- Red Lodge Mountain settles with the family of a man killed on a lift last year, clarifying in a joint statement his death was caused by a mechanical failure, derailment and collapse rather than a fall. As a result of the incident Red Lodge reinforced towers on the Triple Chair and added anemometers.
- Mountain Capital Partners’ purchase of El Colorado, Chile is called off over antitrust concerns.
- Teton County, Idaho and the State of Wyoming join others objecting to Grand Targhee’s nearly-approved expansion.
- Big Powderhorn, Michigan sells to new independent owners.
- Wachusett lists the former Polar Express for sale.
- The Sandia Peak Tram to receive new carriages and hangers in 2027.
- In addition to being damaged by wildfire, Eagle Point becomes inaccessible due to floods.
- As repairs continue, the Goldbelt Tram remains closed with another update expected in two weeks.
- The President imposes new tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on the European Union, Switzerland, Canada and numerous other nations and says more EU tariffs are coming.
Sandia Peak
News Roundup: Moonlight West
- Moonlight West to launch in Big Sky with four lifts planned.
- Alterra all but cancels Main Lodge redevelopment at Mammoth, including gondola replacement and several base lifts.
- Here’s the latest official Deer Valley construction update and a look at how Deer Valley East was designed on a blank canvas.
- Doppelmayr goes vertical on its new Salt Lake factory.
- The President expands 50 percent steel and aluminum tariffs to more products.
- ORDA defends financial losses, citing increased revenue and visitor numberts.
- Indy Pass promises dozens of new resorts coming next week, introduces a $189 Learn to Turn pass with lessons and rentals.
- Long lost Utah ski area Snowland to reopen this season with rope tows, may add a T-Bar in 2027.
- Bigrock, Maine has Mueller double chairs for sale.
- Sandia Peak to sell rare Stadeli center pole chairs.
- Killington to auction gondola cabins from Skyeship starting Monday.
- Park City billionaire Matthew Prince suggests activist investors could break up Vail Resorts.
- Purgatory works on what it can in the parking lot while awaiting permission to build the Gelande lift.
- A Colorado unseated passenger lawsuit heads to trial.
- Ober Mountain rebrands its aerial tram as the The Gatlinburg Tram.
- I stopped by the Mighty Argo last week to check out progress on their new D-Line gondola.
News Roundup: Aerials
- Okanagan Gondola eyes a 2027 opening.
- Waterville Valley explains the reasoning behind building a lift in house.
- Quebec’s CMSQ group is selected to operate Mont Édouard and plans a CA$16 million six pack for 2026.
- CMSQ also intends to operate Mont Adstock and would like to take control of Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham.
- BigRock, Maine decommissions its Mueller double.
- Vail narrows down on a gondola plan for West Lionshead.
- Still no arrests five years after the Sea to Sky Gondola cable was cut.
- A deal is in the works to reopen Toggenburg, New York for skiing.
- The Canadian government finds no illegal monopoly with the Banff Gondola and Jasper Sky Tram under common ownership.
- Five people are hospitalized following a chairlift collapse in Russia. Photos and video show the single chairs’s drive terminal upside down.
- The Forest Service approves a Sandia Peak Telemix.
- Aspen takes an exploratory look at valley gondola transport.
- Kicking Horse finishes installation of new hanger arms, hopes to reopen its gondola soon.
- The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway temporarily closes due to technical issues.
- Here’s a look from the air where Powder Mountain’s DMI, Davenport and Halfpint lifts are going.
Sandia Peak Proposes Base-to-Summit Chondola
Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) may construct its second chairlift/gondola hybrid lift at Sandia Peak, its latest acquisition near Albuquerque. The Telemix system would directly replace Chair 1, a Stadeli double which dates back to 1963, and effectively replace Chair 3, a Riblet double constructed in 1980. MCP acquired and reopened Sandia Peak earlier this year and quickly reactivated two of its four chairlifts that had sat idle for several seasons. Chair 1 was not among them and has been inoperable since 2017.
The new lift would closely resemble the Arizona Gondola which Leitner-Poma built for MCP at Arizona Snowbowl in 2020. Sandia’s Telemix would travel 7,400 feet in 7.5 minutes, half the time of the old lift. It could operate in both winter and summer for skiers as well as foot passengers coming from the independently-owned Sandia Peak Tramway. Although specific chair and gondola sizes weren’t specified, the lift would transport 2,400 guests per hour. The Forest Service is currently accepting comments on the proposal via email and expects to reach a decision in August.
News Roundup: Pass Edition
- 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.
News Roundup: Strike Over
- Park City’s patrol strike ends after 12 days; Vail apologizes to guests and a class action lawsuit is filed.
- Spirit Mountain, Minnesota solicits bids to replace Gandy with a quad this summer.
- Bald Mountain, Idaho may not open this season due to inability to secure insurance.
- Leitner-Poma President Daren Cole joins Banff Sunshine’s podcast to discuss the Super Angel Express and lift business more broadly.
- A sit skier who fell from Winter Park’s Explorer Express and was seriously injured files suit.
- Pursuit completes its acquisition of the Jasper SkyTram.
- Saskadena Six, Vermont will not operate Chair Two this season, looks at a replacement.
- Eaglecrest, Alaska continues to look toward a sightseeing gondola to subsidize its money-losing ski operation.
- Killington’s Superstar six pack will cost $12.16 million,
- Mt. Bachelor plans several enhancements to the Northwest Express.
- Sugarbush to bring in additional staff from across Alterra to try and get non-functional lifts open.
- Four Seasons, New York is listed for sale.
- Sandia Peak proposes replacing Chair 1.
News Roundup: Mega Order
- A Nevada county rejects re-zoning for a new ski area in the Ruby Mountains.
- Le Massif, Quebec is reportedly for sale or looking for an equity partner.
- Sandia Peak, New Mexico apologizes for recent lift downtime.
- Arctic Valley, Alaska’s new master plan envisions three new chairlifts.
- Mantis Ropeway Technologies debuts unmanned autonomous stations on six ropeways in Austria and Switzerland this winter with US expansion planned.
- Consulting firm SCJ Alliance expands its cable-propelled transit division.
- A Denver TV station explores the history of the only lost Vail Resorts mountain.
- Eleven Telluride residents seek to invalidate the successful ballot measure funding a new Mountain Village gondola.
- A Swiss resort group splits a $79 million lift order between Garaventa and Leitner. The former is Garaventa’s largest-ever order and includes the second-ever TRI-Line gondola.
- A straw poll suggests strong resident support for a gondola linking Park City’s Main Street with Deer Valley Resort.
News Roundup: Lost & Found
- New York lost ski area Big Tupper to be auctioned this fall.
- Partially lost Ski Chantecler, Quebec gains new, local ownership.
- Big Sky constructs a striking glass enclosure over the Lone Peak Tram‘s bottom terminal.
- Red Lodge sells former Alta Sunnyside chairs.
- Bluewood seeks Forest Service approval for a base to summit detachable.
- Unspecified improvements are coming to recently reopened Sandia Peak Ski Area.
- Fatzer acquires Rigging Specialties of Canada.
- The first Leitner-Poma bubble chairs in Canada land at Sunshine Village.
- Hear the inside story of how the Yellowstone Club supports a $100+ million annual operating budget and 20 lifts with only 70,000 skier visits.
- Swiss media report Vail Resorts may be in talks to buy Laax.
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.
News Roundup: On the Horizon
- Mountain Capital Partners successfully brings back Sandia Peak Ski Area, opening for the first time in three seasons tomorrow.
- Doppelmayr plans a €200 million expansion in Wolfurt to support strong ropeway demand, particularly in North America.
- The Colorado Supreme Court will hear the case of a rider seriously injured falling from Crested Butte’s Paradise Express.
- A skier sues Sun Peaks for a chairlift unloading injury.
- The sale of Jackson Hole to a new ownership group closes.
- Mt. Hood Meadows eyes building a new Lift 15 pod in 2026 and replacing Heather Canyon in 2027.
- Lake Louise continues construction over winter on a UNI-G bubble six pack for next season.
- In China, an unseated passenger is successfully rescued after operators reverse a lift.
- Sugarbush’s new Heaven’s Gate quad will be a Doppelmayr Tristar with loading conveyor costing $3.2 million.
- Teton Pass Ski Area’s owner pens a letter explaining why he was forced to close after just four operating this season.
- Mammoth Mountain’s Broadway Express is expected to close April 1st for removal and replacement.
Lift Blog 
