Mt. Rose

News Roundup: Eruption

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  • Move over Epic Pass, Alterra is launching the Ikon Pass.
  • Granby Ranch is officially listed for sale.
  • Aspen CEO Mike Kaplan says snow challenges bring out the best in people.
  • Think your area is busy on a Saturday?  The urban gondola network in La Paz sets a new one day record: 278,621 riders!
  • New York Governor calls previously announced state fair gondola “an exciting idea” but withholds funding for now.
  • More stories surface of the Hermitage Club owing people money.
  • Skier records volcano erupting from a Doppelmayr detachable in Japan. One person was killed and a gondola damaged by rockfall.
  • ORDA, the state owner of Belleayre, Gore Mountain and Whiteface, lost $20.8  million last year.
  • Powder catches up with Alterra President and COO David Perry, who stresses the company will do things differently than Vail.
  • Public comment period opens for Mt. Rose’s Atoma expansion, which would include construction of one or two new chairlifts as early as 2019.
  • The draft environmental impact statement is also out for Steamboat’s expansion, to include a second gondola, Rough Rider chairlift, new Bashor lift and Pioneer Ridge pod with groundbreaking possible by May.
  • Lake Louise and Nakiska are probable venues for a possible 2026 Calgary Olympics. Denver, Reno-Tahoe and Salt Lake also weigh bids.
  • Just upgrading electric infrastructure for Disney’s Skyliner gondola system will cost $3.8 million, around the total price tag of a typical ski lift project!
  • For the first time since I started keeping track, 2018 new lifts are pacing behind 2017.
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News Roundup: Penkenbahn

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  • After several high-profile incidents, a good reminder from the NSAA that 86 percent of falls from chairlifts can be attributed to rider error.
  • Lots of questions surround last week’s skier-pushes-snowboarder-off-lift story from Aspen Highlands.  Police say even without an arrest made, the public is not in any danger.
  • Bravo to Bristol Mountain for actually pressing charges against a freeloading teen for theft of services.
  • Only at a tiny mountain in Maine would volunteer ski patrollers derail a double chair they are also responsible for inspecting.
  • An Austrian man is in a coma after the harness he was wearing around his neck became entangled with a platter lift carrier.  At least one lift operator may not have been at his or her assigned post.
  • Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe is for sale.
  • Fun Spot America near Orlando looks to add a gondola ride (thanks Jay T. for the tip.)
  • Dignitaries break ground at Laurel Mountain in preparation for a November re-opening.
  • A mix of public and private groups including Georgetown University are about to spend $250k to study a gondola linking Rosslyn, Virginia with Georgetown (one of Washington, D.C.’s highest-profile neighborhoods without a metro station.)
  • The Balsams Wilderness won’t re-open in 2016 after all.  A revised timeline has three new and two existing lifts spinning in late 2017.
  • This is our 200th post!

Instagram Tuesday: Climbing

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Instagram Tuesday: Still Building

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Footings ready for new chair storage structure at base of Quantum Four.

A post shared by Okemo Mountain Resort (@okemomtn) on

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News Roundup: Eco-Friendly

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News Roundup: Adding Lifts

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Poma Omega sample cabin for Jackson Hole's new Sweetwater Gondola.
Poma Sigma sample cabin for Jackson Hole’s new Sweetwater Gondola.
  • The Balsams mega-project gets snowmaking water permit and releases its phase one plan which includes six new lifts.  That will be the contract of the year next summer if it really happens.
  • The owners of Saddleback have extended the deadline to find financing for a new lift before pulling the plug on this season.
  • Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe announces an $11.00 minimum wage for all resort employees next season.
  • Kitzbuhel in Austria will add another 8-passenger bubble lift for next season to be built by Leitner.
  • France’s Avoriaz also announced a new Poma six-pack.
  • Whistler will add the Creekside Gondola to its Bike Park starting Friday.  The gondola has been outfitted with the latest Deasonbuilt center-pole bike carriers.  Creekside will become Whistler-Blackcomb’s 11th lift open for summer operations including three gondolas and six detachable quads.
  • The Neptuno double chair (Poma) in Las Lenas de-roped off 5 towers last week thanks to an avalanche.  See photo below.
Deropement off 5 towers in Las Lenas. Photo credit: Snowbrains.com
Five towers de-roped in Las Lenas after an avalanche. Photo credit: Snowbrains.com