Mayflower – Lift Blog

News Roundup: The Desert

July 7, 2023Peter Landsman9 Comments

Matterhorn Glacier Ride II opens, connecting Switzerland and Italy via 3S gondola.
A fire destroys Lake Louise’s main employee housing complex, displacing 165 workers and closing the resort temporarily. Emergency relief fund here.
The State of Vermont agrees to pay $16.5 million to settle claims over its role in fraud at Jay Peak and Burke Mountain.
Vail Mountain to auction 65 retired triple and quad chairs for charity.
Lots of ski terrain gets sculpted at Mayflower next to Deer Valley.

News Roundup: No Refunds

June 16, 2023June 16, 2023Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

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.

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.

News Roundup: Beast

February 10, 2023Peter Landsman6 Comments

Telluride opens the 6,000 foot long, 2,000′ vertical Plunge Express.
Palisades Tahoe seeks approval for a second Base to Base Gondola cabin parking facility in Olympic Valley.
Greek Peak rope evacuates Chair 2.
Silverton Mountain plans to install a second used chairlift as soon as this summer.
Whitefish reopens the Snow Ghost Express after additional mechanic training.
New Hampshire’s Governor suggests Cannon Mountain consider a gondola rather than an expensive new tram.
Arapahoe Basin explains why it switched from Epic to Ikon.
A new Doppelmayr fixed grip quad will debut at Tremblant next year as part of a real estate development.
Bretton Woods closes the Zephyr Express until further notice due to a mechanical problem.
Aspen Skiing Company launches a Snowmass master plan website.
Clearwater, British Columbia won’t open this season due to lack of snow.
This profile offers a behind the scenes look at lift operations at Sunshine Village.
I snapped a few photos of Mayflower construction progress today.

News Roundup: Changing Hands

September 23, 2022Peter Landsman1 Comment

Vancouver’s transit authority begins the station design process for the Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
Three Park City residents who own Pacific Group Resorts expect to close on Jay Peak next month.
Burke Mountain may also soon be sold.
Arapahoe Basin creates a podcast episode all about Lenawee Express construction.
A Basin also explains why a big drop in skier visits is a good thing.
Energy prices where many of the world’s lifts are operated and manufactured could spike eight fold this winter.
Eaglecrest’s new gondola arrives in Alaska.
Sugar Bowl joins the Mountain Collective.
Hunter Mountain will sell chairs from the Z Lift next week.
A thousand page report outlines negligence and poor management leading to deaths of 14 people on an Italian tramway last year.
Dry Hill, New York gets new owners.
The top station building for a 125 passenger aerial tramway partially burns in Switzerland.
The Forest Service seeks public comments on Copper Mountain’s proposed Timberline six pack.
The General Manager of Whitecap Mountains, Wisconsin assumes full ownership.
A new neighborhood adjacent to Mayflower Mountain Resort will feature its own chairlift.
Mt. Bachelor’s new Skyliner six pack will be D-Line.
Loveland and Lookout Pass fly lift towers into place.
British Columbia determines a volunteer ski patroller injured in a chairlift de-ropement is eligible for worker’s compensation.
Leitner wins a four station urban gondola contract in Colombia.
Here are some official and unofficial updates on the Palisades Tahoe Base-to-Base Gondola.
Also an update on Thunder from Jackson Hole:

News Roundup: Teaser

September 16, 2022Peter Landsman29 Comments

Copper Mountain proposes replacing the Timberline Express although a representative says there’s no timeline or model selected yet.
An empty cabin falls from a gondola in South America.
Palisades Tahoe tells the story of declining to purchase the White Wolf property for $400,000 and now paying the landowner rent where much of the Base to Base Gondola runs.
A new book about prolific lift builder Hans Burkhart will be released this fall.
The Highlands, Michigan teases something faster, quieter and warmer coming soon.
Plattekill says the lightning-damaged Northface Express will be repaired before ski season.
Someone allegedly gets left on the Icy Strait Point gondola system, is offloaded unharmed.
Doppelmayr will build the new Skyliner Express at Mt. Bachelor.
Big White offers the rare opportunity to own a gondola cabin as Lara’s Gondola transitions to all Sigma cabins.
Idaho surpasses 2 million skier visits for the first time.
Shawnee Peak, Maine reverts back to Pleasant Mountain.
On the second anniversary of the second cable cut, Sea to Sky Gondola doubles the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect to CA$500,000. Police also release a video of the incident and photo of the saboteur.
Sea to Sky also sues the company that installed a security system between the two vandalism incidents, alleging it did not work reliably and allowed the cable to be cut the second time.
Maine conditionally approves redevelopment of the ski area on Big Moose Mountain.
Mayflower reaches 300 acres of ski run cleared, still plans lift service in late 2024.
Lift mechanics at Nordic Valley put out a fire which may have been intentionally set.
The newest lift in Tennessee will be called the Horizon Skyride and open soon.
Indy Pass sales are up 52 percent in units and 67 percent in dollars over 2021-22 with more resorts to be added in the coming weeks.

News Roundup: Moving Steel

July 15, 2022Peter Landsman14 Comments

Eaglecrest packs its new gondola up in Austria; the lift may not open in Alaska until 2024.
Snowbird now owns the land at the base of the proposed Little Cottonwood gondola.
The Snowbird tram reopens tomorrow with one cabin operation.
An Oklahoma county is criticized for seeking $300,000 in pandemic recovery funds to remove the Tulsa Skyride.
Powder Ridge, Minnesota places retired chairs up for auction.
A small wildfire on Aspen Mountain was likely started by a cigarette thrown from the Silver Queen Gondola.
The Salt Lake Tribune talks with the Park City appellants and consultants about Comfortable Carrying Capacity.
Parts continue to arrive in Park City’s parking lot despite construction being on hold.

Suicide Six is now Saskadena Six.
Kimberley and Leitner-Poma progress with repairs to the fire-damaged Northstar Express.
Doppelmayr offers $29 million in financing for the Cascade Skyline Gondola.
Lost Trail signs on to the Powder Alliance.
A public comment period opens regarding one of Mayflower’s 15 proposed lifts which would cross federal land.
A Thunder progress report from Jackson Hole:

News Roundup: Town Halls

June 3, 2022Peter Landsman10 Comments

On an all-star podcast with Katharina Schmitz and Mark Bee, Stephen Kircher discusses more new lifts coming to Boyne Resorts and the two companies’ shared history.
Leitner-Poma forecasts another busy year of building lifts in Grand Junction despite high material and shipping costs.
2022 will be the busiest year ever for Doppelmayr USA with 25 installations including 6 D-Line detachables.
Mt. Rose launches a page dedicated to Lakeview Express updates.
A €100 million 2S gondola project in France is cancelled due to rising costs.
The Matterhorn Alpine Crossing 3S will open one year from now.
Canadian and Quebec governments will spend CA$400,000 to modernize the world’s first six passenger chairlift.
At a Palisades Tahoe town hall, leaders discuss on this summer’s $60 million capital infusion and Alterra’s plan to spend $150 million over the next 2-4 years.
Solitude commits to replacing Eagle Express in 2023; will look at upgrading Link and adding a Moonbeam-Roundhouse-Powderhorn gondola after that.
Following last weekend’s mishap, Doppelmayr and Snowbird now plan to reopen the tram in mid-July with one new cabin and one old cabin on the line but not carrying passengers.
Big Sky and Garaventa break ground on America’s first new large tramway since 2008.
As real estate sales begin, more detailed maps emerge from Mayflower Mountain Resort.
Michigan considers returning a second chairlift to Porcupine Mountains State Park.
The appeal pausing Park City’s lift projects will be heard next week.

News Roundup: Hurdles

May 6, 2022Peter Landsman13 Comments

Four people file appeals seeking to halt construction of Park City’s new lifts.
Doppelmayr, Poma and Leitner all release annual brochures featuring lifts built last year.
The former owner of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain is sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $8.3 million in restitution.
The Tenney Mountain property is sold.
Grouse Mountain formally applies for a development permit to build a new gondola.
West Mountain looks to break ground in 2023 on a $140 million real estate project which includes a high speed quad.
Whistler’s chair and gondola sale is live now.
Heavenly to sell North Bowl triple chairs beginning today (update: the sale has been postponed for unspecified reasons.)
With multiple projects in planning, Canada may beat the United States to the urban gondola party.
Maine’s Quoggy Jo loses key funding.
A preliminary timeline for the Timberline Lodge gondola construction: 2028.
Juneau will spend $845,000 to transport the used 15 passenger gondola it purchased for Eaglecrest, more than double an initial estimate.
Mount Roberts Tramway operator Goldbelt downplays its involvement in the Eaglecrest gondola project.
Preliminary lift work begins begins at Mayflower.
In case you missed Doppelmayr Insights, here’s a replay.
Bartholet prepares to build Flem Xpress, the first Ropetaxi with autonomous gondolas and multi-station selection.
Big Snow is on track to reopen May 27th.
County officials approve Mt. Shasta’s Gray Butte expansion and construction begins.

News Roundup: Any Day Now

March 18, 2022Peter Landsman15 Comments

British Columbia’s Troll Resort proposes an expansion serviced by a 2,600 foot T-Bar.
Loon Mountain is selling a 1985 CTEC triple chair.
White Pass’ former Doppelmayr platter is up for sale again.
The Forest Service accepts Tamarack’s expansion proposal, which now moves to an environmental review.
UDOT will announce soon whether it will pursue a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Kendall Mountain rope evacuates its only chairlift.
Vail Resorts reports improving financial results with skier visits up 11.7% from last year and +2.8% from pre-Covid 2019/20.
Vail will invest an extra $175 million in employees next year including implementing a $20 per hour minimum wage ($21 for maintenance technicians.)
A child is uninjured after falling from the only chairlift in the Yukon Territory.
Juneau moves ahead with its used gondola purchase.
Keystone shows off a map of the Bergman Bowl expansion.
The owner of Big Squaw appeals millions of dollars in fines.
A dispute over whether to expand Gunstock Mountain gets very nasty.
A new gondola has revitalized an entire community in Eastern Canada.
Bill Jensen talks about the transformation of Sundance and teases a soon-to-be-announced terrain expansion.
The lift line is cut for Mayflower’s first lift adjacent to Deer Valley.

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