Nitehawk – Lift Blog

News Roundup: Planning Ahead

October 1, 2021Peter Landsman12 Comments

Indy Pass signs on Manning Park, British Columbia; The Rock, Wisconsin; and Seven Oaks, Iowa.
Big Snow American Dream will remain closed several more weeks following last week’s fire.
Leitner-Poma to build the previously announced Lakeview Express at Mt. Rose next year.
The gondola to the gondola at Breckenridge nears approval.
Rad Smith completes his largest illustration yet – a new map for Big White in the style of James Niehues.
Another protest takes place against a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Nitehawk continues fundraising for a new chairlift as it nears a second season without one.
Lookout Pass works to convert Timber Wolf from a double into a triple.
Alpine-X seeks to raise up to $5 million through crowdfunding.
An Iowa county agrees to purchase Sleepy Hollow, a chairlift-served tubing park.
Palisades Tahoe renames two of its chairlifts Resort Chair and Wa She Shu.
Doppelmayr arrives on site to assess and make recommendations regarding the storm-damaged chairlift in Gallix, Quebec.
Amsterdam could see a river crossing 3S gondola.
Sundance will host a party on October 10th to celebrate the final rides on Ray’s Lift before removal.
Another gondola concept emerges in Los Angeles.
Lake Louise’s new high speed quad will be called Juniper Express.
Camelback says it has completed an extensive inspection and certification process for its lifts and implemented additional safety protocols in the wake of last season’s chair fall.
Stuart Winchester gets the latest from Aspen Snowmass CEO Mike Kaplan on 1A, Pandora’s, Coney Glade, Burnt Mountain, Goldenhorn and other lift projects.
The Superior National Forest will host a virtual open house Tuesday regarding the Lutsen Mountains expansion.
West Mountain unveils plans for its first detachable lift, including an intermediate station.

News Roundup: So Long T-Bars

May 14, 2021May 14, 2021Peter Landsman13 Comments

Oak Mountain retires its last T-Bar, which may live on in Vermont.
Nitehawk still doesn’t know how it will replace a chairlift destroyed by ground movement one year ago.
KSL Resorts, owner of Camelback, will manage and invest in nearby Blue Mountain.
A construction update from Great Bear.
A company under fire for a bridge collapse which killed 26 people in Mexico City also oversees two Cablebús gondola lines.
Poma inaugurates a new urban gondola in Belgium.
Preliminary indications from the March incident at Camelback point toward a dynamic event involving speed changes.
Bridal Veil Mountain Resort will hold a public information session via Zoom on Wednesday, May 19th at 7:00 pm. There’s also a new video tour of the proposed ski resort.
Austin looks at tourist-focused gondola transportation.
Steamboat Springs considers gondola transit.
Sunridge disassembles its Yellow T-Bar.
Howelsen Hill lift construction gets off to an exciting start as workers accidentally start a fire.
Bluewood plans to upgrade or replace Skyline Express and build a lift servicing 200 acres of new terrain in the next three years.
Poma’s exciting urban 3S project in France enters the home stretch.
Work gets underway on the Squaw-Alpine gondola.

News Roundup: Grab Bag

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021Peter Landsman58 Comments

Timberline Lodge evacuates 42 guests from the new Pucci detachable quad by rope.
Another late day evac happens on Castle Mountain’s Tamarack chair.
Mt. Spokane considers upgrading two 60 year old chairlifts.
The seemingly cursed Gold chair at Nakiska goes down for a week (now back in action).
Under new ownership, Sundance Resort eyes an out-of-base detachable.
Bogus Basin plans expansion and lift upgrades in a new master plan coming later this spring.
Dakota at Big Sky has been down since March 1st.
The first of its kind Leitner 2S gondola undergoes testing in Germany.
Ischgl, an early pandemic hot spot last year, gives up on opening this season.
Vancouver’s transit authority picks a preferred alignment for the Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
The Seattle Times profiles Washington’s first bubble chairlift.
A transportation bill which includes Little Cottonwood funding heads to the Utah Governor’s desk.
Once slated to close, Sleeping Giant now considers adding more lifts.
Zincton Mountain Village, a proposed resort in BC, announces the purchase of a late model Riblet quad.
Facing capacity challenges, Crystal Mountain eliminates unlimited access on the Ikon Base Pass.
Magic Mountain needs some mid-’80s vintage Poma sheave assemblies to complete the Black Line quad. Give them a shout if you can help!
Winter Park’s proposed lift replacements I mentioned last week are a Pioneer Express six place and Lariat conveyor.
On a podcast, Indy Pass creator Doug Fish says more resorts are coming, including in Canada (along with a price increase.)
During recent historic snow, the Portland Aerial Tram ran for 114 consecutive hours while other transit modes shut down.
When the Disney Skyliner stops for a bit, you better believe it will make the news.
Nitehawk looks for funding to replace its landslide-destroyed chairlift.

News Roundup: Perfect

September 4, 2020Peter Landsman13 Comments

Squaw Valley President and COO Ron Cohen explains why the resort’s name is changing and gives an update on the Squaw-Alpine gondola.
The other Squaw ski area will not be changing names.
Whitefish cuts the line for its future Hellroaring lift.
Icy Strait Point, home to two new Doppelmayr gondolas, is in the running for Global Cruise Port of the Year.
Nitehawk commences fundraising to replace its destroyed chairlift, though the community ski area may only be able to afford a T-Bar.
Jay Peak reopens its tram tomorrow with freshly-slipped track ropes.
The public is asked to weigh in on three Burnaby Mountain Gondola alignments.
Red Mountain becomes the eighth Ikon Pass destination in Canada.
Big Snow’s reopening first chair goes up empty in honor of the more than 14,000 New Jerseyans who have died from Covid.
The first lifts at Mayflower Mountain Resort are now set to open in 2023 instead of 2021. A new project video suggests it will be worth the wait.
Mad River Glen will get a James Niehues trail map if fundraising efforts succeed.
Granby Ranch gets a new owner and operator.
The Perfect family has pumped more than $13 million into Timberline Mountain this offseason, including the two new chairlifts which are 75 percent complete.

News Roundup: 2020 and Beyond

August 21, 2020Peter Landsman12 Comments

A dozen years after closing, North Carolina’s Hawksnest lists two Hall doubles for sale.
As it attempts to lower its tax bill, Jay Peak reveals it received several non-binding offers ranging from $38 million to $70 million.
Burke Mountain argues it’s worth only $11.2 million, citing seven figure losses each of the last three years.
Wachusett will sell four different sessions this winter rather than day and night tickets.
Garibaldi at Squamish now plans to break ground in 2023 and spin lifts circa 2027.
For the second time in a year, the tram in Juneau, Alaska has a new name: Goldbelt Tram.
An American visitor caught riding the Banff Gondola faces a CA$750,000 fine.
Not good: a paraglider gets tangled up in a chair.
Sugarloaf reiterates its commitment to West Mountain, which will include a lengthy detachable lift.
Holimont plans to eventually move Chipmunk, replace Sunset and build a new lift on WestMont Ridge.
Maine’s closed Eaton Mountain becomes a non-profit and will aggressively seek funding for a new chairlift.
Park City won’t be seeing gondola transit any time soon.
Nitehawk’s only chairlift will remain out of service for the entire 2020-21 season following last spring’s landslide.
Elk Mountain has not been sold.
North America’s 2019-20 ski season will come to an end August 30th.
Sunday River plans to build the Merrill Hill lift in 2022.
Quebec-based Samson Industries, which built more than 100 ski lifts, calls it quits after 160 years.
What was supposed to be New Zealand’s first 10 passenger Doppelmayr gondola will sit in shipping containers until tourism recovers.
Big Sky and Doppelmayr get to work on Swift Current 6 (shown below.)

News Roundup: Mask Up

June 19, 2020Peter Landsman9 Comments

Nitehawk removes three lift towers which were carried away from their original locations by a landslide.
Walt Disney World hasn’t set a Skyliner reopening date but cabins were back on the Epcot line last week.
The Telluride’s Mountain Village public transit gondola returns to service.
LST Ropeways and Bartholet will partner to build a 50 passenger urban aerial tramway on the island of Réunion.
Dodge Ridge begins removing Chair 6 for an upgrade project.
A fire threatens America’s southernmost ski area.
When it opens later this year, Medellín’s sixth Metrocable line will become the world’s first urban gondola with 12 passenger cabins.
The Juneau Tram will not operate at any point in 2020.
Timberline’s Palmer Express opens for summer glacier skiing.
Aspen Skiing Company says hiring a lawyer was a last resort in an ongoing dispute between Liftopia and Mountain Collective resorts.
Aspen Snowmass skier visits fell 20 percent last season.
Many Vail Resorts properties will reopen over the next few weeks but most of the company’s bike parks will remain closed.
Mt. Sunapee and Stevens Pass are suspending summer operations entirely.
On all Vail Resorts lifts, face coverings will be required when loading/unloading and at all times while on gondolas and bubble chairs.
Authorities seek information on a vandal who damaged lift sensors and other property at Pine Knob.
Pajarito cancels summer operations.

Landslide Damages Nitehawk Chairlift

May 20, 2020May 21, 2020Peter Landsman13 Comments

received_1129981314027451 — Photo credit: Johnathan Clarkson

Ground movement has impacted the only chairlift at Nitehawk Adventure Park, a community ski area located in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Multiple lift towers were caught up when the slide occurred around 3:00 am Tuesday.

Nitehawk staff had been monitoring slow movement this spring and preemptively took chairs and sheave assemblies off the lift. The ski area had also de-tensioned the Yan triple chair, which first opened in 1994. The lift started servicing a downhill bike park in 2007.

received_279057516820965 — Photo credit: Johnathan Clarkson

Nitehawk is operated by the nonprofit Grande Prairie Ski Club. “We’re thankful this event occurred when no one was on location,” said Board Vice President Whitney Wild in a statement. “Our Board of Directors and management are working with geotechnical professionals to determine next steps and possible solutions,” she continued. “Nitehawk is no stranger to facing and overcoming adversity. Operating a successful community ski hill in Northern Alberta is no easy feat. Our resiliency, along with the incredibly supportive community, will help us deal with this new challenge head on.”

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