- Ikon Pass adds Ischgl, Austria; loses Windham Mountain Club, New York and makes Arapahoe Basin unlimited with no blackouts. Full Ikon also adds two bonus days at Buck Hill, Minnesota; Cranmore, New Hampshire; Jiminy Peak, Massachusetts and Wild Mountain, Minnesota.
- Arapahoe Basin leaves the Mountain Collective Pass.
- Vail makes minimal changes to Epic Pass for next year.
- Indy Pass adds Burke Mountain, Vermont and Tenney Mountain, New Hampshire.
- The family behind Wisconsin Resorts Inc. want to buy Burke Mountain but the resort’s receiver says he has a better buyer.
- Wisconsin Resorts-owned Searchmont, Ontario teases multiple future terrain expansions on a new trail map.
- The group behind Perfect North Slopes, Indiana will operate Swiss Valley, Michigan
- A rope evacuation at Norway Mountain, Michigan.
- Fresh off building four new lifts, Powder Mountain has two more in the pipeline.
- Ski Cooper, Colorado slashes midweek tickets to $45, revenue surges.
- Also at Cooper, a skier is airlifted to the hospital after falling from a lift.
- Vail settles a lawsuit with a woman who fell from a lift at Stevens Pass.
- Park City gets Pioneer going for the first time this season.
- Woods Valley, New York to replaces its T-Bar with a CTEC quad ending higher on the mountain.
- 7th Heaven at Blackcomb suffers from delayed openings, closures and reduced speeds due to an electrical issue.
- Snowbird’s Mineral Basin Express repair timeline is extended due to storms.
- Whaleback Mountain’s only chairlift is closed all week due to mechanical.
- Sandia Peak works to revive mothballed Chair 2.
- A 2005 Doppelmayr Funifor suffers a serious incident in Italy involving a severed haul rope and cabin colliding into the bottom terminal. The lift was outside operating hours and one operator suffered minor injuries.
Powder Mountain
News Roundup: Lynx Express
- June Mountain closes for two days due to issues with againg J1.
- Loveland proposes replacing Lift 7 with a quad.
- Indy Pass plans more resort additions through the spring and fall.
- One of them is Tenney Mountain, which also looks to build a high speed quad.
- Tenney’s Hornet double needs a gearbox rebuild, will be closed until mid-March.
- Skeetawk, Alaska seeks state funding to develop electrical infrastructure for a future Lift 2.
- Burke Mountain’s receiver says a sale may be near.
- The proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola in metro Vancouver would include significant transit oriented development.
- Mt. Seymour, BC removes the Brockton chair from service for an unknown amount of time.
- Manning Park, BC closes the similar Blue Chair for inspections due to the incident at Mt. Seymour.
- Marble Mountain, Newfoundland hits the market.
- Chair 8 at Bear Mountain suffers a grip slip incident with passengers.
- Rezoning paves the way for more development at Powder Mountain.
- Leitner to build a seven station gondola in Iraq.
- Poley Mountain, New Brunswick works to repair its triple chair.
- Bretton Woods applies to build a new lift, Attitash seeks to reduce capacity on the closed Flying Bear.
- Solitude completes a mid-winter bullwheel bearing replacement on Sunrise.
- The first terminal and towers go up for the winter build Saluda Skyride in South Carolina.
- Mt. Crescent, Iowa rebrands as Crescent Hill.
- An inside look at operating the largest lift fleet in the country.
- And one of the smaller ones.
- Mineral Basin at Snowbird to be closed for a week-ish due to a machanical issue.
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: Comfort Chairs
- Shuttered Sleeping Giant, Wyoming is listed for $500,000.
- Ariel at Mt. Ashland will open weeks late due to a tree strike.
- New York’s Olympic Regional Development Authority plans $70 to $155 million in capital spending annually for the next four years.
- Big Tupper’s new owners plan to reactivate at least one lift.
- Chicopee, Ontario’s new trail map shows a new lift his season on the front side and a backside expansion next year.
- Snowmass’ new map shows the new Coney Express with mid-station.
- Public tax dollars will fund a portion of lifts in Deer Valley’s East Village.
- Google abruptly removes tens of thousands of lifts from Google Maps.
- Grouse Mountain’s newest ropeway to be called Blue Grouse Gondola.
- Jay Peak nears replacing Bonaventure with a detachable quad; no West Bowl expansion any time soon.
- Powder Mountain CEO Reed Hastings talks about skiing as a subscription like Netflix, privatizing half the mountain and skiing as a real estate play.
- A gondola system is the preferred alternative for a transit corridor in Oshawa, Ontario.
- Vail Resorts readies its second D-Line detachable at Perisher.
- Belleayre’s Catskill Thunder Gondola is rope evacuated, will be down until further notice for repairs.
- The tram that crashed last month in Val Thorens will miss the entire season, photos show why.
News Roundup: Battery Powered
- West Virginia State Parks delays opening of the new Pipestem gondola to spring 2025.
- A tower crane working to build the Grands Montets 3S in Chamonix collapses due to wind and ice.
- Keystone installs solar panels on the Bergman Express to power ancillary functions such as lights.
- Perfect North transforms the Red Chair into an LED light show for the holidays with individual chairs lit by batteries.
- ORDA plans to build not one but two people mover chairlifts at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
- Hunter names its new quad chair Otis.
- Planning documents show the alignment and D-Line equipment for a planned gondola at Stagecoach, Colorado.
- More ink on the unfortunate closure of Homewood this season.
- The world’s shortest T-Bar to be built with only 5 Ts.
- A criminal trial begins regarding the deadly gondola collapse in Turkey last spring.
- Garaventa installs a robotic cargo loading system on the world’s steepest aerial tramway.
- Kendall Mountain, Colorado suspends pass sales due to lift maintenance.
- Killington’s CEO talks about future lifts beyond Superstar; how the sale to locals went down.
- Park City weighs possible routes for a transit gondola from Old Town to Deer Valley.
- Mt. Waterman, California sells to a new owner promising private powder days.
- Powder Mountain won’t sell any lift tickets on weekends in February.
- Sun Peaks’ new trail map shows the West Bowl expansion.
- Indy Pass to announce new resorts next week.
News Roundup: Fresh Logo
- Poma introduces a totally new logo.
- Telluride residents will vote whether to fund a new Mountain Village gondola November 5th.
- Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, South Carolina plans to debut a Leitner-Poma eight place gondola in 2025.
- Indy Pass to host a community meeting on the future of Black Mountain, New Hampshire tomorrow.
- Homewood presents an updated master plan with a new gondola and replacement Ellis chair.
- Powder Mountain carves out, re-brands three of its lifts as a private ski area called Powder Haven.
- Hidden Valley, Ontario offers up retired chairs from the Red and Blue lifts.
- Doppelmayr’s first TRI-Line nears completion in Switzerland.
- Vail Resorts and the Town of Vail reach an agreement to develop a fourth base portal, likely including a new gondola.
- The reopening of the Palm Springs Tramway following a maintenance period is postponed a second time due to “unforseen technical difficulties.”
- Eaglecrest warns the Black Bear chairlift may not operate at all this season due to “significant mechanical damage.”
- Lookout Pass’ new trail map shows a future Lift 6.
- Deer Valley previews an all new trail map by Rad Smith showing expansion lifts.
- Spirit Mountain retires the Double Jaw lift and is selling the chairs.
- A woman falls out of a gondola during high winds in China.
- OSHA reaches a settlement with Park City regarding the death of an employee who fell from a lift in 2023, dismisses a proposed $2,500 fine.
- The Province of Quebec and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies reportedly reach an agreement to improve lift infrastructure at Mont Sainte-Anne.
- Bear Mountain’s new Midway six seater will feature a loading conveyor and 3,200 skier per hour capacity.
- Sublette towers flew last Wednesday above Jackson Hole.
News Roundup: Ambitious Plan
- Homewood submits a revised master plan with a new Madden Gondola.
- West Virginia’s governor celebrates a new state park gondola with another on the way.
- Willamette Pass’ proposed master plan includes six new chairlifts.
- Sugarbush to hold a chair auction.
- The first Doppelmayr TRI-Line detachable goes vertical in Europe.
- Powder Mountain will save the outgoing Paradise quad for future use.
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: Bonnie
- The Summit at Snoqualmie releases renderings of and begins construction on the new Wildside Quad.
- Jay Peak intends to replace Bonaventure next summer.
- Stratton eyes replacing Tamarack with a high speed quad in 2025, may swap the gondola for a bubble six or eight place chairlift after that.
- Brian Head, Utah appears to be working on an expansion.
- Powder Mountain plans to build a new lift in Wolf Canyon next year and add additional private terrain in the Davenport zone. Owner Reed Hastings tells the New York Times privatized terrain will subsidize the money-losing public operation.
- A wild video from Italy shows the dangers of bubble chairs in high winds (no injuries).
- Obstructors sue to halt progress on the proposed Los Angeles Dodger Stadium gondola.
- Park City highlights unique operational aspects of opening Ninety Nine 90 with no electricity or vehicle access to the summit.
- The Forest Service approves Sun Valley’s Seattle Ridge six pack, slated for this summer, and the future Christmas chondola.
- Whistler Blackcomb debuts two wrapped cabins on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola with designs crafted by indigenous artists.
- Hatley Pointe works to reactivate two backside chairlifts, teases another lift upgrade skiers will be “really surprised” about.
- Deer Valley hopes to break ground on a Snow Park-Silver Lake gondola in 2025, says the line could eventually become part of a five segment network from East Village all the way to Old Town Park City with stops at Park Peak, Silver Lake and Snow Park.
- Highlander is hiring construction crew members for multiple lift installations at Deer Valley this summer.
- Sun Peaks faces another lawsuit for another Burfield Quad mis-unload.
- Sugarbush catches flak for closing much of Lincoln Peak early to begin construction of the new Heaven’s Gate quad.
- There’s further evidence MND will launch a new detachable line at Mountain Planet next month.
- Funding for a new Telluride-Mountain Village gondola will likely be on the ballot this fall alongside the Presidential choice.
News Roundup: D’oh!
- A skier tries to jump over Lake Louise’s Top of the World Express, runs into a chair instead.
- Powderhorn closes the Flat Top Flyer all week for maintenance.
- Magic Mountain celebrates the last new lift opening of the year.
- Epic Pass prices increase approximately 8 percent, Crans-Montana will be added subject to closing.
- Ikon Pass increases a similar amount, goes back to unlimited days at Crystal Mountain, Washington.
- Indy Pass adds Big Moose, Maine; Mt. Eyak, Alaska; Mt. Washington, British Columbia; Powderhorn, Colorado; Steeplechase, Minnesota; Wintergreen, Virginia and Wisp, Maryland.
- Massachusetts issues an RFP for operating Blue Hills Ski Area.
- A man dies aboard a chairlift at Lookout Pass due to a medical emergency.
- Timberline Lodge closes Bruno’s for the season due to gearbox failure.
- The world’s longest gondola is on track to open late next year in the Caribbean.
- Powder Mountain hints it may alter plans to make three quad chairs private for homeowners next season.
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