- Breckenridge proposes building a new C-Chair and gondola to mid-mountain learning center on Peak 9.
- Park City’s Sunrise Gondola project receives unanimous support from the local planning commission.
- Whitefish’s one year old Snow Ghost Express misses the holiday period due to continued mechanical issues.
- A teenager who fell 25 feet from a Wachusett lift secures a $3.3 million verdict.
- A viral video shows an unseated passenger travelling the entire way up Copper’s Woodward Express.
- Vandals continue to damage haul ropes at a ski resort in Italy.
- Vermont taxpayers are on the hook for $16.5 million going to Jay Peak investors and their attorneys under a settlement.
- A French-Swiss company which recently purchased two Quebec ski areas forms Quebec Ski Mountain Company (CMSQ) and looks to invest in more mountains.
- The Forest Service publishes a draft decision approving Jackson Hole’s Sublette replacement project.
Park City
News Roundup: Cost Overruns
- Eaglecrest needs $1.86 million in additional parts for its used pulse gondola, which has already cost $3.1 million before construction.
- 2023 was “by far the most successful year” in North America for the Doppelmayr Group.
- An upcoming Garaventa tram in Europe will feature robotic cargo loading.
- Mechanics at the Portland Tram vote not to unionize.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City reach a two year contract with Vail Resorts.
- Gore Mountain issues an RFP to replace Northwoods Gondola cabins in 2024.
- Doppelmayr wins a contract for a 189 cabin urban gondola in Bogotá, Colombia and begins construction on a 122 cabin urban gondola in Santiago, Chile.
- A viral video shows a chairlift in China bouncing wildly due to a malfunction.
- Heavy rains close Sunday River for 5 days and knock the Chondola out of service.
News Roundup: Winter Maintenance
- Indy Pass adds Hudson Bay Mountain, BC.
- Outside talks to Indy Pass founder Doug Fish and owner Erik Mogensen about the program’s rapid growth.
- The 14 day temporary restraining order halting construction at Wasatch Peaks Ranch becomes an indefinite preliminary injunction pending a decision by the Utah Supreme Court.
- The New York Olympic Regional Development Authority plans to spend $80 to $100 million on capital improvements each of the next four years.
- The Sandia Peak Tramway will close for two months for systems upgrades and maintenance.
- A detachable chair detachment injures two in Austria.
- Ricola sponsors a new karaoke experience aboard specially outfitted gondola cabins at a Swiss resort.
- Two more lawsuits are filed against UDOT over the Little Cottonwood gondola, one by the cities of Sale Lake and Sandy and another by Save Our Canyons.
- Whistler wins the race to open Canada’s first eight seat chairlift.
- Park City postpones the public hearing for the proposed Sunrise Gondola until January.
- Reddit rumors of the demise of Panoramic Express at Winter Park aren’t true.
- Nordic Valley acknowledges the Apollo double will be down indefinitely following the discovery of several issues.
- Doppelmayr is awarded contracts worth $950 million to build, operate and maintain an automated people mover at Newark Liberty International Airport.
News Roundup: Utah, Utah, Utah
- Wasatch Peaks Ranch is ordered to temporarily halt construction and sales while a court considers a zoning dispute.
- Deer Valley Expanded Excellence lift construction is set to begin this summer.
- Park City Mountain’s proposed Sunrise Gondola project will go to a public hearing Tuesday night.
- Vail Resorts reports pass sales increases, plans to build the Sunrise Gondola in 2025.
- Nonprofits and individuals sue the Utah Department of Transportation seeking to stop the Little Cottonwood gondola.
- With numerous projects in the pipeline, Skytrac is hiring lift construction project managers.
- Red River proposes replacing the Copper double.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina teases new lifts over the next 3 to 5 years.
- Hickory to join Indy Pass, reopen lifts with funding from Indy Pass and Unofficial Networks.
- The cost of the proposed Dodgers Stadium Gondola in Los Angeles rises to an estimated $500 million.
- Mt. Spokane debuts a new trail map by VistaMap.
- A New York politician proposes exempting lift projects from state sales tax to match tax free purchasing enjoyed by state-owned resorts.
- James Coleman joins the Ski Utah podcast to talk about the rapid growth of Mountain Capital Partners.
- Montana Snowbowl lifts are certified to run again.
- Busch Gardens Tampa teases a reopening of its VonRoll gondola closed for four years.
News Roundup: The Stache
- Two riders who claim they were injured in a Riblet clip ejection incident in 2020 sue Red Lodge Mountain.
- Red Lodge names its new detachable lift Stache Express in honor of longtime General Manager Jeff Schmidt.
- Texas Parks & Wildlife has raised most of the $36 million needed to build a new Wyler Aerial Tramway in El Paso.
- Doppelmayr works with a Utah adaptive organization to make D-Line chairs more accommodating to sit skiers.
- A judge upholds Park City’s decision to block Eagle and Silverlode replacement projects at Park City Mountain.
- Park City continues to look at gondolas as possible public transportation.
- Deer Valley applies for its first lift construction permit for eastward expansion.
- Lutsen Mountains new trail map shows the new Raptor Express.
- Sundance seeks information on chairlift vandals (update: caught).
- Alterra appoints Mammoth and Steamboat leaders to new regional positions overseeing multiple resorts.
- The world’s largest urban gondola network in Bolivia plans more expansion as it nears 500 million rides.
- County commissioners allow the nonprofit seeking to reopen Cuchara to resume work.
News Roundup: City to Mountain
- Leitner-Poma assures the public that recent stopping and swinging on the Roosevelt Island Tram pose no safety issue.
- Doppelmayr secures a five year maintenance and operations contract for the Sterling Vineyards gondola.
- Attendants and mechanics working for Doppelmayr at the Portland Aerial Tram may unionize.
- Garaventa completes the first Auro autonomous operation aerial tramway in Zermatt.
- A gondola in Raleigh, North Carolina?
- Officials release a 360 degree preview of the proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
- Belleayre’s new quad will be called Overlook.
- Snow Valley shortens Chair 2 into a beginner lift with the drive terminal from old Chair 1.
- In Quebec, new owners of Mont Grand-Fonds plan a six seat detachable.
- No link but Mammoth tells me Chair 1 will be replaced in 2024.
- Sun Valley plans to replace Seattle Ridge with a six place detachable in ’24. Christmas is next but no timeline yet for that project.
- A judge will decide whether Park City Mountain’s Eagle and Silverlode upgrade projects can proceed in the future.
- Homewood bails on going private, potentially allowing the delivered Madden Gondola to be installed next summer.
- County officials order the nonprofit attempting to reopen Cuchara to stop work, citing safety concerns.
News Roundup: Gondola Gallery
- Troll, British Columbia secures a million dollar grant to double ski terrain with a new T-Bar next year.
- Snowbasin may not host events for a second Utah Olympics but Deer Valley and Park City are on board.
- Baltimore explores building a harbor crossing gondola.
- Big Sky’s stunning new tram will open December 19th.
- Vail Resorts debuts gondola cabin artwork by diverse artists at Park City and Stowe with Whistler Blackcomb up next.
- Vail brings lift mechanics from Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio to help finish the Mountaineer at Attitash.
- A rigging mishap sets back reopening of Chair 4 at Cuchara.
- Sugar Bowl replaces two damaged towers on the Crow’s Peak triple.
- Sierra at Tahoe modifies lift towers due to wind load changes from Caldor Fire tree removal.
- Discovery, Montana completes a solar power facility adjacent to the Anaconda triple capable of providing 65 to 70 percent of the lift’s energy needs.
News Roundup: The Notch
- Snow Ridge plans to spin all five lifts this season despite extensive tornado damage sustained in August.
- Mt. Holly postpones completion of the Lightning Express to next summer.
- Cockaigne, New York won’t open this season.
- Norway Mountain, Michigan begins maintenance on lifts in preparation for reopening next season.
- Whiteface’s new trail map shows the new Notch lift and angle station.
- Park City shares more details on the upcoming Sunrise Gondola.
- The New York Times profiles Vietnam’s record-breaking ropeways.
- A trial is set for January for eight defendants implicated in the 2021 Italian tram disaster.
News Roundup: Ten Figures
- Mont Sutton, Quebec becomes the latest resort to announce a loading conveyor addition this season.
- Mt. Bachelor says the new Skyliner Express is on track to open in December despite some shipping delays.
- Sunlight releases a fresh master plan with a series of lift upgrades and additions.
- Vail Resorts plans to wrap gondolas at multiple resorts with messages of diversity and inclusion.
- Breckenridge offers old Five chairs for sale.
- Park City says new, heavier cabins will require Red Pine Gondola towers to be reinforced, acknowledges the Sigma cabins list 2 degrees when empty.
- Aspen Mountain’s new Pandora’s lift will now be called Hero’s.
- Ikon Pass resorts invest over one billion dollars in improvements for this season.
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania names a new operator for closed Denton Hill.
- Multiple factors contributed to the deadly collision between a gondola cabin and drill rig at Tremblant this summer.
News Roundup: Ponderosa
- Garaventa commences building the first TRI-Line tricable gondola in Switzerland.
- The Kemmerer family sells Jackson Hole to a local investor group.
- Lee Canyon’s expansion lift to be called Ponderosa.
- Lutsen backs away from proposed expansion to consult with local tribes.
- More chair sales: White Pass, Washington and Lutsen, Minnesota.
- A new trail map shows the rebirth of lost terrain at Holiday Mountain, New York.
- Park City shows renderings of the proposed Sunrise Gondola.
- I took a break from skiing at Mammoth last week to snap some pictures of the Canyon Express project.
Lift Blog 
