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.
As 2024 draws to a close, most of the 57 lifts installed this year are spinning over the holidays, a testament to hard work across the industry. The sheer number of installations fell slightly from last year but remains elevated from pre-pandemic. The business split nearly evenly between fixed and detachable lifts in 2024 with major projects coast to coast in both the United States and Canada.
At Mont Grand-Fonds, new owner Compagnie des Montagnes de Ski du Quebecreplaced an aging T-Bar with the most modern lift in the province, a Doppelmayr six place detachable.
As always, the Rocky Mountain states led the charge, with 24 ropeways completed across Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. Deer Valley added a whopping five chairlifts (three of which will open this season) and Powder Mountain added four. The Rockies comprised nearly half the total market, followed by Canada and the Eastern US. New lift construction reached its second highest level in decades across Canada, with projects in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The midwestern states lagged, falling to just two new lifts on the heels of a bad snow year in 2023-24. The west coast was down modestly with zero projects in the Lake Tahoe region, three elsewhere in California, just one in Oregon and two in Washington.
Lake Louise, Alberta debuted one of two new six place bubbles in the Banff region, the Pipestone Express.
Four detachable gondolas opened in 2024 – at Legoland New York, Big Sky, Montana; Wasatch Peaks, Utah and Grouse Mountain, British Columbia. That’s about normal for the post-covid era with three of those built by Leitner-Poma. Four bubble chairlifts also opened, all of which were six or eight packs. The number of detachable chairlifts declined from 29 to 22 and fixed grip chairlifts declined from 25 to 21. Little Chapman Hill in Durango, Colorado, added a cool platter lift, the only major surface lift this year. We’ll probably need to wait another decade for a new aerial tram following last year’s debut of the Lone Peak Tram.
Skytrac installed a Leitner platter from Italy at the community-owned Chapman Hill in Durango, Colorado.
This year was the second best for expansion lifts since the 2008 financial crisis, signaling resorts are looking to grow operations rather than simply replacing old lifts. Part of that is of course the Deer Valley East Village megaproject, encompassing five projects this year and many more to come.
Deer Valley’s Keetley Express, left, opened today, to be followed by the Hoodoo Express in early 2025.
Doppelmayr installed slightly more lifts than competitors Leitner-Poma and Skytrac but the Austrians’ number of projects declined the most from 2023. Partek, MND and SkyTrans fabricated no aerial lifts, leaving customers with a true duopoly in 2024.
The Coney Express at Snowmass features Leitner-Poma comfort chairs and an angled mid-station.
Doppelmayr dominated the fixed grip market with 57 percent share while detachables were split exactly evenly between the two builders. Doppelmayr supplied fewer D-Line detaches this year, installing two big ones at Big Sky Resort and one each at Mammoth Mountain and Deer Valley. Signs point to more D-Lines in 2025.
The Sunrise Quad at BigRock Mountain, Maine, one of the first new lifts completed this fall.
Leitner-Poma built the only new lift of the year not at a ski resort – the Minifigure Skyflyer at Legoland New York, which opened in June. The short 10 passenger gondola features individually themed cabins and carries riders between the park entrance and the base of a hill.
The Minifigure Skyflyer at Legoland New Yorkwas the first new lift to open in 2024.
One segment that grew strongly was used lifts, which tripled from three installations in 2023 to nine in ’24. As the cost of new lifts continues to rise, more operators are looking to high quality used equipment. In some cases the original manufacturer refurbishes and reinstalls, such as at Pleasant Mountain, Maine and Hunter Mountain, New York, while other ski areas chose to install used lifts themselves or hire a contractor.
Leitner-Poma designed everything from the second largest lift by vertical transport feet per hour (Grouse Mountain gondola) to the smallest at Legoland. Doppelmayr also completed a broad range of projects from the world’s longest eight seat chairlift at Big Sky all the way down to the short Aurora quad at Deer Valley. Skytrac continued serving the middle of the market with fixed grip chairlifts ranging in size from the largest at Powder Mountain’s Raintree expansion to the smallest at Mt. Ashland, Oregon.
The Super Angel Express became Sunshine Village’s second heated bubble chair in early November.
Alterra bought the most new lifts this year – eight – followed by Boyne Resorts with six. Vail Resorts pulled back from 18 new lifts in 2022 to five in 2023 and just three in 2024, one of which was a relocation and another of which was manufactured in 2022 but not installed until ’24. The fourth largest operator of North American ski areas, Powdr, purchased just two lifts this year. Really the largest customer for lifts was independent ski areas, which collectively added dozens of lifts.
This direct drive at Copper Mountain is one of five new direct drives installed in 2024.
As we wave goodbye to 2024, we also say goodbye to 50 lifts that were retired. The average age of a lift removed from service in 2024 was 41 years old. The industry retired 11 Poma lifts, nine Riblets and seven Halls over the past year.
Announced installations for 2025 are pacing about 15 percent below the same time last year. That could be a sign of actual pullback or resorts are waiting longer to make announcements. Of course Deer Valley is an exception, where an additional eight-ish lifts are planned for 2025 with more to follow. Some ’25 installs are already under construction, including Big Sky’s Explorer Gondola and Alpental’s Chair 2. One strong area for 2025 is non-ski lifts, with projects announced in Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia that have nothing to do with sliding downhill.
Red River, New Mexico continued its fleet modernization with a Doppelmayr triple called Copper replacing an aging Riblet double.
2024 marked a milestone for me, as I finished visiting every public ski area in the United States and Canada. The 752nd and final spot was Moose Mountain, Yukon, which took thousands of miles and multiple days to reach in June. Many industry friends surprised me at the Salt Lake City airport on my way home and we celebrated in the terminal. I’ll continue documenting lifts in 2025, writing about project announcements and industry news. Thanks as always for reading Lift Blog and Happy New Year!
A tower component failed on The Gondola at Winter Park Resort today, leading to a five hour rope evacuation. Photos show a rocker arm that connects two sections of a 16 sheave assembly cracked nearly in half. The affected assembly is located on tower 1 and holds the haul rope down on the heavy side of the lift, adjacent to the bottom terminal. A total of 174 guests were roped down by ski patrol, concluding at 6:00 pm. “At 12:15pm on December 21, 2024, the Gondola had a mechanical issue and immediately shut down as the system is designed to do so for guest safety,” said Winter Park in a statement. “At this time the Gondola is closed for repair and further inspection. All guests were safely evacuated thanks to our Patrol team.”
— Paige Vincent 💃 Red Dress Series (@paigevincent09) December 21, 2024
Leitner-Poma constructed The Gondola in 2018, providing a high capacity link between the Village at Winter Park and Sunspot. The lift is a workhorse, operating both day and night throughout the year. Each of the system’s 75 cabins can carry up to 10 passengers.
Stock photo of tower 1 prior to this incident.
“A replacement part and crane have arrived, and repairs are underway,” Winter Park said on 12/22. “Once the repair is complete, the Colorado Tramway Safety Board will complete a thorough inspection process. Once we have approval from the Tram Board we will be able to re-open the Gondola. We do not currently have a timeframe for when that will be but are working to complete the repair and inspection as soon as possible while prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of our guests.” Both Arrow and Gemini also provide access out of the Village.
Park City elected officials continue to envision a gondola connecting Deer Valley’s Snow Park Village with Main Street and another on the Town Lift alignment.
Speaking of Town Lift, owners of land the base terminal sits on sue Vail Resorts for breach of contract.
Alberta politicians look to simplify approval of greenfield ski resorts.
Snowbasin Resort will construct its seventh detachable lift next summer, replacing the Becker triple in a new alignment. The detachable quad, to be constructed by Leitner-Poma of America, will load closer to the Wildcat Express and unload in a simlar location to the current triple. Becker is a 1986 Stadeli triple, one of just 21 Stadeli-built lifts remaining in the United States. When the replacement is complete in 2025, Snowbasin will operate just one fixed grip chairlift, another Stadeli triple called Porcupine. Snowbasin has been on a roll lately, adding the Wildcat Express in 2017, Middle Bowl Express in 2021 and DeMoisy Express in 2023. Snowbasin’s owner, the Holding family, has been on a similar improvement push at its Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. Between the two mountains, the Holdings have purchased eight detachable chairlifts in nine years.
Introducing… our fourth lift addition in six years!
We're thrilled to announce that Becker will be replaced with a high-speed quad for the 2025-26 season.
This project also includes a widening of key terrain in the Family Zone on Bear Hollow, Snowshoe and Slow Road trails. pic.twitter.com/s0i1II2r74
The new Becker will span more than 5,800 linear feet with a vertical ascent of approximately 1,300 feet, serving a variety of terrain and providing access to the Strawberry area. The new lift will transport 1,800 skiers per hour and cut ride time in half from 12 minutes to six. In conjunction with the lift installation, Snowbasin will widen and re-grade Bear Hollow, Snowshoe and Slow Road to improve flow and safety.
Snowbasin also announced a refurbishment of the Needles Gondola‘s 86 cabins, which are nearing 26 years old. The first third of cabins will receive new mechanisms, windows and seats this summer with the rest to follow over the next two years.
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