Washington’s oldest detachable chairlift will be retired this spring to make way for a next-generation high speed quad. Crystal Mountain’s Rainier Express, or “Rex” for short, dates back to 1988, when a group of local shareholders purchased two Poma chairlifts for the mountain. By the mid-1990s, Boyne Resorts acquired Crystal and replaced nearly every lift between 1997 and 2014. Rex endured, however, and has now carried skiers for 37 seasons.
Alterra Mountain Company bought Crystal in 2018 and Rainier Express 2.0 will be their first lift project at Washington’s largest ski area. “Referred to locally as ‘REX,’ this high-speed quad was the first detachable chairlift built in Washington State,” noted Crystal. “Since its construction in 1988, it has represented Crystal Mountain’s pioneering spirit in big-mountain, skier-focused operations and investments.”
Leitner-Poma will build the new high speed quad and expects to break ground in June. The new lift will carry skiers 1,600 vertical feet to the Summit House in under five minutes. For Rex’s final weekend May 2nd-4th, Crystal plans a rail jam, photo contest and 1988 themed party. Most of the old lift will be scrapped and chairs auctioned to the public to benefit the Northwest Avalanche Center. The new Rainier Express is expected to be completed in December 2025.
In between Utah lift visits last week, I ventured to Tooele, a sleepy town west of Salt Lake to see America’s newest lift factory. Skytrac Lifts opened its 25-acre campus last summer, which will supply chairlifts and surface lifts to customers throughout the US. During my visit, the Skytrac team was finishing getting settled while gearing up to build at least nine new lifts this summer.
Skytrac has grown substantially since building its first drive terminal at Monarch Mountain, Colorado in 2010. With the late Jan Leonard as one of the founders, the company quickly found a niche providing ski areas high quality yet uncomplicated fixed grip chairlifts. As of this winter, Skytrac has built 82 lifts in three countries along with numerous retrofits, modifications and relocations.
Leitner-Poma of America acquired Skytrac in 2016. The two companies remain distinct brands under Italian conglomerate High Technology Industries (HTI). Skytrac and Leitner-Poma often bid separately on the same projects and retain unique product lines. While both subsidiaries make fixed grip chairlifts, Skytrac recently took over the surface lift (T-Bar and Platter) side of the business while Leitner-Poma focuses on larger chairlifts and gondolas. For a surface lift, Skytrac manufactures operator houses, towers and control systems but imports carriers and terminals from Leitner’s specialized facility in Slovakia. Skytrac’s original products, the Monarch fixed grip chairlift and Hilltrac inclined elevator, are produced almost entirely in Tooele.
HTI’s 130,000 square foot building replaced a smaller site Skytrac leased site near the Salt Lake City airport. Tooele lies roughly 30 minutes west with ample land and two nearby technical colleges. With Skytrac occupying 90,000 square feet, the $27 million facility can produce nearly an entire chairlift under one roof. Everything from chairs and towers to bullwheels and control systems are made here. Electrical, engineering and sales departments work right alongside the production hall. Skytrac lifts are truly made in America with typically only the haul rope and gearbox imported from abroad.
The new facility is even larger than LPOA’s Grand Junction plant with ample room for growth. Bobby Langlands, Skytrac’s Sales Engineer and my tour guide, said the factory could probably pump out 20-plus lifts a year, up from the eight to ten they generally do now. In addition to production, there’s a cavernous parts warehouse, which will expand to include stock for the growing number of Leitner-Poma lifts in the Intermountain region. HTI sister companies Prinoth and Demaclenko also have space for parts and service in Tooele.
One of the coolest things when touring a lift factory is seeing parts tagged with names of mountains they’re headed to. Lift manufacturers generally produce components in order of contract signing and I saw pieces destined for Pats Peak, Ski Butternut, Monarch and Snowmass. Skytrac produces the most common components in advance based on a forecast. As an example, the company is producing 120 tower crossarms this spring and will do a second production run later if orders warrant. One thing that makes a Skytrac lift relatively affordable is the number of parts that are common among every lift. The chair bail, for example, is the same regardless of whether a customer orders a double, triple or quad.
Recently Skytrac has been busy engineering and fabricating restraint bars for older lifts that did not previously have them.
Skytrac utilizes several robotic welding machines in Tooele along with automated plasma cutters. Hard working people do the rest of the work by hand. The new facility includes a state-of-the art sandblasting and paint booths for finishing operator houses and motor room enclosures. Galvanizing is completed offsite by contractors.
In addition to Skytrac, Leitner-Poma, Demaclenko and Prinoth, a fifth HTI company is also involved with the Tooele project. Wind energy manufacturer Leitwind supplied a 250 kilowatt wind turbine capable of powering the entire plant. Italians were on site last week testing the turbine to prepare to hook up to Rocky Mountain Power’s regional grid.
Skytrac built nine complete lifts in 2024 and plans to do at least that many again this year. During my visit, the construction team was outside preparing to fan out across the country as Skytrac nears its 100th new lift.
Relations sour between the Town of Mountain Village and Telluride Ski Resort owner Chuck Horning with the Town Manager giving a lengthy speech about problems at the resort.
Skeetawk, Alaska’s only chairlift shuts down for a multi-week repair.
Kicking Horse’s gondola remains closed indefinitely; the resort will transport gear up to Stairway to Heaven free of charge but guests still have to walk there.
Leitner-Poma posts jobs for ski lift installers at Bretton Woods, Loveland, OZ Trails Bike Park, Powder Mountain, Snowmass, Snowbasin, Taos and Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
New York State wins its case against a ski resort owner for buying Toggenburg to close it and reduce competition.
Snowbasin to sell chairs from the Becker lift for charity.
Vail Resorts reports solid results with season-to-date skier visits down 2.5%, lift ticket revenue up 4.1%, ski school revenue up 3.0%, dining revenue 3.1% and retail/rental revenue down 2.9%. Net income for the quarter ended January 31st increased 11.9%.
Tenney Mountain, New Hampshire still plans to reopen the Hornet some time this winter following a gearbox issue.
Attitash reopens the Flying Bear five weeks after a chair fell from the line. Draft minutes from the New Hampshire Passenger Tramway Safety Board suggest multiple damaged carriers were found and Attitash was approved to reduce capacity from 82 to 64 carriers. Update Monday 3/17: Vail PR sent me this statement, emphasis theirs: “During our inspection process, we made the decision to reinspect all our chairs and grips, haul rope, sheaves, terminals, and more. Following our inspection, we are taking the opportunity to replace parts on some chairs unrelated to the incident as a part of routine upgrades. These chairs will remain temporarily out of service until the parts arrive. This was a decision made by the resort, that the Passenger Tramway Safety Board unanimously approved at the March 3rd board meeting. We have been given permission to run the lift between the manufacturer’s minimum and maximum design specifications.”
At least four new lifts will be constructed in New Hampshire this summer following the state tramway board’s approval for Bretton Woods to begin construction on a new high speed quad. The new lift will replace the Bethlehem Express, the oldest of five detachables on the mountain. Doppelmayr constructed the current lift in 1989 but the new one will be built by Leitner-Poma. It will be the first Poma lift constructed at Bretton Woods since 1973, when three Heron-Poma lifts debuted for the resort’s inaugural season. In addition to retiring Bethlehem Express, Bretton Woods is also retiring the nearby Fayban’s Express triple and auctioning the chairs.
Bretton Woods is part of the Omni Mountain Washington Resort, itself a subsidiary of Omni Hotels & Resorts. The company has invested heavily in its New Hampshire ski area over the past decade including building an eight passenger gondola and expansive summit lodge. Bretton Woods and Leitner-Poma plan to start construction on Bethlehem in April and the new lift should be substantially completed in October.
The gondola at Kicking Horse, British Columbia suffered a serious incident this morning when a hanger snapped, causing a cabin with eight riders to fall to the ground. Thankfully the fully loaded carrier had just departed the bottom station and was approximately one meter off the ground. There were no serious injuries among affected passengers. Crews worked for hours to evacuate guests from the rest of the lift by rope and helicopter. It was a powder day with 23 centimeters falling in the previous 24 hours and the lift was reportedly quite full at the time of the incident.
“At 9:20 am, an incident occurred involving a cabin at the base terminal of Golden Eagle Express gondola,” a statement from the resort read. “Our patrol team and first responders were rapidly dispatched on scene,” the statement continued. “Our trained maintenance team will be working to unload the passengers as per standard operating procedures. A full inspection has been initiated to determinate and analyze root causes. Teams from the manufacturer and relevant authorities have been called in to further assist. No lifts will be open to the public today, the resort will be closed for the remainder of the day. Please note Golden Eagle Express gondola will remain closed until further notice. An update will be provided later today with regards to regular operations.”
Photo credit: Justin Baun
The Golden Eagle Express was constructed by Leitner-Poma in 2000 and is a workhorse, operating daily in both winter and summer as well as nights. It’s one of the longest and tallest gondolas in North America with 55 cabins carrying skiers more than 3,500 vertical feet. Without the gondola, approximately 70 percent of the mountain cannot be accessed.
Technical Safety BC oversees passenger ropeways in the province and will conduct an inspection and investigation before the lift can be re-opened.
Update 8:00 pm: Kicking Horse reported all guests were safely evacuated from the lift by rope and helicopter by late in the day. “Our sincere apologies go out to every one of our guests who have had to go through this experience today, and we thank them all for their patience and understanding” said Richard Oszust, Area Manager. Kicking Horse will reopen the lower mountain tomorrow, serviced by the Catamount and Pioneer chairlifts. The gondola and upper mountain will remain closed until further notice.
Arkansas will get an operating chairlift for the first time in 50 years come 2026. Runway Group, owned by members of the Walton Family, today announced it will build a lift-served bike park in Bella Vista. The OZ Trails Bike Park will feature more than 20 miles of gravity trails designed by Gravity Logic & Rock Solid and connect to existing trail networks. The site lies just 15 minutes from the Walmart home office in Bentonville and will feature a bike shop, full-service dining, hiking and public art.
As part of the project, Leitner-Poma will construct a state-of-the-art detachable quad beginning this spring. The lift will span roughly 2,700 feet and carry bikers and hikers 270 vertical feet from a base plaza to the top of the park. Every other chair will be a dedicated bike carrier. “As Northwest Arkansas’s first purpose-built gravity cycling facility, the park’s location strengthens the natural connection between Bella Vista and Bentonville, positioning both communities as premier global cycling destinations,” said Tom Walton, Runway Group CEO. “Its focus on progression ensures everyone from beginners to experts will find their place here.”
Once the lift is complete in early 2026, there will be just four states without an aerial ropeway: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
New Mexico’s Angel Fire Resort plans to bolster its lift fleet over the next two years. This coming summer, the resort plans to add a fixed grip quad on the back side of the mountain, travelling from the base of the Southwest Flyer to the bottom of Lift 3. Interestingly, a Riblet double called Lift 6 operated in roughly the same alignment from 1966 to 1998. Leitner-Poma will build the new quad, which will travel approximately 3,400 feet and rise roughly 950 feet. It will provide direct access to The Steeps and open for winter 2025-26.
By winter 2026-27, an even larger lift is planned. Leitner-Poma will install the first detachable six pack in New Mexico, servicing beginner and low intermediate terrain from the main base area. This sixer will effectively replace Lift 2 but on a much longer alignment, running 5,268 feet to mid-mountain. Work on the six place will also begin in April but is scheduled to span two summers. Neither lift has a name just yet.
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