- Construction will begin early next year on a new point of interest chairlift in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
- Amazon files a patent for a skier-pulling drone.
- Mission Ridge provides another fantastic construction update.
- 2020-21 is the final season the largest ski resort in California will be known by the name Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.
- The Forest Service seeks public comments on eight lift projects and more included in the Grand Targhee master plan.
- Big Snow American Dream reopens Tuesday after nearly six months closed. The snow never melted!
- Utah Olympic Park expects to add a fourth chairlift and new terrain next summer.
- After years focusing on snowmaking, Telluride’s owner considers lift upgrades.
- Ski Santa Fe fires up snow guns to help protect lifts from wildfire.
- Glenwood Caverns reopens today following a 16 day fire closure.
- Riders get stuck on the Sandia Peak Tramway for hours.
- Vermont may provide direct payments to ski resorts.
- Harry’s Dream at Beaver Mountain gets a new Skytrac return terminal.
- Vail Resorts won’t sell day tickets early season and will require passholders to make reservations at all 34 of its North American mountains for 2020-21.
- The Denver Post catches up with Colorado mountain leaders to talk winter plans.
- The Lower T-Bar at Pass Powderkeg, AB is being extended.
- Doppelmayr begins testing its D-Line gondola to the beach in Mexico.
- The City of Los Angeles releases four gondola alignment alternatives it’s studying for Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign.
Hollywood Skyway
News Roundup: Next Generation
- The above $52 million masterpiece and highest-ever 3S opens for business in the shadow of the Matterhorn.
- The Leitner-Poma Group’s sixth tricable gondola is set to carry commuters between three stations in Toulouse, France from 2020 and will cost $94.5 million to build.
- Alterra closes on its purchase of Crystal Mountain.
- A lift operator and his employer, Killingon/Pico, are sued following a loading mishap.
- An eighth urban gondola line opens in La Paz and carries 72,740 riders on its first day.
- CWA teases Omega V, the next evolution of the world’s best selling gondola cabin. While we wait to see what it looks like, check out hundreds of CWA designs from the past 75 years.
- The Palm Springs Tram gets a new 13,500′ x 45 mm upper haul rope from Fatzer. Thanks Kirk D. for the photos.
- Horseshoe Resort’s retired 1989 Doppelmayr detachable quad hits the used market.
- Whistler Blackcomb’s 2018-19 trail map shows what $52 million worth of new lifts looks like.
- Read up on Sun Peaks’ new Orient quad here.
- Lone Mountain Land Company eyes two more lifts on the Spanish Peaks side of Big Sky Resort and nine in Moonlight Basin.
- Revelstoke’s newspaper looks into rumors of a gondola project on Mt. Begbie.
- The City of Los Angeles will study two Hollywood gondola ideas.
- Another Disney Skyliner station is nearly finished with tons of windows.
- Windham names its new lift Westside Six. I stopped by last week to check out the progress.
Warner Bros. Unveils Hollywood Skyway Concept
The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that Warner Bros. Entertainment is seeking to build a $100 million aerial tramway in California’s largest metropolis. The one mile, $100 million project would improve public access to the famed Hollywood sign atop Mt. Lee and include a new visitor center, viewing platform and walking paths. The company already operates a popular studio tour on the site of the proposed lower terminal.
The Hollywood Skyway would be entirely funded by Warner Bros. but occupy some public land in Griffith Park, home to the iconic sign since 1923. Therefore, operating revenue would be shared with the City of Los Angeles. Nearby neighborhoods have struggled to cope with the flood of tourists seeking to get a glimpse from every possible direction with no formal viewing area. A ride on the Skyway would take six minutes from a parking garage to the northwest that Warner Bros. owns in Burbank. “This requires a bold solution,” the firm’s facilities chief Jon Gilbert said to the Times. “If we really want to make a difference … it’s got to be something compelling. Partial solutions are not going to do the trick, and people will continue to inundate the neighborhoods.”
Warner Bros. is owned by WarnerMedia, which became part of AT&T less than a month ago. A similar gondola floated a year ago would load at Comcast-owned Universal Studios Hollywood. More than 90 chairlifts, gondolas and tramways now operate at non-skiing venues such as parks and zoos in North America. Powerhouse competitor Walt Disney Co. is currently building a series of gondolas at its flagship theme park in Florida. A statement from Warner Bros. argues the Skyway is the best option in Hollywood:
Given our close proximity to the north side of the Hollywood sign, we believe we offer a solution that has the least impact on the environment — protecting and preserving Griffith Park — and the surrounding residential neighborhoods. We understand there are a number of possible solutions being considered, but we are confident the City’s feasibility study will show our proposal to be the best option — an option that can be built and operated at no cost to the taxpayer and that will provide public benefit to the City of Los Angeles and its residents.
The Hollywood Skyway project could take around five years to complete. The chosen technology appears to be a reversible aerial tramway rather than a continuous movement gondola system. This surprises me given the large volume of potential visitors. The need for air conditioning could be a factor as well as a desire to build as few towers as possible in an urban park. In my view, a 3S gondola would be the best of both worlds and one Warner Bros. could likely afford.
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