- Centennial Park, Ontario permanently closes with its Hall T-Bar up for removal.
- Sun Peaks dismantles the West Bowl T-Bar in preparation for a new chairlift.
- An update on Kimberley and Leitner-Poma’s efforts to get the arson-damaged Northstar Express back in service.
- Al at A-Basin provides an update on Lenawee Express project, which is a few weeks behind schedule.
- Loon Mountain’s Seven Brothers Express project also faces delays.
- Steamboat’s new Wild Blue Gondola will undergo a 30 day commissioning process before opening.
- The Palisades Base to Base Gondola will open on schedule.
- Mt. Shasta and Doppelmayr load test the big Gray Butte expansion lift.
- Chair 9 and the terrain it serves disappear from the Alpine Valley, Michigan trail map.
- More new maps: Big Boulder, Camelback, Greek Peak, Heavenly, Jack Frost, Lookout Pass, Nordic Valley, Steamboat and Whistler Blackcomb.
- The new red cabin is successfully installed on Snowbird’s tram.
- White Pass eyes a new lift.
- Mt. Rose will open this weekend, then close midweek to continue work on the new Lakeview Express.
- An analysis of Little Cottonwood Canyon public comments shows 61 percent of respondents against the project with 35 percent pro-gondola.
- Doppelmayr launches a new global website.
- Snowshoe to replace Powder Monkey with a fixed grip quad in 2023, manufacturer TBD.
- Indy Pass will add two Colorado resorts next.
Mt. Shasta
News Roundup: Hurdles
- Four people file appeals seeking to halt construction of Park City’s new lifts.
- Doppelmayr, Poma and Leitner all release annual brochures featuring lifts built last year.
- The former owner of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain is sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $8.3 million in restitution.
- The Tenney Mountain property is sold.
- Grouse Mountain formally applies for a development permit to build a new gondola.
- West Mountain looks to break ground in 2023 on a $140 million real estate project which includes a high speed quad.
- Whistler’s chair and gondola sale is live now.
- Heavenly to sell North Bowl triple chairs beginning today (update: the sale has been postponed for unspecified reasons.)
- With multiple projects in planning, Canada may beat the United States to the urban gondola party.
- Maine’s Quoggy Jo loses key funding.
- A preliminary timeline for the Timberline Lodge gondola construction: 2028.
- Juneau will spend $845,000 to transport the used 15 passenger gondola it purchased for Eaglecrest, more than double an initial estimate.
- Mount Roberts Tramway operator Goldbelt downplays its involvement in the Eaglecrest gondola project.
- Preliminary lift work begins begins at Mayflower.
- In case you missed Doppelmayr Insights, here’s a replay.
- Bartholet prepares to build Flem Xpress, the first Ropetaxi with autonomous gondolas and multi-station selection.
- Big Snow is on track to reopen May 27th.
- County officials approve Mt. Shasta’s Gray Butte expansion and construction begins.
Mt. Shasta Announces Gray Butte Expansion
Rumors of a major expansion and new lift coming to Mt. Shasta Ski Park were spot on. The Northern California mountain plans to build a Doppelmayr fixed grip quad on Gray Butte, significantly extending the skiable vertical drop with five new intermediate runs. The new lift will rise 1,154 vertical feet along an approximately 4,300 foot run, topping out at 7,500 feet in elevation.
“We are so excited to announce the Gray Butte Lift, which has been a long time in the making,” says a new project webpage. “The new lift will service much higher elevation, epic terrain, and access to our backcountry area.” Gray Butte will be the longest chairlift at Mt. Shasta with 14 towers and a 9.5 minute ride time.
Although the lift line has already been cut, the project has not yet received final approval and the ski area is asking the public to contact the Siskiyou County Planning Commission with support. Planning documents state construction is expected to take place in the fall of 2022 into early 2023. More information on the timeline will be shared at an April 20th public meeting.
News Roundup: Even Ten
- Boyne Resorts acquires its tenth ski area: Shawnee Peak, Maine.
- A new trail map shows Loon Mountain’s gondola is now called the White Mountain Express.
- A Bloomberg profile notes visitation has grown 46 percent in five years at Big Sky with major development to continue.
- Snow Partners becomes the new corporate umbrella for Mountain Creek, Big Snow American Dream, Snow Operating and more.
- A new model of the Sigma Diamond EVO cabin will debut first at Austria’s Kaunertaler Gletscher.
- Whiteface proposes a high speed quad with angle station from Bear Den to the new Legacy Lodge and may replace Little Whiteface and Mountain Run with a quad in 2022.
- Boyne Mountain General Manager Ed Grice takes a deep dive on six future lift projects.
- The new Cape Smokey gondola is carrying thousands of riders on peak fall days.
- A conveyor project is delayed a year due to components being stuck on a ship near the Port of Houston.
- Welch Village also says it’s waiting for parts of its new chairlift.
- Le Massif adds a Doppelmayr platter to service the new Club Med Québec-Charlevoix.
- Crystal Mountain President Frank DeBerry says replacing Rainier Express is a top priority. Alterra also wants to swap the Mt. Rainier Gondola for a higher capacity machine and turn the existing gondola into a base area-Campbell Basin link. Bullion Basin Express, an East Peak lift, Kelly’s Gap Express and Northway detachable all remain under consideration.
- Reader Austin S. sent in the below photos from Mt. Shasta, purported to be clearing for a new lift on Gray Butte.
News Roundup: Firm Orders
- Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta will build a second SkyDream gondola system, this time at Vidanta Riviera Maya.
- Sundance auctions chairs from the former Arrowhead triple.
- The team at Craigleith, Ontario wins the inaugural Ski Area Management/Leitner-Poma Rise Up Challenge.
- Four Japanese resorts sign on to the Indy Pass.
- Arizona Snowbowl’s new gondola has been down for two weeks and the ski area moves its entire summer operation to a different base area and the Grand Canyon Express.
- Beaver Creek’s two new quads will be named McCoy Park Express and Reunion.
- The sale price for Blue Mountain, PA is revealed as $31.9 million.
- MND reports annual results with ropeway sales up 32 percent and a firm order backlog of €91.7 million.
- A group continues to push for a West Seattle gondola as a planned rail project gets delayed.
- Squaw Alpine and Leitner-Poma make great progress on the base to base gondola, though they aren’t publicly committing to a completion timeline.
- Citing staffing and fire danger, Mt. Shasta ends its summer season early.
- After missing a year, Searchmont plans to reopen this season with two new triple chairs.
- Manitoba’s Holiday Mountain announces it won’t open in 2021-22.
- 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.
Lift Blog 
