Skytrac

In His Own Words: Carl Skylling of Skytrac on the Leitner-Poma Acquisition

Peter Landsman9 Comments

Last week on my way home from the Rocky Mountain Lift Association conference, I stopped by Skytrac headquarters to sit down with Carl Skylling, General Manager of the company that’s shaken up the lift-building industry in North America over the past eight years.  If you hadn’t heard, Leitner-Poma bought Skytrac two weeks ago in a move that surprised many.  Carl is an industry veteran who worked his way up through Garaventa CTEC, Doppelmayr CTEC and Skytrac in construction, operations and management positions.  In addition to kindly agreeing to be interviewed, Carl introduced me to some of the hard-working men and women who design and build Skytrac lifts in Salt Lake City.

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Peter: How did you get started with SkyTrac?

Carl: I started out with Garaventa CTEC and then got pulled into the merger with Garaventa and Doppelmayr, becoming Doppelmayr CTEC.  Jan Leonard had stepped down in 2008 and by 2010 I was Vice President of Operations but getting restless to do something different.

I approached these guys with a concept I had to continue this whole idea of doing service work and modification work because I saw that there was a big niche in the market that was missing there.   So I approached Dave Metivier and Alan Hepner, and about the same time Jan Leonard was also getting interested in finding a way to take care of his former customer base by supporting them with service and parts.  So there was this huge potential market to make all those parts.

One thing kind of led to another between [Jan] and I approaching our partners, Dave and Alan, who were running Hilltrac and Skytrac at the time.  We ended up taking this Skytrac concept to the point where, with the four of us, we realized why stop with parts?  Why not do a design of our own.  SkyTrac started in 2008 doing some engineering/modification work with Dave and Alan but we really, in 2010, took it to the next level.

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This lift bound for a fairgrounds in Sacramento won’t have Skytrac’s typical Monarch terminal but rather a simpler metal enclosure.  Skytrac prides itself on meeting the needs of its customers in the legacy of Jan Leonard.

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Big News! Leitner-Poma Acquires Skytrac

Peter Landsman17 Comments

Leitner-Poma acquired Skytrac this week in a deal revealed today.  Even more exciting is Skytrac will continue to operate as a subsidiary brand of the Leitner-Poma Group.  “We would like to welcome Skytrac to our family,” said Anton Seeber, CEO of the European parent company of both Leitner and Poma. “Like Leitner-Poma, Skytrac also will be managed autonomously and independently to make sure the Skytrac team can focus on its strengths and hone its skills, all while having access to the Group’s resources to be able to benefit from particular synergies.”  Leitner and Poma have experience operating in Europe as separate brands while sharing technology such as the latest-generation LPA detachable grip.

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SkyTrac made a name for itself providing smaller resorts like Pomerelle in Idaho with modern lift systems like this one.

Jan Leonard and other former CTEC employees started Skytrac in 2010 to fill a niche retrofitting older lifts and building economical fixed-grip lifts in Salt Lake City.  The company has built 19 complete lift systems to date, mostly at small-to-medium sized ski areas from Washington to Massachusetts.  Skytrac had its best year in 2014, building as many new lifts as both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr that year.  In addition to building complete lifts, Skytrac also specializes in outfitting older lifts with new terminals and control systems.

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News Roundup: Hauling

Peter Landsman1 Comment
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Caberfae Peaks staff bring tower tubes to the summit of North Peak for a new triple chair.  Thanks to Lawrence W. for the photo.

News Roundup: 115.4 mph

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  • Mt. Hood Meadows updates skiers on the windstorm that sent two hundred-foot hemlock trees onto the Shooting Star Express the night of November 17th.
  • Vail Resorts announces $100 million in capital improvements across its mountains for 2016/17 including replacement of the last major fixed-grip lift on Vail Mountain.  The new Sun Up Lift #17 will be a detachable quad, manufacturer unknown.
  • SkyTrac splices the Humphrey’s Peak Quad at Arizona Snowbowl.
  • The latest from Sugarloaf on the new King Pine.  An apparent Doppelmayr delay will push opening until late-December. Luckily (or unluckily) there’s no snow anyways.
  • Utah’s new ski resort, Cherry Peak, announces a December 21st debut with two lifts.
  • Doppelmayr’s 10th  3S gondola, the Penkenbahn, is ready to go.
  • A nonprofit ski area in Ontario that’s been unable to operate its quad chair since 2011 due to a 2006 Doppelmayr service bulletin hopes to crowdfund $80,000 for repairs.
  • West Mountain celebrates their new lift with fireworks rather than skiing and already has the drive terminal up for another new-used lift next summer.

Summer 2015: The Good and the Bad

Peter Landsman1 Comment

It’s almost November and by my count construction is wrapping up on 33 lifts across the US and Canada.  With the usual caveat that there could be a lift project I haven’t heard about, 2015 will be the fourth year in a row that the total number of new lifts has declined.  Nonetheless there are some encouraging trends – namely more of this summer’s lifts were (expensive) detachables and more were brand new rather than re-installations of used lifts.

Click on the map above to explore our interactive map of 2015's new lifts powered by Google Maps.
Click on the map above to explore our interactive map of 2015’s new lifts powered by Google Maps.

Looking geographically, there’s no question the dismal snow situation last winter killed the market for lifts in the Sierras and Cascades.  In a typical year, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia account for five new lifts and this year they had zero.  The Rockies were a bright spot this summer, with at least one new lift being built in every Rocky Mountain state except Montana.  Colorado had a particularly strong year, building five new lifts including four detachables.  Utah had almost as good a year, thanks largely to Vail Resorts’ mega-project at Park City.  Colorado averages 4.4 new lifts a year and Utah 3.3 and both came out ahead of those numbers this summer.

The Midwest was about average for snowfall last winter but its ski areas built just one new lift and one used lift this year.  The one bright spot was Lutsen in Minnesota which spent $7 million with Doppelmayr to rebuild the Midwest’s only gondola.  Looking further east, Vermont was a success story, getting three brand new lifts from both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr.  Despite averaging more than five new lifts a year, nowhere else in the Northeast invested in a new lift despite a stellar winter in 2014-15.

Canada had a tough year with only three lifts going in at Sunshine Village, Boler Mountain and Mont Cascades.  In a normal construction season the country’s resorts build 7-8 new lifts. My take is newer resorts in Western Canada – places like Sun Peaks, Revelstoke and Kicking Horse – were hit particularly hard by the Great Recession and still haven’t recovered.2015 by manufacturer

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Pomerelle Mountain Gets a SkyTrac

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The beginnings of the bottom drive terminal for Pomerelle's new triple chair.
The beginnings of the bottom drive terminal for Pomerelle’s new triple chair.

SkyTrac, the new American lift builder based in Salt Lake City, is building two complete lifts this summer including one at Pomerelle Mountain near Burley, Idaho.  SkyTrac seems to be gaining a following with smaller, independent resorts that need new lifts but are price-sensitive.  By the end of this summer SkyTrac will have built 19 complete lifts in 12 states.  Only two of those were purchased by companies that own multiple resorts (Boyne went with SkyTrac for the latest lifts at The Summit at Snoqualmie and Crystal Mountain.)

Looking up at newly erected towers. Eight of ten are already up.
Looking up at newly erected towers. Eight of ten are already up.

Pomerelle originally had Stearns-Roger and SLI double chairs, built in 1964 and 1975, respectively.  The longer of the two was replaced by a CTEC triple in 1988 and now a SkyTrac triple will replace the shorter double chair.  Work didn’t begin until late July but the SkyTrac crew has already installed most of the lift.  Because of the mellow terrain, towers are being set without a helicopter and only numbers 7 and 10 are left to go up.  The top terminal is finished and the bottom station just needs a motor room.  I didn’t see a haul rope or chairs yet.  The lift also apparently still needs a name!

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News Roundup: Glass Floors and Rainbow LEDs

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  • In Aspen, the Lift 1A saga continues.
  • Poma has begun construction on a 13,000 foot gondola to the ancient Peruvian fortress of Kuelap.  The $18 million system will span 2,170 vertical feet in 20 minutes and open by July of next year.
  • Despite having a bunch of brand new lifts that haven’t spun since the Olympics, Russia is spending $76 million to build four new lifts in 2016 at Rosa Khutor.
  • Sun Peaks Resort, already Canada’s second largest resort, is cutting new runs in preparation for a new West Morissey lift.  If you haven’t gotten the chance to ski there, Sun Peaks has a very cool 360-degree layout with three mountains circling the village.
  • Berkshire East’s former Summit triple is up for sale.  It’s a 1988 Poma that was previously at Magic Mountain, Vermont.  The other lift on there is from the defunct Ascutney Mountain.
  • Alpine Valley, Wisconsin is getting a new beginner lift which will be a used Hall double with a new SkyTrac Monarch drive terminal.  SkyTrac is also reportedly finishing the half-completed Stagecoach lift on the Moonlight side of Big Sky.

Arizona Snowbowl to Build First New Lift in 30 Years

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James Coleman, the new owner of Arizona Snowbowl and three other resorts in the Southwest has gone lift shopping again.  Snowbowl’s new Humphreys Peak Quad will be built by SkyTrac in Salt Lake City and open for the 2015-16 season.  Coleman already bought two lifts from Leitner-Poma this year – a beginner quad for Sipapu and detachable quad for Purgatory to replace the Legends triple.  Humphreys Peak will be the first new lift at Arizona Snowbowl since CTEC built the Agassiz triple back in 1986.

Flyer for Arizona Snowbowl's 2015 Improvements including a new quad chairlift and snowmaking upgrades.
Flyer for Arizona Snowbowl’s 2015 improvements including a new quad chairlift and snowmaking upgrades.

Snowbowl’s new lift will be located between the Hart Prarie and Agassiz lifts, serving intermediate terrain.  It will be 3,060 feet long and rise 780 vertical feet with a very low hourly capacity of 1,000 skiers per hour.  SkyTrac has committed to complete the project by December despite the late start.  This is SkyTrac’s second complete lift project this summer after Pomerelle, Idaho announced a new triple chair last week.

Snowbowl's master plan includes replacing and realigning several lifts.
Snowbowl’s master plan includes replacing and realigning several lifts.

Arizona Snowbowl also announced today planning for the new Grand Canyon Express which will be the resort’s first high speed lift and serve 90% of its skiable terrain.  Although a timeline was not announced, I would not be surprised to see the project happen next summer.  Arizona Snowbowl’s master plan also includes replacing and realigning the Aspen and Hart Prarie lifts which are both Riblet doubles.  It seems James Coleman has no shortage of money to spend on capital improvements.

News Roundup: SkyTrac Gets a Lift

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Twin lifts at Solitude, Utah earlier this week.
Twin lifts at Solitude, Utah earlier this week.
  • Pomerelle Mountain near Twin Falls, Idaho announced they will replace their 39-year old SLI double chair with a new SkyTrac triple.  This is SkyTrac’s only publicly announced project for this summer.  Apparently they have another contract for a lift in Arizona.  Leave a comment if you know where.
  • Saddleback, Maine has listed their Rangeley lift for sale for $350,000.  They had previously listed just the drive terminal for $200k.
  • Steamboat’s new master plan including two new six packs approved by Routt County.
  • State of Pennsylvania opens bidding for a new quad chairlift at the troubled Laurel Mountain State Park.
  • Jackson Hole’s new Sweetwater 8-passenger gondola approved by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
  • Sugarloaf removes the damaged drive terminal for the King Pine lift which rolled back in March to make way for a new Doppelmayr terminal.
  • Group wants to reopen Mt. Ascutney in Vermont.  It’s tough to run a ski resort with no lifts, however.  The mountain’s high speed quad was sold to Crotched Mountain and other lifts went to Pat’s Peak.
  • The Pope rides one of Bolivia’s new Doppelmayr urban gondolas.  The entire line had to be closed until he finished his ride.

Skytrac Lifts

Peter Landsman12 Comments

For most of the last 25 years, there has been no major American lift manufacturer.  Sure, Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr/Garaventa have significant manufacturing here but they are indisputably European.  Before the early 1990’s, prolific American lift builders like Riblet and Hall built more than 500 lifts each.  Then Garaventa bought CTEC in 1992.  Riblet built its last lift at Cooper Spur in Oregon in 2002 and closed the next year. The last remaining US manufacturer, Partek, sold to Doppelmayr in 2005.  Ski Area Management’s headline at the time was “Then there were two.”

2011 SkyTrac Quad at Beaver Mountain, Utah.
2011 SkyTrac Quad at Beaver Mountain, Utah.

That all changed in 2010 when a group of CTEC veterans started Skytrac in Salt Lake City.  One of them was Jan Leonard, the former president of Doppelmayr CTEC who “retired” in 2007.  Skytrac’s first major project was a replacement drive terminal for a Hall double at Monarch Mountain in Colorado.  In tribute to their first customer, Skytrac named its drive terminal models the Monarch and Monarch XL.  Skytrac’s strategy seems to be to build simple and economical lifts that appeal to smaller resorts.  All of their lifts feature the Monarch drive/tension terminal with a fixed return.  One can’t help but notice the resemblance to CTEC’s lifts.

SkyTrac Controls. They look like a CTEC!
SkyTrac Controls. They look like a CTEC!

I couldn’t talk about Skytrac without bringing up their chairs.  For some reason they abandoned the classic bail chair for a Euro-style chair.  I think they look strange.  As someone who operates lifts, I question the practicality of bumping a chair with no bail.

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