The Vail Daily reports on environmental deficiencies with Beaver Creek’s 2021 McCoy Park lift and terrain expansion.
Alterra-owned Blue Mountain renames the Century Express to Valley Express with new controls, new tower heads/sheaves, new carriers, a new rope and several tower height adjustments.
One of Washington’s most-visited resorts today announced Summit 2030, a multi-year capital improvement push to start this summer. Reimagining The Summit is just the latest initiative by Boyne Resorts to bring its ten ski resorts into the modern era. The vision for Snoqualmie includes eight new lifts across all four base areas, enhanced summer operations, expanded snowmaking, new lodges and more. The resort has a lot of work ahead just on lift renewal with 19 chairlifts averaging 35 years old.
We’re excited to announce that our crews have already begun work on the first lift upgrade in our plan — a new Doppelmayr Triple with an easy loading conveyor to replace the existing Hidden Valley double. The new lift will open winter 2022-23. Learn more: https://t.co/CjqUtDdUYNpic.twitter.com/SGyruf1cfC
To start, Doppelmayr will replace the Hidden Valley double with a triple chair, enhancing capacity on the backside of Hyak for next season. The new lift will feature conveyor loading and transport 1,800 skiers per hour. “Another milestone in our plan to modernize our lift network, the new Hidden Valley Triple provides more capacity, dependability, and greatly improves access to one of most unique areas at The Summit,” said Guy Lawrence, Summit President and General Manager. The mountain also plans to open a bike park at Silver Fir this summer, add more chairs to the Armstrong Express and implement RFID ticketing this offseason.
Many more lift upgrades will follow over the next decade. At Alpental, fixed grip triple chairs are planned to replace both Sessel and Edelweiss. Perhaps most exciting will be construction of the International lift, a project first conceived decades ago. “The long-awaited International Chair at Alpental will be a fixed-grip triple dropping skiers and riders in the best spot for accessing Lower International, Snake Dance, Felson & Back Bowls, providing a whole new way to access some of the most popular terrain at Alpental,” says The Summit. Another key focus at Alpental will be installation of remote-operated avalanche control systems to open terrain faster during storm cycles.
At Summit Central, Boyne plans to replace and realign the Central Express with a larger lift. Nearby, Triple 60 is earmarked for a detachable quad. A brand new lodge, snowmaking and alpine coaster will round out improvements at Central.
Introducing Summit 2030 – our vision for the future at your home mountain. At the core of our plan is a transformative series of lift upgrades and new installations to enhance the mountain experience from Summit East to Alpental. View the full plan here: https://t.co/izRqocgXTIpic.twitter.com/p0sHyE5uyR
Learn to ski hotspot Summit West will see replacements for workhorse lifts like Wildside and Pacific Crest as part of Summit 2030. Wildside will likely be a fixed grip quad and Pacific Crest a detachable six place.
It’s no secret Snoqualmie and other Cascades ski areas attract throngs of skiers at peak times so it’s great to see Boyne committing to major improvements in the Northwest. Not far away, Alterra has announced a similar $100 million plan for Crystal Mountain and Vail Resorts has expansion opportunities at Stevens Pass. Higher capacity lifts and more terrain at Snoqualmie will surely help meet demand for skiing in a booming region with just three ski areas.
For the first time in 15 years, The Summit at Snoqualmie sends a cat to the top of Alpental to clear snow from the Edelweiss lift line and top terminal.
A Canadian resort trains a very good dog to catch and hold Ts for skiers.
One of only two chairlift operations in Kentucky goes up for sale (asking price $750,000).
Dave Brownlie, former head of Whistler Blackcomb and current Revelstoke President, weighs in on the state of the British Columbia ski industry and his company’s plans for Grouse Mountain.
The Colorado Sun interviews three Colorado resort pioneers about industry trends and challenges.
As the gondola at Mont-Sainte-Anne reopens, the resort says an external power issue caused last month’s sudden stop. A lawsuit has been filed and the power company denies responsibility.
Just the Leitner portion of Mexico City’s new urban gondola network will feature seven stations and 300 cabins.
Experienced resort executives Andy and Jace Wirth may take over operations at Granby Ranch.
Limited Ikon/Mountain Collective visits to Arapahoe Basin are 69 percent lower than unlimited Epic visits last year and the “experience is way up,” says Al Henceroth.
Another informative podcast from Stuart Winchester features an executive from Mountain Creek and Big Snow talking about the next new lift and a possible Big Snow Miami.
Smugglers’ Notch has no intentions of losing its independence or ditching its fleet of fixed grip double chairs.
Whitefish will begin work in Hellroaring Basin this summer and move the current Hellroaring triple to a new alignment in 2021.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee already has five scenic lift rides but an outfit called Pigeon Forge Snow plans to build a sixth.
A U.S. Department of Labor inspector finds 14 and 15 year old ski instructors riding chairlifts and lowering restraint bars constitutes “operating heavy machinery.”
Tremblant will announce its next major investments on March 10th, a day we may hear from other Alterra resorts as well.
This 1975 double at Summit Central is being retired in favor of a modern quad chair.
The Summit at Snoqualmie, operated by Boyne Resorts, is getting in on the new lift action. One of eleven Riblets still operating at Washington’s most-visited resort will be replaced with a fixed grip quad over the summer. The Holiday Quad will feature a height adjustable loading carpet and more than double hourly capacity on this section of Summit Central, which caters to beginners. The 1,380 foot lift will rise 260 feet at a maximum speed of 450 feet per minute. The most recent Summit master plan contemplated removing the Gallery lift alongside this project.
Notably, of the more than 35 chairlifts built at Snoqualmie over the decades, Holiday will be the first supplied by Doppelmayr. “Going from a two-person to four-person chair and adding the easy loading conveyor will be a true game changer for Summit Central, particularly for our first-timers and kids,” stated Guy Lawrence, President & General Manager at The Summit in an online announcement. Construction will begin in June and wrap up prior to the 2019-20 season.
We are incredibly excited to announce that this summer we will install a new Dopplemayr quad chairlift to replace the aging Holiday Chair at Summit Central! Learn More in the link below. https://t.co/zMCRCpIBJD
— Summit at Snoqualmie (@SummitSnow411) April 6, 2019
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