- Doppelmayr/Garaventa submits the apparent low bid to rebuild the Cannon Mountain tram for $44.6 million, 36 percent above the state’s estimate. Leitner-Poma’s $49.5 million bid comes in 50 percent higher than estimated.
- Bromley to replace the Plaza double with a rope tow.
- Park City’s twice approved Eagle and Silverlode replacements face yet another lawsuit.
- Indy Pass adds Ski Land and Skeetawk, Alaska; Showdown, Montana; Kendall Mountain, Colorado; Frost Fire, North Dakota; King Pine, New Hampshire; Powder Ridge, Connecticut and Mont Kanasuta, Quebec plus international partners with more to come next week.
- Indy loses Midwest mountains Caberfae Peaks, Michigan and The Rock, Little Switzerland & Nordic Mountain, Wisconsin.
- Telluride’s planned gondola replacement may not receive federal transit funding due to political optics, Buy America requirements and flat ridership on the current system.
- An update on the Stagecoach Mountain Ranch private ski area approval process.
- Several riders fall from the beach chairlift at Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
- Loon Mountain unveils a 272 acre, lift free expansion and new trail map.
- Brundage ends summer early due to a lift issue.
- Alterra will move to downtown Denver.
- Two of Vail Resorts’ three Australia mountains close weeks early due to snowmelt.
Loon Mountain
News Roundup: Dreamer
- Italian ski operators settle an antitrust probe with a €30 million compensation fund.
- Bartholet unveils its next generation detachable utilizing HTI’s Ropera technology with Arosa, Switzerland the launch customer.
- Alterra lays off employees in both corporate and destination roles.
- Voting opens for this year’s SAM Rise Up Challenge with six resorts in the running.
- A Leitner urban gondola stops and shakes but otherwise fares well during a severe earthquake in Cali, Colombia.
- A China-Russia tramway originally set to be built by Poma will finally be completed this year.
- The future longest monocable gondola goes vertical in Dominica.
- Photos show fire severed the haul rope on Maverick Mountain’s chairlift, scattering chairs everywhere.
- Eagle Point’s owner updates the public on the path path to fire recovery.
- Loon Mountain says goodbye to the Little Sister double.
- 49 Degrees North’s new quad to be named Dreamer.
- Thanks to readers Matt and Tyler for these photos of Sugar Bowl’s new gondola.
Loon Mountain Plans Gondola Replacement
One of the smallest-gauge gondolas in North American skiing could soon be headed for retirement. The Forest Service today posted Loon Mountain Resort’s application to replace the four passenger White Mountain Express Gondola with a 10 seat D-Line model from Doppelmayr. The new flagship would follow roughtly the same alignment and be constructed in 2027 or 2028. “The current gondola is one of the oldest detachable lifts in New England and nearing the end of its life cycle,” Loon wrote in its application to the White Mountain National Forest. “Visitation at Loon has increased significantly since 1988 when the current gondola was installed. Increasing the uphill capacity of the existing lift from 1,000 people per hour to approximately 1,800 to 2,400 people per hour would better serve guests.” Ten passenger cabins aren’t required to achieve such capacity but they’ve become the gold standard globally for gondolas. With ample space, families can ride together, lessons don’t need to split up and wheelchairs or mountain bikes are easily accommodated. Loon’s parent company, Boyne Resorts, recently partnered with Doppelmayr to install a similar 10 place gondola at Big Sky Resort. Like at Big Sky, I expect the new Loon gondola will feature Omega V cabins, heated seats and a direct drive.
The bottom terminal will move uphill and out of the Octagon Lodge while the top terminal will sit near the current one. Carrier parking will be included at one or both stations. The 7,000 foot long lift line will need to be widened from 35 feet to 65 feet, resulting in up to five acres of disturbance. At last week’s National Ski Areas Association convention, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren told the industry the Forest Service plans to work expeditiously moving projects through environmental reviews. The Forest Service expects to analyze Loon’s project via a Categorical Exclusion, the lowest of three levels under the National Environmental Policy Act. A smaller pulse gondola project is also currently under review by the Town of Lincoln, which would connect Loon’s South Peak base with RiverWalk Resort at Loon Mountain. It’s possible Doppelmayr could construct both lifts at the same time.
When Loon’s existing gondola is retired, Telluride and Deer Valley will operate the only remaining four place gondolas in North American skiing.
News Roundup: Under Contract
- Challenger at Mount Snow is down due to mechanical.
- Two people are hospitalized after falling from the Mountaintop Express at Vail.
- Canyons Village Management Association says the outgoing Cabriolet will not move to replace Frostwood after all but it’s in talks to sell the Cab to another mountain.
- Lake Louise’s new map depicts the Richardson’s Ridge expansion.
- Quebec clears Mont-Sainte-Anne to reopen lifts ordered closed for inspection last week.
- Eaglecrest delays the opening of the summit Ptarmigan lift due to extended maintenance.
- Crystal Mountain, Washington will operate at limited capacity through January due to a road washout.
- British Columbia selects a new operator for closed Tabor Mountain.
- Telluride details where negotiations stand with its ski patrol union. Both sides plan to meet Saturday.
- The last segment of the first Bartholet Ropetaxi on demand gondola opened today.
- Also a remarkable new 3S in the Dolomites.
- Leitner opens its first Ropera next-gen detachable.
- MND’s first production Orizon detachable to be commissioned summer 2026 in Uzbekistan.
- ORDA may spend $3 million on a consultant to guide maintenance on more than $600 million in infrastructure.
- Loon Mountain formally seeks approval to build the Gateway pulse gondola.
- A new ownership group is under contract to purchase Hermon Mountain, Maine.
- The Royal Gorge, Colorado gondola to receive glass floors in 2026.
- Instead of replacing two lifts in 2026, Mt. Ashland will likely do Windsor in 2026 and Ariel for 2027.
News Roundup: Canadian Retirements
- The town of Nederland, Colorado expects to close its purchase of Eldora before the end of the year for $115 to $120 million.
- Park City’s new map shows the soon-to-open Sunrise Gondola.
- Loon Mountain drops an all-new Rad Smith map showing a future pulse gondola.
- The CTEC 2 quad disappears from Paoli Peaks’ trail map.
- Searchmont, Ontario retires the Quad lift; eyes a longer replacement.
- Marble Mountain, Newfoundland won’t operate Black Mariah or Newfie Bullet this season; may remove them.
- Telluride begins hiring temporary patrollers to prepare for a possible strike.
- Black Mountain files a federal lawsuit against the town of Jackson, New Hampshire over a liquor license revocation.
- Here’s a detailed Deer Valley East construction update.
- SE Group’s Chris Cushing joins the Ski Utah podcast; shares the only alignment from Deer Valley’s original master plan with no lift yet.
- Hatley Point, North Carolina eyes building a base-to-summit six pack; reactivating Breakaway and Beginner in 2026.
- Whitecap Mountains, Wisconsin files for bankruptcy, plans to continue operating during reorganization.
- Doppelmayr’s latest UP magazine highlights several projects at Lake Louise and more.
Loon Mountain Announces Pulse Gondola
New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain has made it official: a pulse gondola will join the lift fleet in 2025. The connector lift will cross the Pemigewasset River, linking RiverWalk at Loon Mountain in the town of Lincoln to Escape Route parking lot B, the Timbertown Quad and future South Peak Village. Doppelmayr USA will build the 1,300 foot machine, which will become the first pulse gondola in New England. Pulse gondolas are fixed grip lifts with pods of cabins that slow down for loading and unloading. Loon’s pulse will be configured four groupings of three cabins each. The 12 Omega IV cabin will hold up to eight riders and include floor-to-ceiling windows for views of the White Mountains.
With the South Peak expansion, Loon Mountain has nearly doubled the size of its lift fleet over the past 18 years. “Innovation and access are areas we continue to focus on,” said Brian Norton, Loon’s president and general manager. “This lift has been long dreamt of—dating back to the late ‘80s—and would not be possible without collaboration with RiverWalk and South Peak resorts,” Norton noted.
Construction on the gondola is expected to begin in spring 2025 and the lift will open for the 2025-26 winter season. Hours of operation and whether the gondola will be free or paid will be determined closer to opening.
News Roundup: Stagecoach Resurrection
- Yellowstone Club and Homewood developer Discovery Land Company plans to revive the former Stagecoach ski area near Steamboat as a private ski and golf resort. A local realtor says Stagecoach Mountain Ranch has a Doppelmayr gondola on order.
- Loon Mountain rekindles plans to build a pulse gondola from RiverWalk Resort in Lincoln to the base of South Peak in 2025.
- MND’s upcoming product launch appears to be lift related.
- Hesperus, Colorado will remain closed next season.
- Nordic Valley will refurbish, not replace Apollo.
- Red River retires the outgoing Copper Chair early due to a mechanical issue.
- A paraglider in Austria dies after flying into a moving gondola. Two passengers in the gondola cabin were slightly injured.
- Mad River Glen details plans for Skytrac to add a mid-station to Sunnyside this summer.
- Mt. Bachelor installs a new electric motor on Northwest Express, allowing it to run full speed for the first time since January.
- A small forest fire briefly closes Timberline’s Jeff Flood Express.
- Parks Canada says no again to a Banff-Mt. Norquay gondola.
- White Hills, Newfoundland rope evacuates the Powder Line Express due to a mechanical issue.
- Powderhorn reopens the Flat Top Flyer after a 17 day unplanned closure.
- The Los Angeles City Council will vote today on a motion to halt approval of the Dodger Stadium Gondola.
- Arapahoe Basin moves to paid peak parking, may alter Ikon Pass access for next season.
- Sugarloaf load tests the newly shortened West Mountain double.
- Norway Mountain, Michigan begins selling season passes for reopening next season after seven years closed.
- FirstGroup, a large private operator of public transit, will take over operation of the London Cable Car.
News Roundup: Timbertown
- For the third time in seven years a chair falls off a Doppelmayr detachable quad in high winds at Thredbo, Australia.
- Loon Mountain’s expansion lift will be called Timbertown.
- The Forest Service rejects Lutsen Mountains’ entire expansion proposal.
- Brighton plans to build a chondola to its new mid-mountain restaurant.
- Alterra closes its acquisition of Schweitzer, makes access unlimited on the Ikon Pass.
- Schweitzer to sell retired Riblet double chairs for charity.
- Snowriver previews its new trail map showing a transformation from nine lifts to five at Jackson Creek Summit.
- Big Sky nears completion of the new Lone Peak Tram.
- The British Columbia Supreme Court will determine possession of Powder King Mountain Resort following the owner’s death.
News Roundup: Public Dollars
- California Mountain Resort Company (owner of China Peak/Dodge Ridge/Mountain High) buys Taos’ outgoing Lift 4 for reinstallation next summer.
- One of New Zealand’s largest ski resorts faces liquidation right before ski season.
- Solitude’s next three lift replacement priorities, in order, are Link, Sunrise and Powderhorn II.
- Buck Hill holds a chair sale. Middlebury Snowbowl too.
- Gatlinburg SkyLift Park simplifies its name to SkyPark.
- A New York public broadcaster highlights the Olympic Regional Development Authority’s $700 million in recent spending subsidized by taxpayers.
- A one year delay over sewer issues increases the cost of Gore Mountain’s new Ski Bowl detachable quad by $681,000, will now be built next year.
- New Hampshire commits $18 million to a major overhaul of the Cannon Mountain tramway.
- The Forest Service approves the replacement of Wilbere at Snowbird with a fixed grip quad.
- Leitner releases its 2022 annual report showcasing installations across Europe.
- Loon Mountain shares a South Peak construction update.
- Big Sky’s new tram cabins are complete and ready for shipping.
News Roundup: No Refunds
- Bogus Basin proposes replacing Coach with a quad servicing a new, longer alignment.
- Maine reaches its second highest skier visit total ever.
- Vermont also reports strong results with visits up 10 percent over last year.
- The new owner of Holiday Mountain intends to install not one but two used chairlifts next summer.
- West Mountain looks toward building a detachable in 2025.
- Stevens Pass to sell center pole chairs from Kehr’s.
- A court decides Vail Resorts doesn’t owe Epic Pass holders refunds for the Covid-shortened 2020 season.
- Burke Mountain gets a purchase offer.
- Mechanics and electricians at Crested Butte will vote whether to unionize on June 30th.
- Two new lifts for next winter are already nearing completion at Loon Mountain and Massanutten.
- Deer Valley-Mayflower talks continue.
- Le Massif gives up trying to purchase struggling Mont-Sainte-Anne.
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