- Homewood’s new gondola is finally approved.
- Eaglecrest receives a key gondola construction permit.
- The Wall Street Journal covers several challenges facing Vail Resorts.
- Unionized Crested Butte lift mechanics authorize a strike should they be unable to reach a contract agreement with Vail.
- Breckenridge lift staff stage a one day sick out in protest of employee housing conditions, closing several lifts on Wednesday.
- Pioneer at Park City hasn’t opened this season due to an offseason deropement still being repaired.
- Blackcomb’s Glacier Express to be closed a week or longer due to a possible gearbox issue.
- Mount Snow’s Challenger has been inoperative since January 13th.
- Mammut sponsors a short film exploring the transformation of Shames Mountain, British Columbia into a community co-op.
- British Columbia opens public consultation for the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort.
- A gondola transit network in Oshawa, Ontario could cost CA$1.1 billion.
- Reed Hastings explains his sweeping changes at Powder Mountain including four new lifts in one summer and partial privatization.
- Chicopee, Ontario explains why its three new lifts aren’t spinning yet.
- Bristol Mountain partially rope evacuates the Comet Express.
- Ditto for the Mt. Hood Express at Mt. Hood Meadows.
- The Balsams extends approval for long-delayed redevelopment.
- Mont Farlagne, New Brunswick reopens its only chairlift after a month-long closure due to a bullwheel issue.
- Ischgl invites guests to help build a life size replica of a 3S gondola cabin with Lego bricks.
- The latest New Hampshire tram board minutes hint at a possible new lift for Bretton Woods.
- Mountain Village and Telluride begin planning their new gondola in earnest.
- Vermonters ask Why hasn’t Burke Mountain sold? as receivership fees surpass $12 million.
- Sugarbush gets all but one of its chairlifts going after a challenging start to the season.
- Several videos show the chaotic aftermath of the bullwheel detachment in Spain last week.
- Colorado releases the Winter Park gondola crack incident report, a full report of investigation remains in progress.
The Balsams
News Roundup: Ever Optimistic
- Vail Resorts reports annual skier visits down 9.5 percent, net income down 14 percent, EBITDA down 1 percent and season pass sales down 3 percent in units but up 3 percent in dollars. The company announced no new 2025 lift projects and will lay off 14 percent of corporate staff along with limited operational staff.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina retires the Laurel double, plans to build a new chairlift eventually.
- County planners unanimously reject the Shadow Mountain Bike Park proposal in Colorado.
- Sleeping Giant, Wyoming will hibernate again this winter.
- Huff Hills, North Dakota reaches a one year agreement to operate this winter.
- Aspen’s proposal to replace Lift 1A remains alive.
- Whitetail, Pennsylvania to sell Hall chairs from Jib Junction.
- Leitner to build a seven station urban gondola in Morella, Mexico for $100 million.
- Mexico’s President and President-elect inaugurate a six station urban gondola line by Doppelmayr in Mexico City.
- A Hezbollah rocket strikes a chairlift in Israel held territory.
- Snowbird turns an old tram cabin into a bar.
- Sandia Peak proposes replacing Chair 1.
- Tamarack scales down expansion plans to seven new chairlifts and an extension of the Wildwood Express with no new gondola.
- The under construction One&Only resort with a two station gondola connecting to Big Sky Resort catches fire.
- Ever optimistic Les Otten still aims to re-open The Balsams with three new chairlifts in phase one.
News Roundup: Bonus Project
- Ski Santa Fe proposes a second chairlift project for this summer, replacing Easy Street #4 with the old Santa Fe Super Chief #1.
- The Balsams extends a deadline to complete phase one construction, may refurbish existing lift infrastructure.
- Dave Scanlan, the general manager behind installing a 35 year old used pulse gondola from Austria, is ousted from his post leading Eaglecrest, Alaska.
- MND’s prototype detachable nears completion in France.
- Big Sky’s old Six Shooter is spotted at Sugarloaf.
- The capital of the Dominican Republic to build a third urban gondola line.
- Deer Valley may pour concrete for more Expanded Excellence lifts this summer to get a jump on next year.
- Cochran’s, Vermont secures a grant to design and engineer a used T-Bar.
- Mont Grand-Fonds says its upcoming Doppelmayr six pack will be the first of its kind in Quebec.
- Jackson Hole’s new Sublette will feature Leitner comfort chairs.
- Snowmass to auction Coney Glade chairs.
- Mount St. Louis Moonstone also lists Poma quad chairs for sale.
- Work begins on the Aspen Meadows project adjacent to Brian Head.
- Quebec records six million skier visits, a decline of 10 percent from last year’s record.
News Roundup: Les Otten
- Leitner-Poma places the only bid to modernize the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tram for $29 million, 60 percent more than the state’s $18 million estimate.
- A gondola is considered to connect Dawson City to a neighboring town across the Yukon River.
- This week’s viral video shows a skier inadvertently dragging a net up a chairlift in Poland.
- Val Saint-Côme retires the T-Bar that had a fatal accident last winter.
- Hatley Pointe, North Carolina won’t open this winter.
- Neither will Mt. Timothy, BC.
- Mt. Itasca, Minnesota says it needs to raise $100,000 to continue operating.
- Titus Mountain pays tribute to ski patroller Rick Finch, who is believed to have died when his backpack became entangled with a chair.
- Les Otten, designer of Sunday River and The Canyons, talks about his dream for 23 lifts at The Balsams, building America’s longest chairlift, the Killington-Pico interconnect and more.
- The Busch Gardens gondola in Tampa is set to reopen this weekend after four years closed.
- New York State seeks to force a sale of Toggenburg Mountain to an operator who will reopen it.
- Sugarbush addresses recent lift downtime.
- Whitefish’s President explains recent challenges with the Snow Ghost Express both in writing and video form.
- A guest allegedly spent the night stuck on the Heavenly gondola last night.
News Roundup: Mixed Bag
- The Forest Service sends a notice of noncompliance to Montana Snowbowl over the Snow Park lift incident and response.
- Crystal Mountain’s President departs and Alterra reevaluates the announced Reimagine Crystal plan.
- Lutsen Mountains to retire the 10th Mountain triple.
- Hoodoo reports a Riblet clip ejection of a misloaded chair on the Hodag quad with no injuries to the rider(s).
- Mad River Glen’s Sunnyside double may get a mid-station.
- Le Massif completes a four hour rope evacuation of the Massif Express gondola, now closed for the season due to a gearbox issue.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne’s gondola will reopen tomorrow, four months after a cabin fell off.
- Board members resign from the Antelope Butte board of directors citing lift safety concerns.
- The Balsams says now is not the time to go to market.
- Woods Valley eyes installation of two used CTEC quads over the next few years.
- Big Sky shares photos of new tram cabins being fabricated in Switzerland.
- Two studies see the ropeway market growing around 10 percent annually over the next decade with the North American share growing to near 20 percent of the global total.
- Belleayre announces replacement of Lift 7 with a Doppelmayr quad.
News Roundup: Apology
- Montana Snowbowl apologizes for the lift incident earlier this month and notes the lift remains closed pending modification of tower 1.
- Big Sky’s new 75 passenger tram will charge by the ride next winter.
- Snowbird says a gondola could help during future interlodge snow closures.
- The parent company of the Banff Gondola wants to build a similar attraction in Northwest Montana but gets a chilly reception from the Forest Service.
- Doppelmayr Canada is hiring lift installers for projects across the country.
- Construction begins on the new Fitzsimmons 8 at Whistler as well as Superbowl at Boyne Mountain.
- Revelstoke holds a public information session and identifies its top 3 lift priorities.
- Buck Hill announces its oldest lift will be replaced with a Doppelmayr quad this summer.
- The Forest Service approves Copper Mountain’s planned replacement of Timberline Express with a six person chairlift.
- Les Otten says the first phase of The Balsams would be four lifts including a gondola and bubble chair.
News Roundup: Conquer the Mountain
- Keystone shows the process for creating a new trail map with next winter’s Bergman Bowl expansion.
- The Balsams redevelopment notches another necessary approval.
- Alta Sierra closes for weeks due to storm impacts.
- Salt Lake City prefers a 2034 Olympics over 2030.
- Troll, BC shows off 30 new runs to be serviced by a new T-Bar.
- Loon previews its expansion on South Peak.
- A man dies after falling from Breckenridge’s Zendo quad.
- Granite Peak rope evacuates the Blitzen triple.
- Heavenly offers a look into wind hold decision making.
- Snowbasin cancels construction of a Club Med, calling into question associated lift projects.
- Great Bear considers building a second chairlift.
- Steamboat again floats replacing the Wildhorse Gondola with a detachable version.
- Still no deal between Deer Valley and Mayflower although talks continue.
- Here’s a Cascade Skyline Gondola update.
- Vail settles a lawsuit with the family of a man who died while dangling from a chairlift in 2020.
- Doppelmayr is one of three finalists to replace Newark Airport’s automated people mover.
News Roundup: La Fenster
- The 66th and final new lift of the season opens at Belle Neige, Quebec and is named for two Holocaust survivors who founded the ski area.
- Les Otten continues to pursue financing for The Balsams redevelopment.
- Wachusett will invest $1.3 million to overhaul the Minuteman Express this summer.
- A bill with $25 million for Cannon tram replacement advances in the New Hampshire Senate.
- Sun Peaks closes the Morrisey Express for three days and will close it again next week due to a power supply issue.
- Locals express frustration with Vail Resorts’ operation at Snow Creek.
- Mt. Abram’s Wayback Machine will be down all weekend due to an unspecified mechanical problem.
- Ditto for Snoqualmie’s Pacific Crest quad.
- Mt. Bachelor will operate a modified footprint in May due to construction of the new Skyliner six pack.
News Roundup: Funding Secured
- Les Otten remains “cautiously optimistic” The Balsams redevelopment will break ground this year.
- Big Snow looks to expand chairlift-served indoor skiing to more locations.
- Mountain Creek inches closer to replacing the Vernon Triple with a six or eight place detachable.
- With visitation up, Powderhorn would like to swap out the West End double in the “near future.”
- Indy Pass reaches 100 resorts with the additions of BigRock Mountain, Marquette Mountain, Mount Kato, Nub’s Nob and Treetops Resort.
- Arizona Snowbowl’s new master plan goes on hold while the Forest Service works to reach an agreement with indigenous groups.
- Amusement conglomerate Herschend Family Entertainment elects to stop operating the Stone Mountain tramway six years before its contract expires, citing “protests and division” at the Confederate monument. The sole bidder for a new operating contract with the State of Georgia will take over in August.
- A draft action letter outlines why the local planning commission prevented lift projects from moving forward at Park City Mountain.
- The same commission approves construction of Deer Valley’s Burns Express, which will be the nation’s shortest detachable at 999 feet.
- Alta, Sandy and Salt Lake County mayors rally against a Little Cottonwood Gondola.
- Panorama delays summer lift operations at least a week due to a gearbox issue on the Mile 1 Express.
- Steamboat shows off Greenhorn Ranch and gondola mid-station construction progress.
- Whitefish starts a blog dedicated to Snow Ghost Express construction updates.
- The Palm Springs Tramway closes for multiple days due to technical problems.
News Roundup: Letters from the Top
- Vail removes the East and West doubles from the Attitash trail map, replacing them with the Progression Quad to be built this summer.
- Vail sends resources from California and Colorado to help open lifts at Stevens Pass.
- The Wall Street Journal interviews Kirsten Lynch about Vail’s challenging start to the season.
- Vail Resorts expects to save millions of kilowatt hours of electricity annually by installing heat controls on 40 Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek lifts.
- Doppelmayr will build Stowe’s Mountain six passenger lift at a cost of $5.2 million.
- Pine Knob says it will be without Chair 1 for a few weeks due to a mechanical issue.
- Berkshire East and Catamount owner Jon Schaefer apologizes for project delays including two used lifts which have yet to open.
- Mission Ridge continues to criticize the approval process for its long-sought expansion.
- A man falls from the new Peru Express at Keystone.
- Bighorn Sheep concerns may quash Grand Targhee’s expansion dreams.
- Mt. Rose retires the Lakeview triple early due to “maintenance items that can’t be rectified.”
- Jay Peak updates guests on a Bonaventure quad gearbox issue.
- The only MND lift in the western United States has been down since last weekend.
- The latest bold plan from Les Otten would see skiing return to The Balsams in late 2023.
- A letter to Loon Mountain passholders acknowledges challenges with the new Kancamagus 8 lift.
- A quad chairlift is rope evacuated by firefighters at Earl Bales Park, Ontario.
- Timberline President Jeff Kohnstamm says a Government Camp gondola is still a number of years out but would include a mid-station, direct drive and 10 passenger cabins.
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