Keystone – Lift Blog

News Roundup: Conical Towers

November 14, 2025November 16, 2025Peter Landsman9 Comments

Hickory, New York closes.
Steel erection begins for the only lift in Arkansas.
Cannon’s new map shows no more tram.
Steel and aluminum tariffs increase the cost of certain maintenance projects on the Telluride-Mountain Village gondola by 50 percent.
Vail CEO Rob Katz reiterates his company’s desire to build new Eagle and Silverlode lifts at Park City.
A wildlife reserve in Kentucky plans a three station sightseeing gondola.
Sir Sam’s, Ontario retires the Red Rocket and Eagle View doubles.
The Los Angeles City Council votes 12-1 to oppose a Dodger Stadium gondola.
MND hires a Director of Ropeways for North America.
Snowland, Utah eyes building a T-Bar or J-Bar next summer with $1.46 million in state grant money.
Unionized patrollers at Breckenridge and Eldora ink new contracts; negotiations continue at Telluride and Whitefish.
A rider falls from the Montezuma Express at Keystone.
Whitecap Mountains, Wisconsin could go to foreclosure auction on December 2nd.
Enjoy these Argo progress photos from reader Munier S.

News Roundup: Upset

October 10, 2025Peter Landsman10 Comments

Poma France introduces LIFE terminals equivalent to Leitner’s new ROPERA.
Italian manufacturer Graffer wins tenders to build its two detachable lifts utilizing technology from Turkish manufacturer Anadolu Teleferik.
Despite the new projects, Graffer’s owner says he’s not trying to take on Leitner and Doppelmayr.
The Toronto Zoo nears a deal with a private company to build a short gondola.
Sunrise Park, Arizona leaves Indy Pass.
The Forest Service seeks public comment on Keystone’s proposal to replace A-51 with a detachable quad.
Forest Service staffing cuts slow projects approvals, shift work to outside consultants.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey breaks ground on a $3.5 billion automated people mover powered by Doppelmayr tech.
Timberline Lodge outlines an extraordinary rise in insurance costs leading to price increases.
Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon argues escalating costs make a canyon 3S unfeasible.
Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz revives his podcast about the company.
Tijuana, Mexico to jump on the urban gondola bandwagon.
Sponsored job: Electrician at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

News Roundup: Independence Day

July 4, 2025Peter Landsman27 Comments

The owner of Cape Smokey, Nova Scotia to acquire Ski Martock, also in Nova Scotia.
Titcomb Mountain, Maine seeks final funding to replace its second T-Bar.
Keystone proposes replacing A51 with a detachable quad.
Yet another excellent Deer Valley construction update.
Mantis Ropeway Technologies to install Assistance software on five lifts in Austria to detect misloads using AI.
The BC Okanagan Gondola project hits a snag related to water.
Mission Ridge, Washington launches an expansion website.
Mountain Capital Partners to buy a majority stake in four more Chilean mountains.
Sun Valley proposes more Bald Mountain lift upgrades.
Four Seasons, New York looks to be liquidating its ski operations.
A storm causes an aerial tramway to derope in Dornbirn, Austria. Even the rescue ropeway de-roped, requiring the use of a helicopter to save 19 passengers and a dog.
Skeetawk, Alaska completes preliminary geotechnical work for a proposed upper mountain lift.
Big Moose Mountain, Maine performs similar work with the goal of returning lift service to the summit.

News Roundup: Ropera

May 9, 2025May 9, 2025Peter Landsman18 Comments

Deer Valley updates its expansion site to show Lift 6 as two detachable quads (6A and 6B) instead of a six pack with mid-station.
Vail Mountain seeks permission to replace Orient Express #21 with a six pack, swap Little Eagle #15 for a detachable quad and remove Wapiti #24.
Leitner-Poma discusses the impact of tariffs on the SAM huddle.
Burke Mountain emerges from nine years of government receivership with new owners.
Mount Saint Louis-Moonstone, Ontario teases a new era coming to the Outback side of the mountain.
Leitner introduces its next generation monocable detachable called Ropera, combining technology from Leitner, Poma and Bartholet. The launch customer will be Speikboden, Italy with a six place chairlift.
Leitner and Doppelmayr release annual yearbooks.
Snoqualmie unveils new renderings of the Edelweiss project at Alpental.
A Colorado man succumbs to injuries sustained in a fall from Keystone’s Ruby Express last December.
Powder Mountain tells the Utah tram board it’ll install between one and four new lifts this summer.
A jury declines to award millions to a Mt. Bachelor skier who fell getting off a chairlift.
Killington to donate and match proceeds from closing day to Whaleback Mountain’s chairlift replacement fund.
Snow Partners to launch a new multi-mountain pass product offering three total days at six to ten Eastern resorts.
Mt. Ashland, Oregon looks to replace the Ariel and Windsor doubles with Skytrac triple chairs in 2026.

News Roundup: Shortest and Longest

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025Peter Landsman7 Comments

Vista Ridge, Alberta rope evacuates the Wilson quad.
Lutsen rope evacuates the Caribou Express (*despite what the link says, customers did receive lift ticket vouchers)
Summit Express at Keystone has been down since last Saturday.
Both Snowcat and Bobcat are inoperable at Wildcat, New Hampshire.
The problem with Blackcomb’s Glacier Express is gearbox-related; WB airlifts a new electric motor into the Big Red Express terminal by helicopter with minimal down time.
A number of lifts are also inoperable at Seven Springs, PA.
A minor holder of Vail stock calls for executive firings and publishes a detailed presentation why.
A teenager is injured and airlifted after hitting a lift tower at Mohawk Mountain.
Killington has looked at replacing Ramshead with a bubble lift.
Burke Mountain removes its J-Bar from the snow report entirely.
Sitzmark, Washington won’t open this season.
The Forest Service green lights Brighton to replace Milly Express and shorten Explorer.
Looming tariffs on both Canada and the European Union could impact both lift manufacturers and their customers.
The world’s shortest T-Bar – with no towers and just five carriers – begins spinning tomorrow.
The world’s longest gondola reaches 60 percent completion with 290 workers on site.

News Roundup: Explorer

December 13, 2024Peter Landsman13 Comments

Vail Resorts reports improving pass sales and will build four new lifts in 2025 at Andermatt-Sedrun, Perisher and Park City. Vail also teases future projects at Vail Mountain and Park City.
A snowboarder is airlifted after falling 47 feet from the Ruby Express at Keystone.
Nordic Valley, Utah looks to public tax dollars to fund new lifts.
The State of Colorado contributes $250,000 toward reopeing Cuchara’s Chair 4.
The union representing lift mechanics, electricians and patrollers at 13 western resorts changes its name to United Mountain Workers to reflect broadening ambitions.
Drayton Valley, Alberta permanently closes, will liquidate assets including its T-Bar.
The proposed private ski resort with D-Line gondola near Steamboat submits permit applications.
It takes 8,400 horsepower worth of generators to run Steamboat’s Wild Blue Gondola off the grid.
Meanwhile a dispute over using natural gas for snowmelt delays progress on a detachable replacement for the Wildhorse Gondola at Steamboat.
Homewood’s master plan is recommended for approval next month.
Grouse Mountain may replace the cabins on the Red Skyride.
Sponsored job: Shop Technician at The Gondola Shop in Fruita, Colorado.

News Roundup: Battery Powered

October 18, 2024Peter Landsman16 Comments

West Virginia State Parks delays opening of the new Pipestem gondola to spring 2025.
A tower crane working to build the Grands Montets 3S in Chamonix collapses due to wind and ice.
Keystone installs solar panels on the Bergman Express to power ancillary functions such as lights.
Perfect North transforms the Red Chair into an LED light show for the holidays with individual chairs lit by batteries.
ORDA plans to build not one but two people mover chairlifts at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
Hunter names its new quad chair Otis.
Planning documents show the alignment and D-Line equipment for a planned gondola at Stagecoach, Colorado.
More ink on the unfortunate closure of Homewood this season.
The world’s shortest T-Bar to be built with only 5 Ts.
A criminal trial begins regarding the deadly gondola collapse in Turkey last spring.
Garaventa installs a robotic cargo loading system on the world’s steepest aerial tramway.
Kendall Mountain, Colorado suspends pass sales due to lift maintenance.
Killington’s CEO talks about future lifts beyond Superstar; how the sale to locals went down.
Park City weighs possible routes for a transit gondola from Old Town to Deer Valley.
Mt. Waterman, California sells to a new owner promising private powder days.
Powder Mountain won’t sell any lift tickets on weekends in February.
Sun Peaks’ new trail map shows the West Bowl expansion.
Indy Pass to announce new resorts next week.

News Roundup: First Day of Fall

September 22, 2023September 24, 2023Peter Landsman3 Comments

A court finds zoning allowing Wasatch Peaks Ranch to continue as a private ski resort can be put to a public referendum. Three chairlifts already operate there with a fourth under construction.
The Tennessee State Fair will build a chairlift next year.
Gore Mountain’s new trail map shows the location of the new Bear Cub Quad.
Lee Canyon recovers well from a hurricane-fueled flood this summer.
A snowboarder who fell from Whistler Mountain’s Emerald Express sues Whistler Blackcomb.
Echo Mountain sells to an investor with a bunch of non-ski businesses.
Lifts are being removed at Marshall Mountain after 20 years idle.

News Roundup: Reimagining

June 9, 2023Peter Landsman9 Comments

The Canyons Village Management Association budgets $8 million for a Cabriolet replacement and $9.24 million toward a new gondola on the Canyons side of Park City Mountain.
The Summit at Snoqualmie adds more chairs to Armstrong Express at Alpental.
Mt. Bachelor offers Skyliner Express chairs for sale.
Keystone releases an all new trail map showing the Bergman expansion.
New owners of Holiday Mountain, New York will host a stakeholder meeting tomorrow to outline rebuilding plans.
The Whistler Blackcomb Peak 2 Peak Gondola may open late for the summer due to an issue related to ice buildup.
A former employee who fell 30 feet from a Riblet double without a safety bar while downloading accuses Stevens Pass of negligently operating an old, unsafe chairlift.
Colorado reports a record 14.8 million skier visits.
New Hampshire also reports strong results from last season.
Vail Resorts says season pass sales are trending up 6 percent in units and 11 percent in dollars for next season.
Le Massif will operate two of its longest lifts for a unique night time sound and light show this summer.
Highland Mountain Bike Park to close its chairlift for a week to replace the communications line.
Snowmass receives approval to replace Coney Glade with a realigned and extended detachable quad in 2024.
Five years after closing, Deer Mountain, South Dakota will reopen as a private club.

News Roundup: Conquer the Mountain

March 24, 2023March 26, 2023Peter Landsman4 Comments

Keystone shows the process for creating a new trail map with next winter’s Bergman Bowl expansion.
The Balsams redevelopment notches another necessary approval.
Alta Sierra closes for weeks due to storm impacts.
Salt Lake City prefers a 2034 Olympics over 2030.
Troll, BC shows off 30 new runs to be serviced by a new T-Bar.
Loon previews its expansion on South Peak.
A man dies after falling from Breckenridge’s Zendo quad.
Granite Peak rope evacuates the Blitzen triple.
Heavenly offers a look into wind hold decision making.
Snowbasin cancels construction of a Club Med, calling into question associated lift projects.
Great Bear considers building a second chairlift.
Steamboat again floats replacing the Wildhorse Gondola with a detachable version.
Still no deal between Deer Valley and Mayflower although talks continue.
Here’s a Cascade Skyline Gondola update.
Vail settles a lawsuit with the family of a man who died while dangling from a chairlift in 2020.
Doppelmayr is one of three finalists to replace Newark Airport’s automated people mover.

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