- Ikon Pass adds St. Moritz, Switzerland as its sixth European destination.
- A child is hospitalized after falling from Steamboat’s Sunshine Express.
- Another child falls from Park City’s Orange Bubble Express.
- Powder Mountain will auction Timberline chairs this weekend.
- Holiday Mountain removes the long lost D double, plans to eventually replace it with a used triple chair.
- No link but I’m told a hand charge landed on and exploded on top of a Base to Base Gondola cabin last Saturday at Palisades Tahoe during avalanche hazard reduction work. No one was injured but the cabin was damaged.
- Blackcomb cancels summer skiing due to the receding glacier under the Showcase T-Bar.
- Former Jay Peak President Bill Stenger tells his side of the fraud saga in two parts.
- Homewood will hold a master plan update and perhaps address the future of its delivered-but-not-installed D-Line gondola.
- West Mountain continues planning for a backside detachable quad.
Ikon Pass
News Roundup: D’oh!
- A skier tries to jump over Lake Louise’s Top of the World Express, runs into a chair instead.
- Powderhorn closes the Flat Top Flyer all week for maintenance.
- Magic Mountain celebrates the last new lift opening of the year.
- Epic Pass prices increase approximately 8 percent, Crans-Montana will be added subject to closing.
- Ikon Pass increases a similar amount, goes back to unlimited days at Crystal Mountain, Washington.
- Indy Pass adds Big Moose, Maine; Mt. Eyak, Alaska; Mt. Washington, British Columbia; Powderhorn, Colorado; Steeplechase, Minnesota; Wintergreen, Virginia and Wisp, Maryland.
- Massachusetts issues an RFP for operating Blue Hills Ski Area.
- A man dies aboard a chairlift at Lookout Pass due to a medical emergency.
- Timberline Lodge closes Bruno’s for the season due to gearbox failure.
- The world’s longest gondola is on track to open late next year in the Caribbean.
- Powder Mountain hints it may alter plans to make three quad chairs private for homeowners next season.
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: Ten Figures
- Mont Sutton, Quebec becomes the latest resort to announce a loading conveyor addition this season.
- Mt. Bachelor says the new Skyliner Express is on track to open in December despite some shipping delays.
- Sunlight releases a fresh master plan with a series of lift upgrades and additions.
- Vail Resorts plans to wrap gondolas at multiple resorts with messages of diversity and inclusion.
- Breckenridge offers old Five chairs for sale.
- Park City says new, heavier cabins will require Red Pine Gondola towers to be reinforced, acknowledges the Sigma cabins list 2 degrees when empty.
- Aspen Mountain’s new Pandora’s lift will now be called Hero’s.
- Ikon Pass resorts invest over one billion dollars in improvements for this season.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania names a new operator for closed Denton Hill.
- Multiple factors contributed to the deadly collision between a gondola cabin and drill rig at Tremblant this summer.
News Roundup: 2S
- The only bidder for the Tulsa Skyride plans to relocate it to the Middle East.
- A loaded Base to Base Gondola cabin mis-captures and gets stuck in the KT-22 mid-station at Palisades Tahoe during a storm.
- Speaking of Base to Base, here’s a cool profile on what it takes to keep the lift running.
- A Celebration of the Life and Work of Hans Burkhart will be held on Monday, March 13 at 5 pm at the Funitel Plaza at Palisades, with a reception to follow.
- An employee causes a Riblet clip ejection at Anthony Lakes.
- Wolf Ridge, North Carolina sells to new owners who promise improvements.
- Elko Snobowl closes for the season due to issues with its Hall double.
- Bousquet closes its Hall double for the season due to a gearbox issue.
- Nordic Valley’s Hall double remains closed with alternate snow cat service in place.
- Montana lost ski area Wraith Hill goes up for sale with a 1976 Doppelmayr T-Bar.
- BigRock, Maine inks a contract with Doppelmayr for a new quad in 2024.
- Sunlight’s Segundo will spin one more season before replacement in ’24.
- The Forest Services issues a Draft Environmental Assessment and seeks comments on Taos Ski Valley’s proposed Base to Base Gondola and replacement of lifts 2 and 8.
- Indy Pass prices increase approximately 11 percent, Epic 8 percent and Ikon 7.5 percent for next season.
- Deer Valley will require Ikon Pass reservations next year, Taos eliminates them but goes off Ikon Base.
- Vail reports mixed quarterly results with skier visits up 3.6 percent but earnings down 1 percent due to weather and increased operating costs.
News Roundup: Holiday Weekend
- Montana Snowbowl has a new map showing the addition of the Transporter lift.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne waits for Doppelmayr to rebuild a sheave assembly before seeking to reopen its gondola.
- Without the gondola, Mont-Sainte-Anne visitation suffers.
- The Government of Quebec sues Mont-Sainte-Anne and parent company Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, seeking to end a contract for operation of a campground and other activities on land surrounding the alpine ski area.
- Windham Mountain rope evacuates the East Peak Express due to a clutch issue.
- Marble Mountain temporarily closes due to problems with multiple lifts.
- Alterra settles a class action lawsuit over Covid resort closures, agreeing to credit Ikon Pass holders $17.5 million and pay $2.9 million to attorneys.
- Catamount will open the Glade triple this weekend after nearly two years of construction.
- Citing a high volume of feedback, Utah delays a decision on Little Cottonwood Canyon mobility until summer.
- Lifts are ready to go at Hickory, NY but insurance costs may prevent reopening this season.
- Water damage temporarily closes the Steamboat Gondola.
- Steamboat also adjusts the alignment for the upcoming Pioneer Ridge high speed quad.
- Steeplechase, Minnesota reopens two of four chairlifts after 16 years closed.
- Sea to Sky Gondola looks to switch its summit station from diesel generators to grid electricity.
Alterra Buys Snow Valley, California
Alterra Mountain Company today announced the purchase of its 15th ski area, Snow Valley Mountain Resort in Southern California. Snow Valley operations will fold into nearby Big Bear Mountain Resort, which includes Bear Mountain and Snow Summit. Snow Valley currently operates nine chairlifts including a detachable six pack and eight Yan fixed grips.
“The acquisition of Snow Valley Mountain Resort is a continuation of our ongoing mission to build a premier portfolio of great mountains in robust markets,” said Jared Smith, President and CEO of Alterra Mountain Company. “As we do with all our destinations, we are excited to invest essential capital to enhance the on-site employee and guest experience to further strengthen our offerings to skiers and riders in Southern California.”
The purchase has already closed and Ikon Pass holders can access Snow Valley beginning Monday, February 20th. Snow Valley’s current Indy Pass participation will likely end after this season.
News Roundup: Dueling Passes
- Sun Peaks joins the Ikon Pass.
- Alterra settles multiple class action lawsuits over 2020 Covid closures, offering credits toward future purchases.
- Vail Resorts and Telluride renew their multi-year Epic Pass partnership.
- Telluride aims to send a gondola replacement proposal to voters in 2024 and begin construction in 2028.
- Snowbird’s new red tram ships again from Switzerland.
- A group continues efforts to save the Tulsa State Fair Skyride.
- Cuchara remains on track to reopen one of its Riblet chairlifts this winter and is still seeking donations.
- An awesome one hour documentary chronicles the history of Riblet Tramway Company.
- There’s also a new book about Byron Riblet.
- The Salt Lake County Council narrowly passes a non-binding resolution against a Little Cottonwood gondola.
- A Hall double goes up for sale in Connecticut, likely from the closed Woodbury Ski Area.
- Analysis is complete on Lutsen Mountains’ expansion proposal and a new Forest Supervisor expects to make his decision public around the beginning of ski season.
- The head of Whistler Blackcomb offers more details on the decision to move forward Fitzsimmons and Jersey Cream projects with lifts from Park City.
- Cascade Mountain names its new quad chair in memory of two locals who died in a 2014 avalanche.
- The Sugarloaf 2030 timeline is updated to reflect Double Runner being replaced in 2023 or 2024.
News Roundup: Preferred Alternative
- The Utah Department of Transportation selects a 3S gondola as the preferred alternative in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
- The Salt Lake Tribune looks at who’s funding the pro- and anti-gondola camps.
- More Epic chair sales are coming at Jack Frost and Big Boulder.
- Sierra at Tahoe nears completion of West Bowl fire recovery work with more than five million board-feet of timber removed.
- The Edmonton Ski Club receives $800,000 in public funds to stay afloat.
- Midwest Family Ski Resorts completes its acquisition of Big Snow, Michigan, will re-brand as Snowriver Mountain Resort and retire the Blackjack/Indianhead names.
- The Tulsa gondola showdown continues.
- A dedicated lift-served bike park may still be coming to the Colorado foothills.
- The Idaho Springs gondola project wins an $8.7 million lawsuit judgment, vows to move forward despite years of setbacks.
- Sandia Peak again won’t offer skiing in 2022-23.
- Ikon Pass adds Panorama, BC and another Japanese resort.
- British Columbia approves construction of a new T-Bar at Troll.
- Mt. Holly, Michigan announces a new detachable quad for 2023.
- Doppelmayr pieces back together the lift which was swallowed by a sinkhole last year in Northern Quebec.
- Kirkwood’s old beginner double goes up for sale.
News Roundup: Forecasting Demand
- Washington’s Mission Ridge buys Blacktail Mountain, Montana.
- Bousquet intends to replace the Blue chair with a quad in the next two to three years.
- A gondola is proposed to cross between Kansas and Missouri.
- Bromont adds loading conveyors to two fixed quads; Sun Peaks upgrades Crystal with one too.
- Rusty Gregory says Ikon Pass sales are growing at a faster rate than any previous selling season.
- Vail Resorts will limit ticket sales during holidays, introduce lift line wait time forecasts and devote extra staff to managing lift mazes.
- Catamount touts more than $15 million offseason upgrades including two new chairlifts.
- Whitefish Mountain Resort posts updated trail maps showing Chair 8’s new alignment.
- Next year’s new lift at Whitefish will be called the Snow Ghost Express.
- Justin Sibley becomes CEO of Powdr.
- Jackson Hole’s five year roadmap includes detachable replacements for Thunder and Sublette plus a potential a Lower Faces lift.
- Gallix, the Quebec ski area where lift was damaged by flooding, says repairs will cost over CA$2 million. The bottom station of the chairlift has been disassembled and a new rope ordered.
- Poma and the Government of Brazil reach an agreement to reactivate Rio’s longest urban gondola after 5 years.
- The Telluride Daily Planet explains the gondola evacuation process for one of the more complex systems in the country.
- Manning Park says the atmospheric river which caused flooding across southern British Columbia damaged its alpine ski area.
- Big Sky’s Swift Current will open Thursday with Swifty 6 packs of local beer to celebrate.
- Aspen Mountain is finally approved to add a lift in Pandora’s.
- Connecticut’s Woodbury Ski Area is sold with the new owner intending to reopen it.
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