- Leitner-Poma completes Texas’ second gondola at Circuit of the Americas.
- Asessippi, Manitoba seeks CA$2.2 million in disaster relief funds to repair flood damage from this summer.
- Ski Ward, Massachusetts to install the first Skytrac surface lift specific to the North American market.
- Hermon Mountain, Maine looks to revive its T-Bar after many years idle.
- A resident claims new construction encroaches into the airspace of Breckenridge’s BreckConnect Gondola with Vail Resorts disputing that and the issue set to be discussed at next week’s Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board meeting.
- Maverick Mountain, Montana hopes to install a used Poma quad in 2027 to replace a lift destroyed by fire.
- Seven ski areas in six states offer reciprocal skiing to Eagle Point skiers without a resort this winter due to wildfire.
- Sleepy Hollow, Iowa seeks bids for a new quad in 2027.
- The Forest Service begins the NEPA process for Sipapu’s proposed three lift expansion (map)
- Lee Canyon, Nevada also eyes several new lifts above the current footprint.
- A new map shows where Fernie’s Cedar Bowl Express will run.
- The first line is cut for the four lift Moonlight West expansion at Big Sky.
- Palisades Tahoe installs new Garaventa hanger arms on the High Camp Cable Car.
- The Forest Service expects a decision on the Grand Targhee expansion by the end of the year.
- Skeetawk, Alaska previews new gondola terrain.
- Vail Resorts urges shareholders not to vote for unsanctioned board nominees.
Palisades Tahoe
News Roundup: Short Films
- Homewood’s new gondola is finally approved.
- Eaglecrest receives a key gondola construction permit.
- The Wall Street Journal covers several challenges facing Vail Resorts.
- Unionized Crested Butte lift mechanics authorize a strike should they be unable to reach a contract agreement with Vail.
- Breckenridge lift staff stage a one day sick out in protest of employee housing conditions, closing several lifts on Wednesday.
- Pioneer at Park City hasn’t opened this season due to an offseason deropement still being repaired.
- Blackcomb’s Glacier Express to be closed a week or longer due to a possible gearbox issue.
- Mount Snow’s Challenger has been inoperative since January 13th.
- Mammut sponsors a short film exploring the transformation of Shames Mountain, British Columbia into a community co-op.
- British Columbia opens public consultation for the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort.
- A gondola transit network in Oshawa, Ontario could cost CA$1.1 billion.
- Reed Hastings explains his sweeping changes at Powder Mountain including four new lifts in one summer and partial privatization.
- Chicopee, Ontario explains why its three new lifts aren’t spinning yet.
- Bristol Mountain partially rope evacuates the Comet Express.
- Ditto for the Mt. Hood Express at Mt. Hood Meadows.
- The Balsams extends approval for long-delayed redevelopment.
- Mont Farlagne, New Brunswick reopens its only chairlift after a month-long closure due to a bullwheel issue.
- Ischgl invites guests to help build a life size replica of a 3S gondola cabin with Lego bricks.
- The latest New Hampshire tram board minutes hint at a possible new lift for Bretton Woods.
- Mountain Village and Telluride begin planning their new gondola in earnest.
- Vermonters ask Why hasn’t Burke Mountain sold? as receivership fees surpass $12 million.
- Sugarbush gets all but one of its chairlifts going after a challenging start to the season.
- Several videos show the chaotic aftermath of the bullwheel detachment in Spain last week.
- Colorado releases the Winter Park gondola crack incident report, a full report of investigation remains in progress.
News Roundup: Eclipse Weekend
- Ikon Pass adds St. Moritz, Switzerland as its sixth European destination.
- A child is hospitalized after falling from Steamboat’s Sunshine Express.
- Another child falls from Park City’s Orange Bubble Express.
- Powder Mountain will auction Timberline chairs this weekend.
- Holiday Mountain removes the long lost D double, plans to eventually replace it with a used triple chair.
- No link but I’m told a hand charge landed on and exploded on top of a Base to Base Gondola cabin last Saturday at Palisades Tahoe during avalanche hazard reduction work. No one was injured but the cabin was damaged.
- Blackcomb cancels summer skiing due to the receding glacier under the Showcase T-Bar.
- Former Jay Peak President Bill Stenger tells his side of the fraud saga in two parts.
- Homewood will hold a master plan update and perhaps address the future of its delivered-but-not-installed D-Line gondola.
- West Mountain continues planning for a backside detachable quad.
News Roundup: Gondola Down
- The on-demand Ropetaxi gondola in Switzerland suffers from outages, slow speeds and confused riders after opening.
- Gore Mountain’s Northwoods Gondola goes down for a week and counting due to a gearbox bearing issue.
- The Heavenly Gondola is also out of service while bearings are replaced.
- Both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma are expected to bid on the Cannon tram rebuild with completion targeted for December 2026.
- A child is injured falling from the Gold Coast chair at Palisades.
- The strong earthquake in Japan shakes running chairlifts.
- Windham Mountain Club runs out of weekend Ikon reservations for most of the winter.
- The Forest Service approves replacements for Mineral Basin and Gadzoom at Snowbird, the proposed Brighton Chondola and a Coach replacement at Bogus Basin.
- Snowbasin plans to replace the Becker triple.
- Boyne Mountain will spin lifts 75 hours straight for a good cause.
- Alterra President and CEO Jared Smith participates in an interview with Colorado Public Radio covering a range of industry hot topics.
News Roundup: 2S
- The only bidder for the Tulsa Skyride plans to relocate it to the Middle East.
- A loaded Base to Base Gondola cabin mis-captures and gets stuck in the KT-22 mid-station at Palisades Tahoe during a storm.
- Speaking of Base to Base, here’s a cool profile on what it takes to keep the lift running.
- A Celebration of the Life and Work of Hans Burkhart will be held on Monday, March 13 at 5 pm at the Funitel Plaza at Palisades, with a reception to follow.
- An employee causes a Riblet clip ejection at Anthony Lakes.
- Wolf Ridge, North Carolina sells to new owners who promise improvements.
- Elko Snobowl closes for the season due to issues with its Hall double.
- Bousquet closes its Hall double for the season due to a gearbox issue.
- Nordic Valley’s Hall double remains closed with alternate snow cat service in place.
- Montana lost ski area Wraith Hill goes up for sale with a 1976 Doppelmayr T-Bar.
- BigRock, Maine inks a contract with Doppelmayr for a new quad in 2024.
- Sunlight’s Segundo will spin one more season before replacement in ’24.
- The Forest Services issues a Draft Environmental Assessment and seeks comments on Taos Ski Valley’s proposed Base to Base Gondola and replacement of lifts 2 and 8.
- Indy Pass prices increase approximately 11 percent, Epic 8 percent and Ikon 7.5 percent for next season.
- Deer Valley will require Ikon Pass reservations next year, Taos eliminates them but goes off Ikon Base.
- Vail reports mixed quarterly results with skier visits up 3.6 percent but earnings down 1 percent due to weather and increased operating costs.
News Roundup: Beast
- Telluride opens the 6,000 foot long, 2,000′ vertical Plunge Express.
- Palisades Tahoe seeks approval for a second Base to Base Gondola cabin parking facility in Olympic Valley.
- Greek Peak rope evacuates Chair 2.
- Silverton Mountain plans to install a second used chairlift as soon as this summer.
- Whitefish reopens the Snow Ghost Express after additional mechanic training.
- New Hampshire’s Governor suggests Cannon Mountain consider a gondola rather than an expensive new tram.
- Arapahoe Basin explains why it switched from Epic to Ikon.
- A new Doppelmayr fixed grip quad will debut at Tremblant next year as part of a real estate development.
- Bretton Woods closes the Zephyr Express until further notice due to a mechanical problem.
- Aspen Skiing Company launches a Snowmass master plan website.
- Clearwater, British Columbia won’t open this season due to lack of snow.
- This profile offers a behind the scenes look at lift operations at Sunshine Village.
- I snapped a few photos of Mayflower construction progress today.
News Roundup: Busy Busy
- Ski Wentworth in Nova Scotia names its new Quad Cobequid after the local mountain range.
- The Seattle Times profiles this year’s turnaround at Stevens Pass.
- The Merrill Hill expansion opens at Sunday River after two years of construction.
- Bear Valley’s Grizzly chair is closed due to a deropement and four chairs being ejected from the haul rope (note: the description in the Instagram post is not accurate but the resort comments below the post.)
- A child is hospitalized after falling from a lift at Ski Sundown.
- Storm damage forces more comm line replacements at Sierra at Tahoe.
- Tenney Mountain to open next weekend for the first time since 2020.
- Big Squaw goes back up for sale.
- The oldest lift in Colorado will cease operations unless a new owner comes along.
- The Forest Service approves Waterville Valley’s World Cup/Exhibition T-Bar, though no construction timeline has been set.
- Former Big Sky/Crystal Mountain General Manager and prolific lift builder John Kircher dies at 64.
- Whitewater returns Silver King to service after a bullwheel bearing replacement.
- Crystal Mountain and Leitner-Poma work to reopen the Crystal Clipper this weekend.
- Deer Valley to launch Burns Express this afternoon.
- Doppelmayr pulls the haul rope for the new quad at Belle Neige (note: this lift was contracted with a February completion date.)
- Doppelmayr and Telluride still aren’t sure when Plunge Express will open.
- A misload causes a chair to get tangled in a terminal at Wolf Creek.
- A deropement leads to a rope evacuation at Crested Butte.
- Similar story at Brimacombe, Ontario.
- Whitefish rope evacuates the brand new Snow Ghost Express, says it had safety concerns that Leitner-Poma engineers are working to address.
- Palisades re-splices and reopens the new Red Dog Express.
- I’m told Bridger at Nordic Valley will miss the entire season due to a planned haul rope replacement.
- Aspen’s Silver Queen Gondola goes down due to a gearbox issue.
News Roundup: Three Left
- The lone chairlift at Elko Snobowl is rope evacuated on a busy Saturday.
- Windham Mountain rope evacuates the Wonderama Express after a chair collides with a snow gun.
- The Disney Skyliner closes for planned maintenance.
- Part of a detachable terminal blows away at Kirkwood.
- Aspen’s 1A replacement project remains in seemingly perpetual limbo.
- A new tram update with Big Sky’s Director of Construction.
- Telluride and Doppelmayr to load test Plunge Express this weekend with opening planned for early February.
- The final Vail Resorts Epic Lift Upgrade project opens on Vail Mountain.
- The Snow Flyer at Bittersweet and Transporter at Montana Snowbowl both opened today, marking 100 percent completion for Leitner-Poma and Skytrac projects.
- The workhorse of Crystal Mountain, Michigan will remain closed for another weekend.
- Multiple lifts go down at Cannon Mountain.
- A bill introduced in the New Hampshire legislature has $25 million for a new Cannon tram.
- The new Red Dog at Palisades Tahoe will temporarily close for a re-splice this week; Alpine Bowl will be closed indefinitely due to a mechanical problem.
News Roundup: On Line
- MND raises more money to continue growth plans.
- Palisades Tahoe opens Red Dog, Mount Baldy, Ontario opens the chairlift it worked years to build.
- Vail aims to open Sun Down Express this weekend.
- Sunnyside at Alta will open tomorrow, two months late.
- Cascade Mountain’s delayed lift also spins tomorrow.
- Granite Gorge, New Hampshire reopens after a multi-year closure.
- Loup Loup temporarily closes its lone chairlift to remove hazard trees identified by the Forest Service.
- Children are injured falling from lifts at Boyne Mountain, Bristol Mountain and Mt. Snow.
- Vail Resorts reports a 12.5 percent increase in skier visits but cautions extreme weather and airline disruptions hurt holiday performance.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City prepare to negotiate their first contract with Vail Resorts.
- Whitewater’s Silver King lift will be down for up to a month.
- Crystal Mountain, Michigan’s main lift to be down all weekend.
News Roundup: North Dakota
- Both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma submit preliminary proposals to connect concourses at Denver International Airport by gondola or cable-propelled train.
- Attitash rope evacuates the brand new Progression quad.
- Thrill Hills, North Dakota opens for skiing for the first time in 10 years.
- Forest Service documents show a slightly modified alignment for Breckenridge’s 5-Chair replacement.
- Property acquisition begins for the proposed Cascade Skyline Gondola.
- A county government purchase of Cannonsburg, Michigan goes on hold for now.
- North Dakota’s Bottineau Winter Park will replace its Hall T-Bar with a Doppelmayr one this summer.
- Nearing a month since a gondola incident, Mont-Sainte-Anne remains closed indefinitely.
- Bartholet will build the first major urban gondola in India with five stations and 150 cabins.
- The Durango Herald profiles Wolf Creek’s fierce independence and expansion despite not participating in any multi-mountain passes.
- Chairs go on Red Dog at Palisades Tahoe in advance of a planned mid-January opening.
