- Austria’s Saalbach, Zell am See-Kaprun, Mayrhofen, Hintertux and Silvretta Montafon join the Epic Pass as partner resorts, bringing Epic to nine European destinations.
- Poma releases its 2024 Reference Book highlighting projects around the world.
- Eaglecrest may not meet a 2028 deadline to complete its used pulse gondola.
- America’s only summer only ski area will open this year for the first time in three.
- Whaleback meets a $250,000 fundraising goal for lift repairs.
- Opposition organizes against proposed Grand Targhee expansion.
- Bluewood, Washington to sell chairs if its new lift project is on track by September 1st.
- Hawaii’s first gondola is proposed on the North Shore of Oahu.
- A gondola is floated for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
- Also Anaheim, California.
- Marmot Basin’s visitation drops 30 percent due to last year’s fire in Jasper.
- Silver Mountain delays summer opening due to gondola repairs.
- Timberline Helicopters, the company that installs the majority of lift towers in the West, breaks ground on a $13 million expansion in North Idaho.
- The nonprofit organization that’s been trying to revive Cuchara, Colorado inks a 40 year operating lease for the mountain.
- Vail Mountain intends to begin work on the lift projects I wrote about last week next summer, subject to Forest Service approval.
- President Trump proposes a 50 percent tariff on imports from the European Union starting June 1st.
Marmot Basin
News Roundup: Olympic Games
- Colorado’s Governor, Doppelmayr and investors break ground on the Mighty Argo Cable Car project in Idaho Springs.
- Alterra presses pause on a new parking gondola at the base of Steamboat.
- The Forest Service weighs whether to allow chairlifts at a proposed bike park in Arkansas.
- The International Olympic Committee selects Salt Lake City to host the 2034 games with events at Deer Valley, Park City and Snowbasin.
- A wildfire tears through Jasper, Alberta with Marmot Basin cautiously optimistic but no word on the fate of the Jasper SkyTram.
- Mt. Abram’s Mainside chairlift will miss the rest of the summer due to maintenance.
- An update on Jackson Hole’s new Sublette detachable quad:
News Roundup: 750
- Leitner plans to offer the ConnX multi-model gondola system from 2025 after passing tests in Hungary.
- A progress report on the first Doppelmayr TRI-Line in Switzerland.
- Also on the first MND Orizon detachable in France.
- MND inaugurates a new production facility to support the Orizon line.
Skytrac celebrates its new facility in Tooele, Utah.
Bartholet releases its 2024 reference book. - Alta clarifies it supports a Little Cottonwood gondola.
- White Pass adds chairs to boost capacity on the Great White Express.
- A viral video shows a lift being jostled by a small tornado.
- Homewood now plans to build its already-delivered D-Line gondola in 2025 and upgrade Ellis in 2030.
- Burke Mountain delays summer opening to mid-July due to a mechanical issue with the Sherburne Express.
- Marmot Basin to sell chairs from the Knob double.
- Jackson Hole to auction Sublette chairs.
- Beartooth Basin is for sale.
- I visited my 750th ski area this week, marking the completion the Canada Lift Database.
News Roundup: Raven
- Smugglers’ Notch abandons plans for a gondola to Stowe.
- Marmot Basin removes the long-closed Caribou double.
- Whitewater names its new quad Raven, posts an expansion map.
- Boyne Mountain’s new map shows two new lifts.
- Ditto for Sun Valley.
- Winter Park’s 23-24 map shows the new mid-station for Wild Spur Express.
- Steamboat introduces a completely new map with Wild Blue and Mahogany Ridge.
- Steamboat begins testing Wild Blue II a.k.a. The Monster.
- Cooper and Mt. Shasta join the Powder Alliance.
- More than 50 new resorts will join the Indy Pass next week, including Great Bear, South Dakota.
- The No Boundaries Pass says Indy Pass banned its resorts from participating.
- Lost Colorado area St. Mary’s Glacier goes up for sale.
- Windham Mountain rebrands as Windham Mountain Club, will no longer sell single day tickets during peak periods.
- The Forest Service says it’s working with Montana Snowbowl to correct lift issues from last season before winter.
- Doppelmayr turns 130.
- An Ontario mountain needs a $100,000 lifeline to operate this winter.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie will sell chairs from the old Easy Rider triple.
- Rabbit Hill, Alberta moves lift towers due to ground movement.
- The Okanagan Gondola project continues to move forward in British Columbia.
Marmot Basin Announces New Knob Chair
It’s been an open secret for months but Marmot Basin made it official this weekend: a new summit chairlift will debut this winter. Not only will the new Knob Quad replace the mountain’s oldest lift, it will also increase Marmot Basin’s lift-served vertical by 415 vertical feet. The Doppelmayr fixed grip quad will replace a 47 year old Doppelmayr double of the same name but run in a modified alignment. The new machine will be longer and taller, rising 1,289 vertical feet over 3,566 feet of slope length. A Chairkit conveyor will enable loading at 2.3 meters per second with up to 1,200 skiers per hour enjoying a sub eight minute ride. The new lift will improve access to the Cirque terrain as well as Marmot Peak.
When the project is complete, Marmot Basin will feature one of the youngest lift fleets in Canada. Marmot and Doppelmayr plan to open the Knob Quad this coming season as soon as snow permits.
News Roundup: Gondola Party
- The reopening of Mont Glen, Quebec falls through due to financing.
- Big Squaw owner James Confalone says a developer canceled plans to rebuild the resort because lenders abandoned the project.
- The nonprofit which operates the lower mountain at Big Squaw will sell double chairs from the former summit lift as a fundraiser.
- Jordan 8 and Merrill Hill debut on the Sunday River trail map.
- Sundance’s new map shows the Wildwood expansion.
- Loveland’s 22/23 map is out.
- Northstar too.
- Seven Springs launches an all new map under Vail Resorts.
- Snowriver renames nearly all its lifts and retires the Voyager Quad.
- Whistler hopes to open the new Creekside Gondola by Christmas with Big Red likely earlier.
- Waterville Valley pushes back opening by a week to focus on completing the Tecumseh Express.
- Palisades Tahoe flies towers for Red Dog, plans a huge party for the Base to Base Gondola opening.
- Thunder nears completion at Jackson Hole despite some delays.
- Magic Mountain further delays the Black Line Quad because the used lift needs a new haul rope.
- The new red tram car begins carrying skiers at Snowbird.
- Wachusett looks to replace the Polar Express in 2024.
- Marmot Basin seeks to swap the Knob double for a longer quad chair come 2023.
- Big openings: East Peak at Caberfae, Colter at Grand Targhee, Comstock Express at Northstar and Lakeview Express at Mt. Rose all carry their first skiers today.
- Tulsa seeks a new operator for Oklahoma’s only lift.
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