- MND posts a replay of its Orizon product launch at Mountain Planet.
- Doppelmayr and Poma release their annual yearbooks.
- Poma launches an open air gondola concept where passengers will stand harnessed.
- Doppelmayr wins a $115 million contract to build a 3S and 10 passenger gondola in Chamonix.
- Okanagan Gondola receives final approval for construction near Kelowna, BC.
- The Highlands, Michigan will auction chairs for charity.
- Turkey arrests multiple people over last week’s fatal gondola incident.
- Jackson Hole says goodbye to Sublette.
- Opposition emerges to Deer Valley’s proposed Lift 7.
- Quebec Mountain Resorts Company, owner of Mont Grand-Fonds and Mont Lac-Vert, offers to buy Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, says it would invest tens of millions in new lifts and snowmaking.
- Vail Resorts reports skier visits were down 7.8 percent this season but revenue was up. Same story for 24-25 season pass sales with units pacing down but revenue up.
- Bluewood, Washington looks to replace Skyline with a detachable quad.
MND
MND Introduces Orizon Detachable Line
After years of dabbling in the detachable space, MND today unveiled its full range of next generation detachable lifts at Mountain Planet in Grenoble. The French firm known for its avalanche control and snowmaking products has invested more than €20 million developing the Orizon line, which includes both detachable chairlifts and gondolas. Orizon will offer all the premium features customers may want in a detachable lift including direct drives, bubbles, and modern gondola cabins seating 10, 16 or 20 passengers. More than 60 people worked on the development of Orizon and approximately 100 more will join MND in the coming year to support the new product line.
“With this innovating range of detachable, single-cable gondola lifts and chairlifts, MND is consolidating its position as a global player and aims to win new market share in a fast-growing sector,” the company noted in a press release. “The Orizon range equipment caters to the most demanding configurations: steep gradients, long distances, large vehicles and high flow rates.”
This is not the first time MND has dipped its toes in the detachable space dominated by Austria’s Doppelmayr and Italy’s HTI Group, owner of Leitner and Poma. In 2017, MND completed its first detachable lift at La Plagne, France. The Envers chairlift suffered problems from day one and was never duplicated but gave the company valuable experience to learn from. Later, MND pivoted to partner with Bartholet of Switzerland for detachable technology, building lifts around the world including at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. That partnership proved successful but ended last year when HTI acquired a majority stake in Bartholet. With MND coming back to the market with its own product, three large European conglomerates will offer detachable lifts on a global scale.
MND’s chairs, gondolas and stations were crafted in partnership with the Stellantis Design Group. Americans know Stellantis for its car brands – Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram – but the company’s design arm also partners to develop products for other applications. The MND Orizon range is decidedly modern and designed to fit in both alpine and urban spaces. Orizon lifts will be geared toward demanding applications, capable of seven meters per second and up to 8,000 passengers per hour per direction. Two grips, P10 and P20, can accommodate up to 66 millimeter haul ropes.
The Orizon line will be produced in a new €10 million plant in Sainte-Hélène-du-Lac, France. MND did not reveal when or where the first Orizon lift may launch.
News Roundup: Bonnie
- The Summit at Snoqualmie releases renderings of and begins construction on the new Wildside Quad.
- Jay Peak intends to replace Bonaventure next summer.
- Stratton eyes replacing Tamarack with a high speed quad in 2025, may swap the gondola for a bubble six or eight place chairlift after that.
- Brian Head, Utah appears to be working on an expansion.
- Powder Mountain plans to build a new lift in Wolf Canyon next year and add additional private terrain in the Davenport zone. Owner Reed Hastings tells the New York Times privatized terrain will subsidize the money-losing public operation.
- A wild video from Italy shows the dangers of bubble chairs in high winds (no injuries).
- Obstructors sue to halt progress on the proposed Los Angeles Dodger Stadium gondola.
- Park City highlights unique operational aspects of opening Ninety Nine 90 with no electricity or vehicle access to the summit.
- The Forest Service approves Sun Valley’s Seattle Ridge six pack, slated for this summer, and the future Christmas chondola.
- Whistler Blackcomb debuts two wrapped cabins on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola with designs crafted by indigenous artists.
- Hatley Pointe works to reactivate two backside chairlifts, teases another lift upgrade skiers will be “really surprised” about.
- Deer Valley hopes to break ground on a Snow Park-Silver Lake gondola in 2025, says the line could eventually become part of a five segment network from East Village all the way to Old Town Park City with stops at Park Peak, Silver Lake and Snow Park.
- Highlander is hiring construction crew members for multiple lift installations at Deer Valley this summer.
- Sun Peaks faces another lawsuit for another Burfield Quad mis-unload.
- Sugarbush catches flak for closing much of Lincoln Peak early to begin construction of the new Heaven’s Gate quad.
- There’s further evidence MND will launch a new detachable line at Mountain Planet next month.
- Funding for a new Telluride-Mountain Village gondola will likely be on the ballot this fall alongside the Presidential choice.
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: Above & Beyond
- A new park map shows where Legoland New York’s gondola will go.
- A skiing preview of Deer Valley Expanded Excellence.
- The Colorado Sun embeds with departments who work all night to make Winter Park run.
- Afton Alps removes Chair 18 to make way for a tube park.
- Vail Resorts reports season-to-date skier visits are down 9.7 percent and lowers earnings guidance.
- From the classifieds: a 1987 Poma Quad for sale.
- Doppelmayr assumes patents needed for Autonomous Ropeway Operation (AURO) installations in the USA.
- Kimberley, BC files a new master plan.
- MND to make an announcement on April 16th.
- Upon learning of a young guest named Reid with a phobia of chairlifts, Stevens Pass staff spring into action, giving him a full day tour of mountain operations and making him an honorary lift operator.
- Red Lodge Mountain closes the Cole Creek quad due to a component failure within the lift terminal structure.
- A high speed quad is rope evacuated at Burke Mountain.
- Flat Top Flyer at Powderhorn remains closed awaiting delivery of parts.
- Sugarloaf closes King Pine for whatever this “mechanical problem” is.
- Guests were stuck on Blackcomb’s new gondola for hours yesterday.
- The OITAF World Congress for Ropeways is coming to Vancouver June 17-21.
- Leitner has reportedly paid more than $16 million in settlements to families of victims of the 2021 Stresa-Mottarone tram disaster.
- A D-Line gondola in Austria will run entirely on solar energy produced on site this summer.
- Grouse Mountain provides a gondola construction update.
- A raccoon rides Sugarbush’s Village quad.
- Costs double for the proposed gondola-served transit center at Steamboat.
- Also at Steamboat, Leitner-Poma appears to have won the contract to replace Sunshine Express.
- Leitner-Poma also appears to have upcoming projects at Big Bear Mountain Resort, Snowbasin and Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
- Chapman Hill will replace its main rope tow with a Leitner-Poma platter.
- Wachusett nears a decision to replace Polar Express with a six pack.
- The Town of Alta passes a resolution opposing the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola.
- Red River shares renderings of its upcoming Copper Chair, will sell retiring Riblet chairs.
Bartholet Ends Detachable Partnership with MND
After five years of working together, Bartholet of Switzerland and MND Group of France have terminated their joint venture partnership effective December 13th. Under the agreement, MND Ropeways utilized Bartholet’s detachable lift technology in select markets such as France and the United States while continuing to offer its own surface lifts and fixed grip chairlifts. One final MND-Bartholet detachable project under construction in France will be completed as planned.
The end of MND’s deal with Bartholet comes as little surprise. HTI Group, the conglomerate behind Leitner Ropeways and Poma, purchased a majority stake in Bartholet in March of 2022. Bartholet and MND only completed one project jointly in the United States, the Tecumseh Express at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire in 2022. That project was contracted before HTI bought Bartholet and MND hasn’t sold a chairlift in the United States since. Bartholet continues to operate as a subsidiary of HTI in Europe with a product line distinct from Leitner and Poma.
Going forward, MND Ropeways will need to find another partner or utilize its own technology in order to continue offering detachable lifts. Prior to the Bartholet deal, MND built one detachable chairlift in La Plagne, France, which opened in March 2017 but has suffered periodic technical problems. It is rumored MND may outline its future detachable plans at the Mountain Planet trade show this spring.
News Roundup: Von Rolls
- Wolf Ridge, North Carolina re-brands as Hatley Pointe.
- New tram cabins land in Big Sky after a journey from Switzerland.
- Steamboat advances construction of a parking lot transport gondola.
- The Forest Service explains why it rejected Lutsen’s expansion proposal.
- Snow Ridge will host another tornado cleanup this month.
- Cleanup begins after the epic flood at Lee Canyon.
- Massanutten plans to open the first brand new lift of 2023 next weekend.
- Holiday Valley will open its new six pack in October for pre-winter rides.
- MND reports a 27 percent revenue increase with €140.1 million in outstanding orders.
- The former Tulsa Skyride will live on at an Iraqi amusement park.
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