South Korea

News Roundup: Rope Evac at Big Sky

Peter Landsman7 Comments
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Ski patrollers lower guests from the Challenger double at Big Sky Resort on February 5, 2016.
  • I’ve ridden lifts thousands of times and last Friday at Big Sky was the first time I never made it to the top of one.  A part in the gearbox on Challenger failed around noon with myself among 120 or so riders on line.  Big Sky Ski Patrol did an awesome job getting everybody down safely in about an hour.  Challenger is a reconditioned Riblet double built for Big Sky by Superior Tramway in 1988.  Three days after this incident, it’s still down. This particular lift saw significant downtime last season due to a broken bearing.
  • The Forest Service seeks comments on Arapahoe Basin’s latest master plan.  It includes a fixed-grip triple or quad chair serving the Beavers expansion, a Zuma access surface lift, replacements for Pallavicini/Molly Hogan and removal of Norway.
  • The Gondola Project asserts that cities now account for one in five gondolas and tramways built worldwide.
  • The first new lift for the 2018 Winter Olympics, an 8-passenger gondola, opens in South Korea after months of delays.  Two more detachable quads will be added this summer at the Jeongseon Alpine Center, which is hosting the Downhill and Super-G.
  • The New York Times confirms North Korea’s Masik Pass ski resort got a Doppelmayr 4-passenger gondola this summer.  It’s not new; according to Doppelmayr it came from Ischgl, Austria via a broker called Pro-Alpin who sold it to the Chinese.  The gondola is in addition to the four counterfeit Doppelmayr lifts that appeared to be brand new in 2014.

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.