Stratton

News Roundup: Can’t Just Be About Lifts

Peter Landsman17 Comments

“We’re always going to be upgrading lifts; we announced a new lift for next year and that’s critical. But I think we need to realize also as a company and as an industry that it can’t just be about lifts. It’s not the only thing that matters to people. And in our minds we think there’s technology that can make a big difference. How people use technology in the digital experience, how it makes it easier for them to rent skis, how it makes it easier for them to connect with their ski instructor, how it makes it easier for them to get food, how it makes it easier for them to get around a resort or overall book a vacation. I think these are all things that are critical that really speak to the entirety of the guest experience when they come to us. Those are things where we really have a unique advantage because we own and operate all our resorts. They’re all on a common platform. And it’s where you invest dollars that actually impact everyone’s experience with all of our resorts rather than a singular lift, which affects one resort for some people who use that lift. Now that said, we have to keep investing in lifts. When you look back historically, you’ve seen us spend a lot of money on lifts over the last four years. So that’s continuing. We’re still going to keep proposing lifts. But I think the differentiator is going to be in this other area which is not as capital intensive as trying to replace every lift on Vail Mountain or something like that. That’s where we’re putting our focus.”

  • A Swiss resort Vail was said to be interested in, Flims Laax, to be purchased by local municipalities.
  • Some cool pictures of the nearly complete Mighty Argo Cable Car.
  • A BC indigenous group acquires additional land for the proposed Cascade Skyline Gondola.
  • BigRock, Maine introduces a new trail map painted by Rad Smith.
  • Part of the former Iron Mountain Ski Area near Kirkwood goes up for sale. A reader who’d like to remain anonymous sent along these recent photos of five abandoned lifts.

Stratton to Replace Tamarack Lift

Peter Landsman5 Comments

Stratton Mountain plans to build its seventh detachable lift, a quad replacing the aging Tamarack triple. The new chair will follow the existing alignment with the top terminal shifting slightly uphill. Stratton applied for Vermont Act 250 approval on August 22nd. Drawings show Doppelmayr as the builder utilizing UNI-G equipment at a cost of $8.5 million. The new lift will utilize a bottom drive, top tension configuration with a manual parking rail adjacent to the bottom station. The alignment will utilize 10 towers along a 575 foot vertical rise.

Tamarack Express will be Stratton’s first new chairlift in eight years and improve access to beginner and low intermediate trails. I’m told the goal is to install the lift ahead of the 2026-27 season, subject to environmental approval.

News Roundup: Contingency Plan

Peter Landsman7 Comments
Bear Den Partners LLCDownload

News Roundup: Windstorm

Peter Landsman15 Comments

News Roundup: Bonnie

Peter Landsman26 Comments

News Roundup: Wrapping Up

Peter Landsman10 Comments
  • Winter Park’s Gondola becomes the third direct drive lift to open in as many weeks in the United States.  As of October, there were zero!
  • Pico is added to Ikon, bringing the pass to 40 mountains with a combined 474 lifts in the the US and Canada.
  • The Hermitage Club won’t reopen until January at the earliest.
  • The last of British Columbia’s seven new lifts debuts at Sun Peaks.
  • I did a double take on this lift: a D-Line gondola with Carvatech cabins.
  • The new American Flyer is very close to becoming the world’s longest bubble chair.
  • Stratton’s new high speed quad is now set to open early in the new year.
  • Skeetawk remains on track to become Alaska’s eleventh lift-served ski area next winter with a SkyTrans triple chair.
  • An 8 year-old boy sustains only minor injuries falling 33 feet off a lift at Nordic Valley.
  • The Colombian capital of Bogotá launches a $73 million urban gondola called TransMiCable.
  • Frost Fire says it cannot open yet due to “contractual obligations with our chairlift,” a brand new Skytrac quad.
  • Big Sky brings high speed access to the southern flank of Lone Peak with Shedhorn 4.

Burst Snowmaking Pipe Sends Gondolas Swinging at Stratton

Peter Landsman3 Comments

A large pipe broke on Christmas Eve at Stratton Mountain Resort, sending a gush of water into the path of the mountain’s gondola.  Videos circulating on social media show a few cabins bearing the brunt of the geyser and Stratton Mountain Resort released the following statement via yesterday’s snow report:

“At about 3:30 pm Christmas Eve, a break in a snowmaking pipe on Lower Standard sent water at a 45 degree angle toward the gondola.  Snowmaking computers showed a drop in pressure and operators immediately began the process of shutting down the system. The operations team simultaneously stopped the lift, restarting it slowly to reposition the cabins. Approximately seven minutes later, the gondola made its way to the summit where guests disembarked. We are pleased to report that no one was injured in what was a scary episode for seven skiers and riders in two gondola cabins. The gondola is running as usual today and snowmaking operations continue using alternate pipes in the network.”

The Poma-built Stratton Mountain Gondola opened in 1988 and received 58 new Sigma Diamond cabins in 2014.  Thankfully the water line broke near the gondola and not under an open chairlift.  Great job Stratton crews moving cabins out of harm’s way and getting the water stopped so quickly.

News Roundup: Only in Utah

Peter Landsman8 Comments

How Many Lifts Might Alterra Buy in 2019?

Peter Landsman55 Comments

At just 15 months old, Alterra Mountain Company finds itself with over 200 chairlifts, gondolas and tramways in two countries.  The 13 Alterra mountains mirror the broader ski industry with places like Deer Valley and Crystal Mountain sporting many newer lifts while the average chairlift at June Mountain is 45 years old.

On a Monday last March, the fledgling company based in Denver simultaneously unveiled its very first lift investments at Stratton, Tremblant and Winter Park along with other improvements like snowmaking at Snowshoe and a new restaurant at the base of Steamboat.  Importantly, Alterra committed to spending $555 million in total capital over five years.  That was before it bought Solitude and Crystal Mountain, which could mean even more money flowing over the next few construction seasons.  While last year’s budget only included three new lifts, could we see more in 2019?

Colorado

With the September approval of major projects by the Forest Service, Steamboat is poised for a comprehensive on-mountain transformation.  Although the timing is fluid, a new Rough Rider learning center at mid-mountain will eventually be serviced by a new gondola from the village.  Here, skiers and snowboarders will be able to choose from three new carpet lifts, a new and improved Bashor lift and a second fixed-grip chair replacing the Rough Rider surface tow.

steamboatroughriderpioneerridge

A second initiative Steamboat could undertake in 2019 is the Pioneer Ridge expansion, which includes a 7,000 foot detachable quad and a dozen new trails.  Other possible upgrades include adding chairs to Pony Express (currently at only 1,200 skiers per hour but designed for 2,400)  or new cabins for the Silver Bullet.  Wouldn’t it be cool for the new gondola and original one to have similar cabins?

The average lift at Alterra-operated Winter Park Resort is 27 years old.  Six are early model detachable quads coming up for replacement.  In the case of 32 year old Pioneer Express, an upgrade is overdue and I expect coming in 2019.  A new version could add a snowboarder friendly mid loading station above the last section of Big Valley.

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Pioneer is one of only four remaining Poma detachables in North America with separate Alpha drive units.

A second project I hope to see is a second stage of the new gondola from Sunspot to Lunch Rock, truly uniting Winter Park and Mary Jane.  Sunnyside should be a high speed quad or six pack.  A high speed replacement of Challenger would be a nice upgrade at Mary Jane.  Looking Glass is tied for the oldest operating chairlift in Colorado.  After Pioneer, High Lonesome is the next Poma detachable up for replacement if we go solely by age.

The above Intrawest era master plan earmarked Gemini Express to be converted into an eight passenger gondola with a new learning center surrounding its top station.  Endeavor could go detachable as part of this project and/or Discovery made into a fixed grip quad.  Finally, a lift is envisioned to expand Vasquez Ridge Territory with four new intermediate trails. With all of these ideas on the table, I expect Winter Park to get at least one lift in 2019 and hopefully two.

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News Roundup: Bahn

Peter Landsman18 Comments
  • Bretton Woods’ upcoming gondola gets a great name: Presidential Bahn.
  • Copper updates the public on its big new American Eagle and American Flyer lifts.
  • For the third time in six years, Soldier Mountain, Idaho hits the market.  “The current owners have experienced the typical start up challenges that come with operating a ski area that has been under capitalized, under managed and under marketed for many years,” writes Mike Krongel of Mirus Resort Advisors.
  • The BC Supreme Court orders the province to reconsider its 2015 decision to pull  Jumbo Glacier Resort’s construction permit over lack of progress.
  • Mont Cascades scores a $1.2 million grant from the Government of Quebec to help build the resort’s longest chairlift yet.
  • The criminal case of a former employee who may or may not have been stuck on a Gore Mountain chairlift overnight last winter heads to trial.
  • Snow King’s possible gondola gains two new alignment options.  GM Ryan Stanley tells the Jackson Hole community “After struggling for so many years to keep the lifts spinning, it is sad to see the negativity associated with proposed improvements to the mountain.”
  • The 380 acre Cold Springs Canyon expansion and detachable quad are officially a go for next summer at Sun Valley.
  • Doppelmayr nears commissioning of a very cool gondola with spherical cabins, loopy towers and whimsical stations in Moscow.
  • Stratton says goodbye to the SMS Poma, leaving just seven detachable surface lifts in the country by my count.
  • 36 days before opening, go inside the eye-catching Matterhorn 3S gondola by Leitner Ropeways.
  • Thanks to Everett and Will for these shots of Big Sky’s trailblazing Ramcharger 8 project.