Jay Peak – Lift Blog

News Roundup: Firm Orders

August 13, 2021Peter Landsman18 Comments

Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta will build a second SkyDream gondola system, this time at Vidanta Riviera Maya.
Sundance auctions chairs from the former Arrowhead triple.
The team at Craigleith, Ontario wins the inaugural Ski Area Management/Leitner-Poma Rise Up Challenge.
Four Japanese resorts sign on to the Indy Pass.
Arizona Snowbowl’s new gondola has been down for two weeks and the ski area moves its entire summer operation to a different base area and the Grand Canyon Express.
Beaver Creek’s two new quads will be named McCoy Park Express and Reunion.
The sale price for Blue Mountain, PA is revealed as $31.9 million.
MND reports annual results with ropeway sales up 32 percent and a firm order backlog of €91.7 million.
A group continues to push for a West Seattle gondola as a planned rail project gets delayed.
Squaw Alpine and Leitner-Poma make great progress on the base to base gondola, though they aren’t publicly committing to a completion timeline.
Citing staffing and fire danger, Mt. Shasta ends its summer season early.
After missing a year, Searchmont plans to reopen this season with two new triple chairs.
Manitoba’s Holiday Mountain announces it won’t open in 2021-22.
Vail Resorts unveils a succession plan with CEO Rob Katz moving to an Executive Chairperson role and Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch becoming CEO November 1.
Icy Strait Point and Norwegian Cruise Line cut the ribbon on the Transporter gondola with another 8 passenger system set to open later this summer.
Jay Peak’s former President and CEO will plead guilty to a single charge of providing false statements and other charges are expected to be dropped.
Keystone posts a big update on the Peru Express replacement project.
Aspen Snowmass introduces a new brand and logo which is already on some gondola cabins.
Snowbasin’s Middle Bowl replacement project gets off to the races.

News Roundup: Full Steam Ahead

June 18, 2021June 18, 2021Peter Landsman10 Comments

Steamboat shares a timeline for the Wild Blue Gondola project, relocation of the Christie Peak Express base terminal, Pioneer Ridge construction and Greenhorn Ranch.
Utah breaks its all time visit record despite the pandemic and a drought.
Marshall Mountain is now set to sell to a group intending to maintain public access.
The former owner of Jay Peak and current operator of six Quebec ski resorts agrees to pay the Vermont ski area $100,000 without admitting any wrongdoing.
Mayflower Mountain Resort breaks ground, sort of.
We now know where Kelly Canyon’s new Skytrac triple will go.
The Indy Pass will announce its 67th and 68th resort partners next week.
Purgatory permits mountain bikers to shuttle themselves in private vehicles while Lift 1 undergoes repairs in June and July.
Aspen invests over a million dollars to replace the haul rope on the Silver Queen Gondola.
The Stresa-Mottarone tram disaster was captured by two surveillance cameras. Caution, the footage is very disturbing to watch.
Progress continues on the Squaw-Alpine Base to Base Gondola.

News Roundup: Chairless

June 11, 2021Peter Landsman3 Comments

Wildcat plans to replace the chairs on the Wildcat Express.
Jay Peak and Burke Mountain could receive more than $9 million under a proposed settlement with the law firm of former owner Ariel Quiros.
Here’s another chance to own a classic double chair.
Mayflower Mountain Resort secures up to $260 million in bond financing.
Catamount’s second new lift this year will replace the last SLI in the Northeast.
The United States tallies 59 million skier visits in 2020-21, 5th most in history.
Aspen Snowmass had a tough season with traffic 20 percent below average.
Digging into the unsolved Sea to Sky Gondola crimes.
Two Disney Skyliner cars bump into each other, causing some down time.
Vail Resorts reports strong earnings, continues to look at strategic acquisition opportunities and will be aggressive at reinvesting across its resorts post-pandemic.
Arizona Snowbowl converts the Arizona Gondola combination lift into a pure gondola for the summer.
The bike park at Purgatory will open many weeks late due to an unspecified problem with the Purgatory Village Express.
Doppelmayr releases a 30 page urban brochure.
France may provide the financing for a six station, 180 cabin urban gondola in the Filipino capital of Manila.

News Roundup: A Landslide

May 21, 2021May 22, 2021Peter Landsman5 Comments

After a year with no revenue, one Canadian resort resorts to GoFundMe to stay afloat.
SE Group will study the viability of a proposed hiking/biking chairlift near Park City.
97 percent of Bryce Resort homeowners vote to fund $2.5 million replacement of Chair 2.
Cape Smokey receives a CA$2.5 million construction loan from the Government of Canada, although travel restrictions may delay completion of a new gondola.
Doppelmayr’s 2021 Yearbook is out along with a new Wir magazine.
Poma’s latest Reference Book also drops.
Trails and the new lift line have been cleared on Sunday River’s Merrill Hill.
Skytrac is still recruiting construction employees in Crested Butte, Steamboat, Whiteface and Whitefish.
The first-of-its-kind Leitner 2S in Germany is complete, though Covid prevents public operation and a noise issue hinders full speed operation for now.
Doppelmayr and Sun Group mark 14 years of building record breaking ropeways in Vietnam.
Great Bear to raffle off retired Borvig quad chairs.
The story of how MND came to be through 15 acquisitions and a focus on emerging markets.
MND reports half year results with revenue declining 5 percent but snowmaking and ropeway revenue increasing by 6 percent.
Less than four years ago, new terminal equipment was shoehorned into the Steamboat Gondola building. Now it’s being used for fire training in advance of demolition.
Big Sky launches a Swift Current 6 update site.
Vidanta SkyDream claims to be the world’s first gondola transportation at a beach resort.
The Epcot Disney Skyliner line will close for a six day maintenance window in January.
For the second time in two months, a guest is injured falling from equipment at Camelback.
Berkshire East and Catamount Jon Schaefer owner talks expansion, says he came close to buying the Hermitage Club’s six pack and tells the story of re-pouring foundations for Bousquet’s new triple chair in January.
Montana’s shuttered Marshall Mountain sells to a new owner.
The proposed Los Angeles urban 3S releases its preferred alignment and will host two public meetings in June.
In an interview, Poma Chairman Jean Souchal laments losing 30 percent of business from Covid but he remains optimistic, especially about urban transport by rope.
Copper’s proposed Lumberjack replacement would be a detachable quad following a modified alignment.
One of the Jay Peak fraudsters faces three years in prison.
Icy Strait Point, home to two new gondolas stalled by the pandemic, will open this summer after all.

News Roundup: RFP

March 26, 2021Peter Landsman17 Comments

The European Union will pay French ski operators up to 49 percent of lost revenue from this winter.
Ober Gatlinburg’s tram closes for two months for track rope and drive replacement projects totaling $4.5 million.
Bluewood’s general manager explains why fixing a 43 year old lift still makes sense for the mountain vs. buying a new one.
The Burke Mountain and Jay Peak receiver says in a court filing the mountains are “desperately in need of liquidity” while battling financial services giant Raymond James.
Whiteface issues a request for proposals to replace the Bear double with a fixed grip quad starting lower in the base area.
Kelly Canyon’s new Skytrac will be a triple reaching 600 feet beyond the top of Chair 2.
With one Doppelmayr gondola finished but never opened to the public and another partially complete, Icy Strait Point removes all booking availability until April of 2022.
Skiland performs a rope evacuation of the northernmost chairlift in the Americas.
The National Ski Areas Association updates its lift safety fact sheet.
Mission Ridge isn’t done with On the Way Up just yet! Episode 18 explores the parking system and more.
At a leadership forum in Park City, Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory says his company will invest $200 million on capital improvements this year and plans to build the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
We also learned Deer Valley is in talks with Mayflower Mountain Resort about shared access.
Rusty next joined the Storm Skiing Podcast, confirming the Ikon Pass will add at least one new resort for 21-22.
Vail Resorts slashes Epic Pass prices by 20 percent.
Developers say the Moosehead Mountain project is “moving fast” with a lift to be ordered as soon as May for completion late this year.
Two more days until Snow King’s Summit double stops for good to make way for a gondola, though the Forest Service’s Record of Decision has not been signed and litigation looms.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry confirms it’s investigating last weekend’s chair fall at Camelback but does not expect to make the report public.

News Roundup: Busy Season

January 8, 2021Peter Landsman6 Comments

At Mont Sutton, an empty chair falls from one lift while the mountain’s lone detachable quad remains out of service due to a technical issue.
A Victoria, BC suburb considers building a transport gondola.
Purgatory loses its workhorse six pack over the busy holiday (now back open).
Ontario ski resorts, many of which are family businesses, try to stay optimistic during the provincial shutdown.
Royal Mountain, New York changes hands.
Italy postpones reopening ski resorts until January 18th.
Jay Peak and Burke Mountain are set to receive $5.2 million under a settlement between a law firm and investors.
Kimberley continues to spin two upper mountain lifts for hikers and skinners while repair work continues on the Northstar Express.
Wolf Creek has a new James Niehues trail map.
Open only one day before the pandemic, the SkyView gondola at Hard Rock Stadium gets set to reopen March 22nd.
The new T-Bar at Sugarbush is named KBRA (Kelly Brush Race Arena).
A fall and catch are caught on camera at Bristol Mountain.
A newspaper profiles how lift maintenance and operations teams work together at Snowmass.
Winter Park safely evacuates 143 people from the Pioneer Express. Public records show a component in the return terminal failed due to fatigue.
Testing finds further work is needed to make the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola safe. It may not open for four to eight weeks and season passholders are being offered refunds.
Porkies, Michigan shuts down to complete a required chairlift inspection.
Bousquet Mountain will open tomorrow under new ownership with a new lift.
Hunter Mountain reopens today after a three day Covid-related closure.

News Roundup: Next Up

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020Peter Landsman15 Comments

Robert Redford sells Sundance Resort to two private equity firms.
49 Degrees North completes the same retrofit as Chair 1 received on Chair 4, which will reopen today.
Kamiscotia, Ontario rebrands as Mt. Jamieson.
Kennywood Park removes rides to cut costs including its 1996 CTEC quad (sister park Lake Compounce did the same three years ago.)
Saddleback is open! The trail map shows replacement Cupsuptic and Sandy lifts coming soon.
A Utah entrepreneur wants to bring back a tram to Bridal Veil Falls.
Vail Resorts looks to raise another $500 million from investors.
Kelly Canyon seeks to replace Stony Mountain and Summit with one triple or quad.
Sun Valley’s old Dollar double hits the market.
Ditto for Ragged Mountain’s former Speak Mountain triple.
Local officials approve Utah Olympic Park’s West Peak expansion and a 17 tower double or triple.
Magic Mountain expects to have the Black Line Quad operational by MLK weekend.
Leitner-Poma of America is hiring a Field Service Technician.
The Burlington Free Press begins a three part series on the Jay Peak fraud case.
Still no gondola as Mont-Sainte-Anne reopens.
Two injured guests are airlifted following a chairlift fall at Park City.
A formal feasibility study is the next step toward a gondola in Long Beach.
Fatzer ships a new rope to the Sea to Sky Gondola.

News Roundup: Cold Front

October 23, 2020October 30, 2020Peter Landsman8 Comments

Sunday River releases maps of the upcoming Merrill Hill project.
Updated stats from NSAA show how many ski areas operated in each state last winter.
Las Vegas’ decision to go with Teslas in a tunnel rather than a Doppelmayr automated people mover may have been short sighted.
Jay Peak President Steve Wright discusses joining the Indy Pass, limited winter tram operations and potential future lift upgrades.
Mission Ridge begins erecting terminals for the new Liberator Express, which load and unload inside buildings.
Whiteface’s new beginner quad will be called Owl Express.
A new lift at Sun Valley will also get a fresh name, to be announced soon.
Gunstock burns down an old T-Bar station for firefighter training.
An Ontario ski area worries about lift safety following a rash of vandalism.
With the launch of a gondola up Hoonah Mountain next year, an Alaska Native corporation sees new opportunities for development.
Despite a 30 percent drop in business last winter, at least two New Zealand resorts plan to build new lifts this offseason.
As Smartwool moves headquarters from Steamboat to Denver, the company gifts $1.5 million to Howelsen Hill for a new Barrows chairlift, to be built by Skytrac.
A Michigan ski area with 12 lifts won’t make snow and will operate weekends only due to Coronavirus.
Mont-Sainte-Anne is no longer certain its base-to-summit gondola will be functional by December.
Big Sky wraps up a busy season of preparation for the Swift Current 6 top terminal and carrier storage facility.

News Roundup: Perfect

September 4, 2020Peter Landsman13 Comments

Squaw Valley President and COO Ron Cohen explains why the resort’s name is changing and gives an update on the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
The other Squaw ski area will not be changing names.
Whitefish cuts the line for its future Hellroaring lift.
Icy Strait Point, home to two new Doppelmayr gondolas, is in the running for Global Cruise Port of the Year.
Nitehawk commences fundraising to replace its destroyed chairlift, though the community ski area may only be able to afford a T-Bar.
Jay Peak reopens its tram tomorrow with freshly-slipped track ropes.
The public is asked to weigh in on three Burnaby Mountain Gondola alignments.
Red Mountain becomes the eighth Ikon Pass destination in Canada.
Big Snow’s reopening first chair goes up empty in honor of the more than 14,000 New Jerseyans who have died from Covid.
The first lifts at Mayflower Mountain Resort are now set to open in 2023 instead of 2021. A new project video suggests it will be worth the wait.
Mad River Glen will get a James Niehues trail map if fundraising efforts succeed.
Granby Ranch gets a new owner and operator.
The Perfect family has pumped more than $13 million into Timberline Mountain this offseason, including the two new chairlifts which are 75 percent complete.

News Roundup: 2020 and Beyond

August 21, 2020Peter Landsman12 Comments

A dozen years after closing, North Carolina’s Hawksnest lists two Hall doubles for sale.
As it attempts to lower its tax bill, Jay Peak reveals it received several non-binding offers ranging from $38 million to $70 million.
Burke Mountain argues it’s worth only $11.2 million, citing seven figure losses each of the last three years.
Wachusett will sell four different sessions this winter rather than day and night tickets.
Garibaldi at Squamish now plans to break ground in 2023 and spin lifts circa 2027.
For the second time in a year, the tram in Juneau, Alaska has a new name: Goldbelt Tram.
An American visitor caught riding the Banff Gondola faces a CA$750,000 fine.
Not good: a paraglider gets tangled up in a chair.
Sugarloaf reiterates its commitment to West Mountain, which will include a lengthy detachable lift.
Holimont plans to eventually move Chipmunk, replace Sunset and build a new lift on WestMont Ridge.
Maine’s closed Eaton Mountain becomes a non-profit and will aggressively seek funding for a new chairlift.
Park City won’t be seeing gondola transit any time soon.
Nitehawk’s only chairlift will remain out of service for the entire 2020-21 season following last spring’s landslide.
Elk Mountain has not been sold.
North America’s 2019-20 ski season will come to an end August 30th.
Sunday River plans to build the Merrill Hill lift in 2022.
Quebec-based Samson Industries, which built more than 100 ski lifts, calls it quits after 160 years.
What was supposed to be New Zealand’s first 10 passenger Doppelmayr gondola will sit in shipping containers until tourism recovers.
Big Sky and Doppelmayr get to work on Swift Current 6 (shown below.)

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