- Eagle Point provides an initial fire assessment; four of five lifts sustained damage.
- Less than a month after a tower was bent on the Tamarack Express, Leitner-Poma and Tamarack install a whole new tower with the lift set to reopen tomorrow.
- The Goldbelt Tram remains closed following an April crash now reported to be caused by inexperienced staff mistakes.
- The story of how a small town in Arkansas got an $8.5 million detachable serving 280 vertical feet.
- Hawaii officially bans commercial chairlifts, gondolas and tramways statewide.
- The family of a child killed on a Quebec chairlift last winter speaks out.
- Deer Valley outlines the next two years of East Village development.
- Donner Ski Ranch offers free lift tickets to guests who photograph distracted lift operators.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne’s upcoming bubble six pack to be named L’Évolution Express.
- Several prominent Vail residents join Matthew Prince’s criticism of Vail Resorts infrastructure and trajectory.
- A filing reveals the precise alignment for Kicking Horse’s recently announced Pioneer Express.
- The Forest Service to host a Waterville Valley expansion open house on July 15th.
- OITAF’s Ropeway Innovations symposium to be held in Park City next June.
Mont-Sainte-Anne
Doppelmayr to Build Three New Detachables at Mont-Sainte-Anne
Mont-Sainte-Anne today announced a groundbreaking order for three Doppelmayr lifts to revitalize the mountain’s aging infrastructure over the next three years. The order, signed on March 26th and among Doppelmayr Canada’s largest ever, encompasses two six place chairlifts and a 10 place gondola. The project will be funded in part with a CA$50 million loan from Investissement Québec, a government economic development agency. Mont-Sainte-Anne’s owner, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, will fund an equal portion.
A new Express du Sud will debut first in February 2027. The bubble six pack will follow a completely new alignment, replacing both the current Express du Sud detachable and La Tortue fixed grip, both of which date back to 1986. Whistler-based Ecosign sited this lift so skiers can access North, South and East slopes from a single unload point just below the summit. Express du Sud’s 97 bubble chairs will travel at a speed of five meters per second with a trip time of 7.3 minutes, The UNI-G lift will transport 2,400 people per hour and become the first six place bubble in Eastern Canada. Tree clearing will begin this summer and both existing lifts will remain operational into next winter until the new lift is ready.
Come December 2027, Doppelmayr will complete the first 10 place gondola in Eastern Canada, replacing the mountain’s 1989 vintage gondola. This UNI-G system will include 65 CWA Omega IV level walk in cabins with individual seats and floor-to-ceiling windows. The gondola will fly a brisk six meters per second, lifting 2,600 guests per hour to the summit in just 7.4 minutes. “Designed for four-season use, this facility will also allow the transportation of mountain bikes, facilitating the development of a summer offering,” noted Mont-Sainte-Anne. “It will become much more than just a means of transportation: an experience in itself, suitable for skiers as well as visitors, groups and convention customers.” The base of the gondola will shift toward L’Express du Sud to coincide with redevelopment of the village and beginner area.
Finally a second six pack will open on the North side of the mountain in December 2028, replacing both a 1987 detachable quad and 1970s T-Bar. This UNI-G detachable will include 67 non-bubble chairs moving at five meters per second. A ride will run just 4.6 minutes with an hourly capacity of 2,600 skiers. When Express du Nord is complete, Mont-Sainte-Anne will have replaced five aging lifts with three modern machines. Mont-Sainte-Anne noted it selected Doppelmayr after a competitive bid process in part due to the Austrian company’s head office in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, “providing superior guarantees for installation and adherence to schedules.”
Mont-Sainte-Anne also plans to install a mountain coaster and revitalize the snowmaking system together with the new lifts. “This project marks a turning point for Mont-Sainte-Anne, said Maxime Cretin, Vice President and General Manager, Eastern Region for Resort of the Canadian Rockies. “It allows us not only to modernize our infrastructure, but also to rethink the overall experience offered to our visitors starting next season, by focusing on performance, comfort and innovation.”
News Roundup: Horsetrac
- Alta Sierra, California reopens for the first time in several years but has to rope evacuate a lift on day one.
- Indy Pass raises its base pass price, lowers the full pass price and adds Thrill Hills, ND; Pebble Creek, ID and Murray Ridge, BC plus several international and cross country outposts.
- Lost Valley, Maine would like to expand onto the opposite side of its access road with several lifts.
- Aspen Highlands looks to build a year-round gondola, replace Thunderbowl with a detachable and add an Apple Strudel lift.
- Doppelmayr USA partners with Ski Utah.
- Powder Mountain proposes replacing one carrier on Lightning Ridge with a carousel horse. Automated gates will prevent skiers from riding the horse.
- Two empty gondola cabins collide in Austria.
- Another avalanche takes out a lift tower in France.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne runs its gondola on diesel at reduced speed with less than 40 cabins out of 90 operational.
- McConkey’s at Park City has been down this week.
- Sugarbush pulls both Green Mountain Express and Super Bravo Express for a few days to complete repairs.
- Opposition emerges to the proposed gondola in Rock City, Georgia.
- An unseated passenger makes it all the way to the top of Bear Mountain’s longest detachable quad.
- Royal Gorge, Colorado debuts new glass floor gondolas tomorrow.
News Roundup: Settlement
- The Hermitage Club to build a detachable quad to mid mountain this summer.
- Snowmass likely to replace the Sky Cab pulse gondola with a detachable system in 2027.
- Under a proposed settlement, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies would pay some 300 riders who were on the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola during two abrupt stopping incidents in 2020 a total of CA$5.1 million.
- Blackcomb closes Catskinner for a few days for haul rope inspection/repair.
- Glen Eden’s Limestone quad goes out of service for repairs.
- Also Luckey’s at Table Mountain.
- And Lift 2 at Loveland.
- Ragged Mountain works to return Barnyard to service.
- Tremblant runs the rarely open Casino Express as a substitute for the Soleil Express for a few days.
- Two workers are killed on a Bartholet construction site in Oman when a work carrier falls.
- A snowboarder dies in Japan after being dragged by a backpack while trying to disembark a lift.
- A Graffer gondola for the Cortina Olympics may not be finished in time.
- An unseated passenger is okay after falling from height at Mammoth.
- Nonprofit Badger Mountain, Washington fundraises to maintain utilities and insurance.
- Another transit gondola route is floated in Park City.
- After two incidents and two lawsuits, Sun Peaks stops allowing a concessionaire to load “Snow Limos” on chairlifts.
- Closed Sleeping Giant, Wyoming in talks to sell to an unnamed operator with properties in Colorado and New Mexico.
- Gore Mountain conducts a high-profile evacuation of its gondola following a deropement.
- Cornerstone General Contractors is the low bidder to be construction manager/general contractor on the Eaglecrest used gondola install.
- An update on the sale of Eldora to a nearby town.
- Several Oregon ski areas suspend operations due to minimal snowpack.
News Roundup: Granite State
- Tenney Mountain rope evacuates Hornet.
- Two people are injured falling from the Panorama Express at Gunstock.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina loses its main lift due to a mechanical issue.
- Cuchara successfully opens Chair 4 for the first time since 2000.
- Mt. Jefferson, Maine may close after this season.
- The publicly-owned ski hill in Des Moines, Iowa seeks a new chairlift.
- With a strike dragging on, Le Massif announces the end of ski season, then promptly reaches a deal to reopen tomorrow.
- With public and private funding secured, Mont-Sainte-Anne plans to sign a contract to replace three aging detachables in March.
- A mixed-use development near Park City could include a gondola connection to Deer Valley East Village.
- Vail CEO Rob Katz discusses unionization efforts in the ski industry and reflects on last season’s strike at Park City.
- A rider who died after falling from a chairlift at Cypress Mountain last week may have lost consciousness before falling.
- Elected officials are under investigation for meeting with the owner of Telluride about a sale during the patrol strike.
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.
Province Orders Mont-Sainte-Anne Closed Again
There’s plenty of snow in Québec but those wishing to ski Mont-Sainte-Anne this weekend will need to do so under their own power. The province issued an order Friday night prohibiting the major ski area near Québec City from operating any of its four detachable lifts, citing recent electrical problems and deficiencies discovered in a recent inspection. Québec’s ropeway regulator issued a similar order in December 2022 following a series of high-profile incidents. In February 2020, the mountain’s gondola suffered an abrupt stop, injuring more than a dozen passengers. A less serious incident occurred a month later, which combined with Covid, closed the gondola for more than a year. In December 2022 a cabin fell from the same gondola, a mishap later blamed on human error. The Québec building authority ordered five lifts shut down, causing the entire ski area to temporarily cease operations in the middle of winter.
This time Québec ordered three detachable quads and the gondola closed, effectively shuttering the resort. Inoperable lifts include a 1986 Doppelmayr quad, a 1987 Doppelmayr quad, a 2013 Doppelmayr quad and a 1989 Doppelmayr gondola. Mont-Sainte-Anne has yet to open this season, citing damage from a November 28th power outage. Repairs had been completed and the resort was set to reopen Saturday until the order came down at 6:09 pm Friday evening. “The Régie du Bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) has ordered the closure of the aerial ski lifts at the Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort,” the province said in a press release. “This order, served today on the operator, follows inspections carried out on Wednesday, December 10, in connection with a failure on the 25,000-volt high-voltage network that powers the buildings, ski lifts, and snowmaking system…The results of the inspection showed that the break affecting an underground section of the electrical network prevented the normal and safe operation of the equipment covered by the order, which constitutes a danger to the safety and physical integrity of people,” said the release. “Furthermore, the seriousness of the shortcomings observed in recent years creates an emergency situation that requires the RBQ to intervene without delay in order to prevent irreparable harm to the public.” The order noted Mont-Sainte-Anne and owner Resorts of the Canadian Rockies were notified not to operate lifts more than a week ago on December 5th. It also alleged the mountain has suffered recurring electrical problems for more than 10 years that are believed have contributed to the gondola incidents in 2020.
“As a reminder, ski resort operators are primarily responsible for the safety of their customers,” said Stéphane Petit, Vice President of Inspection at the RBQ. “Our priority remains public safety. The resumption of activities will depend on the pace at which Mont-Sainte-Anne complies with the requirements of the order.” Proposed remedies include testing of service and emergency brake systems, demonstration of functioning communications systems and a written evacuation plan in the event of a power failure. “We wish to clarify that we will fully comply with this order and that we will cooperate in all the upcoming steps, which will begin early next week,” the mountain said to customers. “While we are naturally disappointed not to be able to launch our winter season, snowmaking continues actively on the north and south facing slopes.” The mountain plans to open its conveyor lifts, restaurants and retail shop this weekend and welcomed the public to ski tour with purchase of an uphill ticket. It also invited season passholders to go cross country skiing or visit nearby Stoneham, also operated by RCR.
This is the latest setback in a long saga for one of Québec’s largest resorts. Mont-Sainte-Anne operates on public land via a long-term lease and many have called for the province to revoke its agreement with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies due to incidents and lack of investment. However last December the province opted instead to inject CA$50 million into the resort in partnership with RCR. Nearly a year later, the deal still has not been signed.
News Roundup: Power Problems
- Crescent Hill, Iowa to install a new (used) drive terminal on its double chair.
- Approval of a new gondola in Hawaii may be rescinded.
- The private ski resort planned near Steamboat faces a mix of public backlash and support.
- Deer Valley President & COO Todd Bennett says several more lifts are planned for Deer Valley East, timeline TBA.
- Megève, France joins the Ikon Pass.
- Doppelmayr wins the tender to build a nine station urban gondola in Puebla, Mexico.
- Val Bialas, New York to reopen after several years closed.
- Lifts and ski trails return to Google Maps after a one year hiatus.
- A power outage leads to a rope evacuation at Sunburst, Wisconsin.
- Electric infrastructure problems will delay the start of Mont-Sainte-Anne’s season for at least another week.
- Skeetawk, Alaska seeks public funding for a second lift, possibly a gondola.
- Eaglecrest extends the bid deadline for a gondola general contractor, wants to open in 2028 but doesn’t have enough money to finish.
- Lost Ontario ski area Talisman to be preserved as conservation land.
- Aspen Mountain’s Nell Bell approval moves along.
- The New York Times spends a day with Snowbird’s mountain operations team.
- Holiday Mountain, New York sends a Poma bullwheel and gearbox to help Whaleback, New Hampshire revive its chairlift.
- Welch Village, Minnesota’s new quad is named Joy Ride.
- Spirit Mountain’s new trail map shows where the Highline Quad runs.
- Toronto Zoo’s SkyPod to open in 2027.
- Leitner-Poma and Skytrac celebrate completing 20 lifts on time or early.
- Pico to auction 1965 Bonanza chairs for charity.
- Bear Mountain, California purchases new Skytrac chairs for Lift 7.
News Roundup: Interior BC
- Powdr sells SilverStar, BC to Pacific Group Resorts.
- Excavation begins for the Okanagan Gondola in interior BC.
- A study finds the proposed Zincton project in BC could disrupt grizzly and wolverine corridors.
- Little Switzerland, Wisconsin plans to replace the up-and-over 1-2 lift with two quads in 2026.
- Fall Line Construction’s new website showcases several cool lift projects from the past few years.
- Mad River Glen may acquire 1,100 acres of surrounding land.
- Telluride and its unionized ski patrol remain far apart with a strike possible.
- Compagnie des Montagnes de Ski du Quebec (CMSQ) would like to own ten ski areas in five years.
- Nearly a year since the province of Quebec and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies announced a CA$50 million joint investment at Mont-Sainte-Anne, the deal still hasn’t been signed.
- The Canadian Ski Museum highlights community ski area history in every province.
Quebec to Inject $50 Million at Mont-Sainte-Anne
The Government of Quebec today announced a CA$50 million investment in Mont-Sainte-Anne, the crown jewel of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies eastern operations located near Quebec City. Under the deal, RCR will be required to invest an equal amount of private capital over the next five years. Half the government’s contribution will come as a forgiveable loan while the other half must be paid back with future revenue.
Mont-Sainte-Anne operates on provincial land under a 99 year lease inked in 1994. Since that time, Alberta-based RCR has installed just one new lift, the Panorama Express in 2013. The mountain suffered several lift incidents in recent years and many called on the province to terminate its lease and partner with a different operator. Groupe Le Massif and Compagnie des Montagnes de Ski du Quebec both expressed interest but the province concluded the current lease with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies should continue. One condition of the loan to RCR is periodic, independent safety audits.
A large chunk of the infusion is earmarked for new lifts characterized as “ultra modern.” Newspaper La Presse reported that the mountain’s 1989 Doppelmayr gondola, 1987 Doppelmayr detachable quad L’Express du Nord and 1986 Samson quad La Tortue will all be replaced. No specific timelines or lift types were shared but anything new will be a welcome upgrade. The main lodges and snowmaking system will be modernized and a mountain coaster installed. “Our government has chosen the best option to ensure the sustainability of the mountain, ensure safety for users and make this jewel of the Côte-de-Beaupré region once again,” said Kariane Bourassa, Member of Parliament for Charlevoix-Côte-de-Beaupré. “The $50 million invested by the Government of Quebec comes with clear conditions that RCR must respect. These investments will help restore the reputation of the resort, with new ski lifts and modernized infrastructure that will improve the customer experience while reducing energy consumption.”
Lift Blog 
