The Balsams – Lift Blog

News Roundup: Last Call

May 10, 2018Peter Landsman12 Comments

No ticket, no card. You can now ride lifts using only your phone at Sunshine Village.
Berkshire East owners buy Catamount with summer business and upgrading aging infrastructure on the agenda.
U.S. skier visits decline 2.8 percent for 2017-18 with the Midwest and Southeast up year-over-year, the Northeast flat and the Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Southwest regions down.
New lift construction is nonetheless pacing 25 percent ahead of last year and 43 points above this date in 2016.
Quebec area Val Neigette closes for good with its Doppelmayr quad chairlift headed to an unknown Ontario mountain to cover outstanding debt.
Mi Teleférico is apparently in talks to build dozens more urban gondolas in La Paz between 2020 and 2030.
The Balsams project faces a key state vote on May 21st.
Add Nashville to the list of US cities considering public transport gondolas.
Boyne Resorts closes on its purchase of seven mountain resorts, bringing its owned and operated portfolio to ten across North America.
Jackson, Wyoming stakeholders mostly agree to site a new gondola in a public park at the base of Snow King Mountain.
Loveland will hold a lottery for season passholders to win purchase rights for Lift 1 chairs.
The final last chair for the Norway lift at A-Basin is Sunday.

We're sad to say goodbye to this legendary lift that's been sending us to the summit since 1978. Alas, it's time for Norway Lift to retire on Sun., May 13. Celebrate her final day of operation with one last ride up, and share your favorite Norway Lift stories with us! #ABasin pic.twitter.com/5oagNspkhU

— Arapahoe Basin (@Arapahoe_Basin) May 9, 2018

News Roundup: Symphony

March 29, 2018Peter Landsman13 Comments

Doppelmayr will bring D-Line to France for the first time this fall.
A child is okay after falling from a Big White chairlift onto a busy road.
Ski California to host its first Lift Maintenance and Operations Education Conference June 5-7 at Squaw Valley.
After weathering a challenging season with a narrow profit, Sunlight considers building a truly new lift for the first time in half a century.
An empty cabin falls from an early model Poma gondola in France, leading to a rope evacuation and significant media attention.
Fatzer produces a 6.5 mile long, 60 mm wide rope for what may be the new longest monocable gondola, location unknown.
Mt. Timothy, BC is “flat broke” and will likely close without public funding.
Leitner delivers the first Symphony cabin for the world’s highest 3S by helicopter.
The financially-challenged Hermitage Club closes for the season.
Garaventa names a new CEO.
A state economic development authority delays consideration of a $28 million loan guarantee for The Balsams.

News Roundup: Firsts

February 1, 2018Peter Landsman3 Comments

One of Doppelmayr’s largest customers will open its first Poma gondola on February 7th.
Leitner lift with new Pininfarina terminal design launches in Austria.
Woodward Park City faces not one but three appeals.
After more than a year of delays and false starts, LST’s first detachable opens again in France.
The Balsams eyes April gondola groundbreaking.
Telluride quits the Mountain Collective to join the Epic Pass, bringing together 14 Vail Resorts-owned mountains with two partner resorts.
Sugar Mountain settles with the family of a boy seriously injured after jumping from a stopped chairlift two hours after it closed.
Georgetown-Rosslyn Gondola project inches forward.
Ascutney Outdoors raises most of the money needed to install a used T-Bar this summer.

News Roundup: High Level

October 19, 2017October 19, 2017Peter Landsman9 Comments

The Denver Post talks details with Dave Perry, head of the new KSL-Crown Family resort company.
James Coleman is buying Elk Ridge, Arizona and plans to build a chairlift.
Nonprofit operator of Cape Smokey in Nova Scotia seeks private investor to revive a mothballed 1995 quad chair.
T-Bar mania continues in New England as Ascutney proposes installing a 2,500′ Doppelmayr from Le Relais.
Man falls from the Black Mountain Express on Arapahoe Basin’s opening day.
Tram board finds insufficient evidence to act against Granby Ranch for allegedly leaving a child on a chairlift years ago.
Granby also moves forward with replacing Quickdraw’s drive.
Eldora takes local media on a tour of Alpenglow.
Sometime after I took pictures of the Basin quad at White Pass, a wacky offset half tower was added.
Groundbreaking at The Balsams is delayed yet again.
The private owner of the former High Pond Ski Area in Vermont is installing a new Leitner-Poma T-Bar on the site.
In a podcast interview, chief of Canada’s third largest transit agency says high-level talks are underway toward building the Burnaby Mountain Gondola.
Purgatory seeks approval to build a 4,200′ lift called Gelande to the south of Needles next summer.

News Roundup: Base-to-Base

August 10, 2017August 10, 2017Peter Landsman15 Comments

Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows CEO Andy Wirth and landowner Troy Caldwell held a Base-to-Base Gondola open house and Q&A last week presenting lots of new details. The Red Dog replacement project won’t happen until the gondola alignment is finalized.
The Balsams files site plans for construction of a gondola and more beginning as soon as this fall.
Subaru Skyride debuts at the Indiana State Fair. Can anyone identify the manufacturer?
Owners of Lutsen say $40 million expansion will compel more skiers to stay in the Midwest instead of trekking to Colorado.
Still no sign of lift construction at Saddleback.
Two people apparently were injured riding a lift at Montage Mountain last weekend.
Following the successful launch of a Poma gondola to the Kuelap fortress, Peru’s government to study building a cable car to Machu Picchu.
Snowbasin is adding a tower to the currently towerless Allen Peak Tram to increase clearance and reduce closures during storm cycles.
Keystone drops Making Montezuma episode 2.
Disney Skyliner gondola construction prep continues.
Sunshine Village reopens its gondola tomorrow after an 11-day fire closure.
First pictures emerge of Steamboat’s gondola rebuild. Notice downloading capacity is now only six per cabin.
The City of Elko will take over Elko Snobowl.
Steamboat City Council reviews vision for Howelsen Hill which includes $1.54 million for a new, realigned Barrows chairlift.
An Eldo Express update from Eldora.
Ditto from Stoneham.

News Roundup: Pass Wars

May 11, 2017May 11, 2017Peter Landsman18 Comments

The latest Wir highlights Doppelmayr Connect, various drive concepts and the Sweetwater Gondola.
U.S. skier visits climbed 3.7 percent last season to 54.7 million. 479 ski areas operated in 2016-17, up from 464.
Silverton Mountain is not a fan of the Epic Pass.
Royal Gorge Bridge & Park considers chairlift down to the Arkansas River.
Intrawest re-invested 8 percent of revenues at its resorts between 2013 and 2017 (compared with 11 percent across Vail Resorts.) The company had 173 interested buyers, 16 of which were ski industry players.
Early summer update from the Magic Mountain rebirth and Green Chair project.
Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group buys Frey AG Stans, a leading global provider of ropeway control systems.
Lifts from the defunct Talisman Mountain Resort have been sold; one is headed to Sunridge, Alberta.
Granby Ranch investigation update.
LA mayor suggests gondola to the Hollywood sign from Universal Studios.
Ghost Town in Maggie Valley, NC goes up for sale, including Carlevaro-Savio chairlift that last operated in 2012.
Nonprofit nearing purchase of Frost Fire, ND, hopes to repair two chairlifts and reopen skiing next winter.
Government considers building world’s longest gondola into the world’s largest cave in Vietnam.
Here’s a recap of what we missed at Interalpin.
Lutsen Mountains’ six-lift expansion plan moves forward.
The Denver Post reports a joint Aspen/Intrawest/KSL/Mammoth pass is in the works for 2018-19, meaning the Mountain Collective could lose seven members and 43 percent of its lifts. The MAX Pass might fare better, losing the six Intrawest resorts and 85 lifts (20 percent.) I chart one scenario below.

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News Roundup: Building

January 17, 2017January 17, 2017Peter Landsman6 Comments

I talk six-packs with the Vail Daily.
Heavenly’s Comet Express remains closed following a Jan. 1st rope evacuation, apparently due to a gearbox issue. This is one of the reasons Vail Resorts is replacing its fleet of 1980s-vintage detachable quads.
Doppelmayr and the United Nations are hosting a week-long urban mobility ropeway class in April.
The New York Times tells the tale of Big Sky Resort.
Ski patroller severely injured in fall from chair at Terry Peak.
Gondola proposed to serve airport in Vietnam’s congested largest city.
BC Parks considers a gondola to Mt. Seymour to alleviate parking and traffic problems.
Ski Area Management‘s lift construction survey dropped this week. Highlights from its outlook for 2017:
- “We’re off to a strong year for ’17, there are lots of people asking about lifts…It’s very positive compared to the previous two years.” – Jon Mauch, Senior Sales Manager at Leitner-Poma
- “There’s a lot of enthusiasm about what could happen under a Trump administration. People expect deregulation and a more business-friendly climate.” – Mark Bee, President at Doppelmayr USA
- “We’re seeing lots of requests quotes, lots of major modifications and retrofits…It’s all being driven by the age of the existing lift infrastructure.” – Carl Skylling, General Manager at Skytrac
- I’ve already identified 29 new lifts likely to be built in 2017, pacing well above the last few years for mid-January.
Slovakian manufacturer Tatralift debuts its third detachable lift using a Wopfner grip. That makes seven companies capable of building a detachable lift globally – Bartholet, BMHRI (China), Doppelmayr/Garaventa (Austria), Leitner–Poma (Italy), LST (France), STM (Turkey) and Tatralift (Slovakia.)

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News Roundup: Champagne

September 7, 2016September 7, 2016Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

Doppelmayr is reportedly working on a concept 3S gondola that can switch between being cable-driven and self-propelled along elevated guideways.
The Mexican coastal town of Manzanillo plans to build a sightseeing gondola in 2017.
Videos of child falling from a six-pack in New Zealand make the rounds.
Transport for London wants to serve champagne to riders aboard the Emirates Air Line.
Newly-named Arthur’s Seat Eagle unveils innovative gondola cabins with removable windows.
Les Otten talks about what he hopes will become the largest ski resort in the Northeast.
The Green Peak expansion is progressing rapidly at Waterville Valley.
A new, longer Sunrise lift from Park City’s Canyons Village will likely be built next summer.
The Rio Grande National Forest seeks public comments on the Meadow lift at Wolf Creek, also likely to go in next summer.
A progress report from Suicide Six where Leitner-Poma is building a new quad chair.
More than 32,000 people submitted comments to the Navajo Nation last week regarding the proposed Grand Canyon Escalade.
Sweetwater Gondola is on schedule at JHMR.

News Roundup: Signs of Life

July 13, 2016July 13, 2016Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

Another of Ascutney Mountain’s old lifts is headed for Pats Peak.
A local firm will conduct a feasibility study for an urban gondola across the Hudson River in Albany, NY.
The 11th International Ropeway Congress will be held in Italy next June.
Work might begin at The Balsams this Fall.
Signs of life with lift maintenance ongoing at Saddleback.
Check out these sweet photos of the big new 3S that turns at Mayrhofner Bergbahnen.
Doppelmayr will build at least four new D-Line lifts in Europe this summer.
SAM looks at resorts formalizing training for lift mechanics.
Grouse Mountain will launch the Skyride Surf Adventure™ on Friday (yes, they trademarked the name.)

News Roundup: BMF Builds a Gondola

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016Peter LandsmanLeave a comment

The Boston Globe profiles a man who bought 62 lifts at 11 mountain resorts in his career and now wants to build a resort with 25 lifts at The Balsams.
While states like West Virginia have no government oversight agency, a New Hampshire newspaper asks whether that state’s tramway board goes far enough. Part II of the investigation deals with lift inspections and Part III the recent grip-slip incident at Granite Gorge.
The writing was on the wall but it’s now official; there will be no season at Saddleback.
Nippon Cable will build Japan’s first chondola this summer at Niseko along with a pulse gondola.
A San Diego County Supervisor thinks his city will have a gondola before the Chargers build a new stadium. The San Diego Bay to Balboa Park Skyway would cover two miles in 12 minutes and carry 2,400 people per hour.
The federal government is in a dispute with the concessionaire that, up until yesterday, operated Badger Pass Ski Area in Yosemite National Park. Deleware North Corporation wants $51.2 million for trademarks including the Badger Pass® name so the National Park Service has re-named the mountain Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area. Its four chairlifts are safe from the litigation and now operated by Aramark Corporation as part of a $2 billion contract.

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