- West Mountain to host an expansion open house.
- Greek Peak will replace Chair 3 with a used triple from Windham Mountain.
- The refurbished Kanc quad is ready to return to Loon Mountain.
- SAM and Leitner-Poma are sponsoring another Rise Up Challenge for lift mechanics.
- Whitefish’s first six place lift will arrive following a fifth consecutive skier visit record.
- The long-closed Bears Den Mountain in North Dakota may reopen next season.
- A proposed gondola in Canmore, Alberta enters the public engagement phase.
News Roundup: Millions
- Crystal Mountain reopens after being closed nearly a week. Mudslides along its access road cost the resort more than $1 million in business.
- Dave McCoy, the visionary founder of Mammoth Mountain, dies at 104.
- Great job Elk Mountain staff for this rescue of a dangling young skier.
- You can also watch a heroic Mt. Hood Meadows employee remove seven inches of ice from Vista Express towers this week.
- The Sea to Sky Gondola finally reopens, six months after a crime which cost nearly $4 million dollars in damage and lost revenue.
- Chair 5 at Greek Peak breaks down and gets rope evacuated.
- Highland Mountain Bike Park will add 40 chairs to its chairlift, increasing uphill capacity by 50 percent.
- Vail Mountain COO Beth Howard explains the circumstances behind last weekend’s epic lift lines.
- The Balsams may be closed but Les Otten opens the doors for himself and four others to cast first in the nation presidential votes.
- Swiss manufacturer Bartholet launches a fresh website.
- The Little Mountain that Could is a short film by L.L.Bean exploring the rebirth of Whaleback as a nonprofit.
- Locals frustrated with Whistler Blackcomb operations and staffing petition Vail Resorts to do better.
- One of those involved in the Stoos chair accident succumbs to his injuries. Two others have been released from the hospital.
- Stevens Pass reopens Seventh Heaven 11 days after this incident.
- A man dies in a terrible accident involving the Skyline Express at Vail. A preliminary investigation suggests he slipped through a chair’s seat, was caught by his jacket and asphyxiated.
- Former Vail Resorts mountain division head Chris Jarnot becomes a consultant for the upcoming Mayflower Mountain Resort in Park City.
- Sunday River President Dana Bullen talks about the Merrill Hill expansion, future lift projects and which lifts are staying put.
- Al Henceroth confirms the Pallavicini double will be replaced by a Leitner-Poma double this summer.
- Utah Business magazine makes the case for One Wasatch.
News Roundup: Switching Sides
- Gould Academy sells the naming rights to its T-Bar at Sunday River to Alera Group, an employee benefits firm.
- Ski Bluewood’s former platter lift can be yours for $19,000.
- To celebrate new carpool and transit initiatives, Crystal Mountain debuts a green gondola cabin.
- Does the public have the right to know what individual ski resorts pay the federal government for use of public lands? Vail Resorts and the National Ski Areas Association argue no.
- The New York Times visits Woodward Park City in its first week of operation.
- Sun Valley and Snowbasin prepare for their first peak period after switching from Mountain Collective to Epic.
- The Saddleback deal won’t close on Monday as scheduled but hopefully sometime in January.
- A religious group wants to relaunch the long-abandoned Moab Scenic Tram.
- The Meier family assumes full ownership of Greek Peak and Toggenburg Mountain in New York.
- Colorado Ski Country USA launches a chairlift safety video series.
- The latest Wir Magazine highlights Bromont’s big combination lift, the history of Doppelmayr in Canada and new scale models from Jägerndorfer.
News Roundup: Must Read
- A planning document shows Big White has applied to build two lifts east of Black Forest Express called Backcountry and Backcountry Connector.
- Snow King Mountain’s expansion officially enters the National Environmental Policy Act pipeline. Proposed lifts are a 1,500 pph gondola with cabin storage, a 3,015′ backside fixed-grip quad, one 679′ T-Bar or platter and two new carpets.
- The iconic Volkswagen funitel marks 15 years of operation, having delivered over three million vehicles from factory to test track.
- A proposed urban gondola in Loveland, Colorado would be built by Leitner-Poma with up to five stations.
- Arapahoe Basin drops its new trail map showing the big Beavers expansion.
- An avalanche takes out the last tower of a Doppelmayr six-pack in New Zealand.
- Skytrac is hiring for project foreman and general construction positions.
- Denver Post alum Jason Blevins, now writing for the Colorado Sun, traces the remarkable ski industry journey of the Mueller family from Vermont to Colorado. Insights from his must read piece: Tim and Diane Mueller took out a second mortgage on their home to buy Okemo, invested in Catamount before it failed, nearly bought Steamboat and once bid to operate Winter Park.
- Windham’s retired F lift heads to Greek Peak to upgrade lifts 3 and 5.
- The New Mexico State Fair will sport a new skyride-style chairlift beginning next month.
- Alterra Mountain Company hires an Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer from Wall Street and looks to name a Vice President of Planning and Resort Development.
- Enjoy the most detailed glimpse yet of the world’s longest lift.
- The name game continues: Wolf Creek’s newest high speed quad is now Charity.
- One of the world’s oldest high speed quads is going away in favor of a six pack.
- I’m in New Mexico this weekend checking out as many lifts as I can. First stop: Taos, where this yet-to-be-named Leitner-Poma detachable quad is the fourth new lift in five years!
Lift Blog 
