Vail Resorts unveils a succession plan with CEO Rob Katz moving to an Executive Chairperson role and Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch becoming CEO November 1.
Icy Strait Point and Norwegian Cruise Line cut the ribbon on the Transporter gondola with another 8 passenger system set to open later this summer.
Jay Peak’s former President and CEO will plead guilty to a single charge of providing false statements and other charges are expected to be dropped.
Keystone posts a big update on the Peru Express replacement project.
Aspen Snowmass introduces a new brand and logo which is already on some gondola cabins.
Snowbasin’s Middle Bowl replacement project gets off to the races.
Big White, Grouse Mountain, Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Hell’s Gate Airtram and the Sea to Sky Gondola each receive up to CA$1 million in government assistance.
Vail Resorts is not happy with a YouTuber who climbed a Peak 2 Peak Gondola tower to make a video.
Poma, Compagnie des Alpes and the French Government will partner to build a 3.3 mile, 3 station 2S gondola linking a valley transit hub to a mountain community.
Trails and the new lift line have been cleared on Sunday River’s Merrill Hill.
Skytrac is still recruiting construction employees in Crested Butte, Steamboat, Whiteface and Whitefish.
The first-of-its-kind Leitner 2S in Germany is complete, though Covid prevents public operation and a noise issue hinders full speed operation for now.
Doppelmayr and Sun Group mark 14 years of building record breaking ropeways in Vietnam.
Great Bear to raffle off retired Borvig quad chairs.
The story of how MND came to be through 15 acquisitions and a focus on emerging markets.
MND reports half year results with revenue declining 5 percent but snowmaking and ropeway revenue increasing by 6 percent.
Less than four years ago, new terminal equipment was shoehorned into the Steamboat Gondola building. Now it’s being used for fire training in advance of demolition.
For the second time in two months, a guest is injured falling from equipment at Camelback.
Berkshire East and Catamount Jon Schaefer owner talks expansion, says he came close to buying the Hermitage Club’s six pack and tells the story of re-pouring foundations for Bousquet’s new triple chair in January.
Montana’s shuttered Marshall Mountain sells to a new owner.
In an interview, Poma Chairman Jean Souchal laments losing 30 percent of business from Covid but he remains optimistic, especially about urban transport by rope.
Waterville Valley Resort and MND Ropeways have inked a deal to bring a first-of-its-kind chairlift to New Hampshire. The six place bubble lift will replace the White Peaks Express, in operation since 1988. One hundred chairs designed by Porsche Design Studio will carry 3,000 skiers per hour along a 5,700 foot alignment.
Waterville Valley and MND previously collaborated to install three surface lifts and more than 400 snow guns. “We have been partners with Waterville Valley Resort since 2017 and are pleased to be continuing our collaboration,” noted Xavier Gallot-Lavallée, Chairman and CEO of MND. “This project will expand our position in the U.S. market by building our first detachable ropeway transportation system in the United States.”
The $9 million, 845 horsepower machine will become one of the largest bubble lifts in the East. “Replacing our White Peaks lift is the most important project in our investment plan for the existing resort footprint, and we will continue our work to enhance the guest experience at Waterville Valley Resort,” said President and General Manager Tim Smith. “This lift represents the best technology in the market today and we are pleased to extend our partnership with MND.”
MND Ropeways has built lifts in more than 40 countries to date. German Peter Loipolder founded the company as LST (Loipolder Seilbahn Technik) in 1989. Following Mr. Loipolder’s 2011 death, the French conglomerate MND (which translates in English as Mountain and Snow Development) acquired LST, moving manufacturing to the French Alps. MND went public on the Euronext Growth exchange in 2013 and constructed its first detachable chairlift in 2016. By 2019, the firm pivoted to a partnership with Bartholet Maschinenbau Flums (BMF) of Switzerland, allowing MND to utilize Bartholet’s detachable technology. MND has been present in the United States for 10 years with a main office in Eagle, Colorado and a satellite location in Laconia, New Hampshire.
A third player entering the North American detachable lift business is a big deal. The last time three companies offered detachables here was pre-2002, when Doppelmayr merged with Garaventa. Competition is good for ski resorts and ultimately the skiing and snowboarding public.
White Peaks is a turnkey project with MND providing design, project management, equipment fabrication, construction, installation, start-up and operator training. Foundations for Waterville’s six pack will be poured this year with steel erection taking place next summer. Commissioning is slated for the fall of 2022.
Starting next year, most Big Sky Resort lift tickets, season passes, Ikon and Mountain Collective passes will no longer include access to the Lone Peak Tram.
Cape Smokey provides an update on Canada’s only new gondola this year.
Schweitzer introduces a new logo and brand identity.
Despite losing a significant portion of the season, another Ontario ski area still plans to complete a new chairlift for next season.
Doppelmayr France is selected to build and maintain a five station urban gondola in Paris.
Doppelmayr also will build the first urban gondolas in Guatemala.
