- Skier visits at Vail Resorts are down 7.8 percent for the season through January 5th, attributed to slow starts at Whistler Blackcomb and Stevens Pass.
- Agassiz at Arizona Snowbowl was evacuated over MLK weekend and remains down.
- Visits and revenue continue to decline at the publicly-owned mountain in Newfoundland called Marble Mountain.
- It takes a ton of work to reopen lifts, particularly detachable ones, at Mt. Snow after an ice storm.
- By building a T-Bar instead of a chairlift, Ski Cooper was able to implement a major expansion this season for around $2 million.
- Mont St. Mathieu opens another $2 million T-Bar expansion, noting a chairlift would have cost more and moved skiers less quickly.
- The Snowpark expansion at Montana Snowbowl is a hit and LaValle is back open.
- Software problems lead to the closure of the new Morning Star Express at Bogus Basin (now back open.)
- BC’s Jumbo Glacier becomes an indigenous protected area, ending plans for a new ski resort there.
- Vail Resorts will pay out $200 bonuses to employees who refer new applicants to become lift operators at 14 resorts.
- The State of Illinois shuts down a ski resort, alleging required inspections weren’t completed prior to opening. In a statement, Snowstar apologizes to season passholders and says an inspector failed to show up. At least one lift will reopen today.
- Parks Canada axes plans for a Mt. Norquay gondola.
- Josh Elliott, the teen who jumped after becoming stranded on a Sugar Mountain chairlift in 2016, tells his harrowing story on the Outside podcast.
- Mt. Jefferson, Maine won’t open this season.
- New York State plans to spend $147 million to improve its ski areas.
- Bromont ropes down more than 200 people from the Express du Village, some after being stuck four and a half hours.
- Edmonton releases the preliminary economic and technical assessment for the Prairie Sky urban gondola.
- Siemens highlights a design software partnership with Doppelmayr.
Mont St. Mathieu
News Roundup: A Late Addition
- Big Sky’s two new lodging access lifts are on the map, bringing The Biggest Skiing in America to 37 lifts.
- Sasquatch Mountain Resort needs help naming its shiny new Leitner-Poma quad chair.
- Mont St. Mathieu will expand with a 3,100 foot Doppelmayr surface lift set for commissioning in January 2020.
- The Sea to Sky Gondola confirms 9 cabins were undamaged in the August incident and will be used to shuttle workers this winter. With 30 new cabins on the way from Europe, the company will be able to easily take the lift to final capacity (40 cabins) in the future.
- Crested Butte’s new trail map shows the adjusted Teocalli alignment.
- In Bolivia, the largest gondola operation in the world reopens following a week of shutdowns due to civil unrest and the resignation of President Evo Morales. The general manager of the gondola company also resigned.
- Win Smith of Sugarbush chats with Vermont Public Radio about why now was the right time to sell.
- Mt. Timothy, BC is officially back in business.
- On December 9th, Vail Resorts will report fiscal first quarter earnings, traditionally accompanied by guidance on capital investment plans for the year.
- Thanks to Collin Parsons for these awesome photos of the gondola construction at the Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex.
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