- Snoqualmie’s Alpental and Summit West maps show new chairlifts in new alignments.
- Bear Valley’s 24-25 map shows the new Koala quad and Kuma shortened to become Cub.
- The new Pipestone Express hits Lake Louise’s map.
- Lost Valley shows off its first new lift since 1971.
- New legislation in Alberta I mentioned last week could revive Fortress Mountain.
- Doppelmayr publishes a fresh magazine issue.
- A nearby town is interested purchasing Eldora from Powdr.
- Alterra officially owns Arapahoe Basin.
- Snowhaven, Idaho may not open this season.
- Local leaders aren’t thrilled about the Forest Service’s proposal to only allow ticketed guests on the future Taos gondola.
- Human error is eyed in a French aerial tram crash that injured eight workers.
- A hearing is scheduled for next month re: Homewood’s revised master plan.
Pleasant Mountain
News Roundup: Vote
- Alta seeks Forest Service approval to realign Supreme.
- Brighton looks to replace the Milly Express and shorten Explorer.
- Indy Pass adds a slew of mountains including Loveland, Colorado; Bear Creek, Pennsylvania; Bear Valley, California; Bousquet, Massachusetts; Bruce Mound and Christie Mountain, Wisconsin; Camp Fortune, Massif du Sud and Mont Rigaud, Quebec; Cazenovia and Hunt Hollow, New York; Lost Valley, Maine; and Mt. Holiday and Norway Mountain, Michigan.
- Norway Mountain is on track to reopen this season after many years.
- After the only bid to replace the Cannon Mountain tramway came in millions more than expected, the State of New Hampshire investigates whether it can reuse existing towers.
- Pleasant Mountain to auction retired chairs next week.
- One non-essential lift was damaged by the wildfire at Mountain High.
- Canada’s Competition Bureau to probe whether the Arizona company behind the Jasper SkyTram and Banff Gondola unfairly competes with ski area sightseeing gondolas.
- Voters in Casper, Wyoming will be asked whether to fund a new chairlift at Hogadon.
- A real estate developer and Doppelmayr break ground on a new access lift at Tremblant.
- Local co-op organizers estimate Mt. Bachelor will sell for $180-200 million.
- Sponsored jobs: Lift Electrical Technicial Level 3 at Copper Mountain and Ski Lift Service Millwright at Doppelmayr Canada.
News Roundup: Winter Park Unlocked
- Bear Mountain, California’s new trail map shows the upcoming Midway six pack.
- The former owner of Pleasant Mountain, Maine to operate Blue Hills, Massachusetts.
- Winter Park launches a master plan website.
- Middlebury Snowbowl to refurbish the Bailey Falls triple, which missed last season.
- Sandia Peak to reactivate Lift 4, closed for a number of years.
- Sponsored: Leitner-Poma is hiring for multiple service positions.
Pleasant Mountain to Build Detachable Summit Lift
For the first time in its 86 year history, Maine’s Pleasant Mountain will feature a high speed lift next season. The new Summit Express will run 1,220 vertical feet from the base of the mountain to the top in just 4.5 minutes. The detachable quad will contain some new parts from Doppelmayr along with many refurbished components from the former Jordan Bowl Express at Sunday River. Like with the new Bucksaw Express at Sugarloaf, Pleasant Mountain is working with Doppelmayr to make the lift look and feel like a completely new machine. The existing Summit Triple, which was down for a period this season with mechanical issues, will be removed.
“We’re taking our guest experience to new heights with a faster, more efficient detachable quad from Doppelmayr,” the resort said, noting the new lift will carry 2,400 skiers per hour at 1,000 feet per minute. “We can’t wait to introduce Pleasant Mountain guests to the new lift experience.”
The Summit Express is the fifth new lift project announced by Boyne Resorts for the 24-25 season. Big Sky and The Summit at Snoqualmie also plan to debut new lifts for next winter.
News Roundup: Ropetaxi
- Hesperus, Colorado won’t open this season due to gearbox failure on the Bighorn double.
- Parents of a child who jumped from a chairlift at Hidden Valley, PA during a mechanical breakdown sue Vail Resorts.
- Numerous trees fall on a detachable quad in Italy, causing chairs to stack up and injuring seven people.
- The first Bartholet Ropetaxi with multi-station selection commences operation in Switzerland.
- The brand new 3S between Switzerland and Italy will close from January to March for maintenance.
- With construction stalled, Wasatch Peaks Ranch will make its case to the public.
- Snow Ridge, New York says three of five lifts are back operational after last summer’s tornado.
- Eleven ski areas in Colorado account for 65 percent of all revenue-based fees the Forest Service collects nationwide.
- Pleasant Mountain’s Summit Triple goes down for a week or more.
News Roundup: Long-Awaited
- Monarch Mountain purchases the nearby Monarch Crest Scenic Tramway.
- Sundance’s new quad is named Wildwood.
- Vancouver drops out of bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics, increasing the likelihood the games will be held in Utah.
- Construction begins on the world’s longest gondola in the Caribbean.
- The Vail Daily reports on environmental deficiencies with Beaver Creek’s 2021 McCoy Park lift and terrain expansion.
- Alterra-owned Blue Mountain renames the Century Express to Valley Express with new controls, new tower heads/sheaves, new carriers, a new rope and several tower height adjustments.
- Vail continues its charity chair sale extravaganza with more from Jack Frost and Big Boulder.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie sells chairs from Hidden Valley.
- Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. closes on its acquisition of Jay Peak.
- Waterville Valley’s MND bubble lift will be called Tecumseh Express.
- The Forest Service approves Attitash’s Summit triple replacement project.
- Parts from Sunday River’s former Jordan Express are spotted at Boyne sister resort Pleasant Mountain.
- Doppelmayr reports a 16 percent increase in revenue with a particular surge in investment in North America.
- Purgatory sues the Forest Service over water rights for snowmaking.
- Cypress Mountain sues the Province of British Columbia over paid parking.
- Supply chain issues will delay the opening of Alta’s Sunnyside six pack.
News Roundup: Teaser
- Copper Mountain proposes replacing the Timberline Express although a representative says there’s no timeline or model selected yet.
- An empty cabin falls from a gondola in South America.
- Palisades Tahoe tells the story of declining to purchase the White Wolf property for $400,000 and now paying the landowner rent where much of the Base to Base Gondola runs.
- A new book about prolific lift builder Hans Burkhart will be released this fall.
- The Highlands, Michigan teases something faster, quieter and warmer coming soon.
- Plattekill says the lightning-damaged Northface Express will be repaired before ski season.
- Someone allegedly gets left on the Icy Strait Point gondola system, is offloaded unharmed.
- Doppelmayr will build the new Skyliner Express at Mt. Bachelor.
- Big White offers the rare opportunity to own a gondola cabin as Lara’s Gondola transitions to all Sigma cabins.
- Idaho surpasses 2 million skier visits for the first time.
- Shawnee Peak, Maine reverts back to Pleasant Mountain.
- On the second anniversary of the second cable cut, Sea to Sky Gondola doubles the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect to CA$500,000. Police also release a video of the incident and photo of the saboteur.
- Sea to Sky also sues the company that installed a security system between the two vandalism incidents, alleging it did not work reliably and allowed the cable to be cut the second time.
- Maine conditionally approves redevelopment of the ski area on Big Moose Mountain.
- Mayflower reaches 300 acres of ski run cleared, still plans lift service in late 2024.
- Lift mechanics at Nordic Valley put out a fire which may have been intentionally set.
- The newest lift in Tennessee will be called the Horizon Skyride and open soon.
- Indy Pass sales are up 52 percent in units and 67 percent in dollars over 2021-22 with more resorts to be added in the coming weeks.
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