- A video shows the Kicking Horse incident was exacerbated by running the damaged hanger to a tower, causing the lift to de-rope. The gondola will be closed at least a week and likely longer; the resort will allow guests to hike or skin to Stairway to Heaven.
- The snowboarder who died after falling from Red Lodge Mountain’s Triple Chair on Monday is identified as 37 year old Jeffrey Zinne of Billings in an incident described as a “malfunction.”
- A child was airlifted to Denver after falling 35 feet from the Purgatory Village Express the same day as the Kicking Horse and Red Lodge incidents.
- Leitner-Poma posts jobs for ski lift installers at Bretton Woods, Loveland, OZ Trails Bike Park, Powder Mountain, Snowmass, Snowbasin, Taos and Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
- New York State wins its case against a ski resort owner for buying Toggenburg to close it and reduce competition.
- Snowbasin to sell chairs from the Becker lift for charity.
- Loup Loup, Washington ends its season early due to a required motor repair.
- Vail’s Riva Bahn Express has been closed all week due to a gearbox issue requiring a rebuild.
- Vail Resorts reports solid results with season-to-date skier visits down 2.5%, lift ticket revenue up 4.1%, ski school revenue up 3.0%, dining revenue 3.1% and retail/rental revenue down 2.9%. Net income for the quarter ended January 31st increased 11.9%.
- Tenney Mountain, New Hampshire still plans to reopen the Hornet some time this winter following a gearbox issue.
- Another lawsuit is filed against the Little Cottonwood gondola proposal.
- Attitash reopens the Flying Bear five weeks after a chair fell from the line. Draft minutes from the New Hampshire Passenger Tramway Safety Board suggest multiple damaged carriers were found and Attitash was approved to reduce capacity from 82 to 64 carriers. Update Monday 3/17: Vail PR sent me this statement, emphasis theirs: “During our inspection process, we made the decision to reinspect all our chairs and grips, haul rope, sheaves, terminals, and more. Following our inspection, we are taking the opportunity to replace parts on some chairs unrelated to the incident as a part of routine upgrades. These chairs will remain temporarily out of service until the parts arrive. This was a decision made by the resort, that the Passenger Tramway Safety Board unanimously approved at the March 3rd board meeting. We have been given permission to run the lift between the manufacturer’s minimum and maximum design specifications.”
- Ober Mountain, Tennessee opens the new Sky Village Express.
- Whistler Blackcomb completes a mid-season rope inspection and splice due to a broken haul rope strand on the Emerald 6 Express.
- WB also pulls the plug on summer skiing due to glacial recession and its impact on lift access.
- A community co-op effort was unable to submit a bid for Mt. Bachelor.
- Vista Ridge, Alberta closes both its chairlifts indefinitely to conduct a review following several evacuations.
- Alpental will close two weeks early so crews can work to build the new Chair 2 over snow in a roadless area.
- Ditto for Explorer at Big Sky as it’s replaced with a gondola.
- After running on diesel generators for a decade, the Sea to Sky Gondola‘s upper terminal is connected to grid power for the first time.
- Whaleback, New Hampshire says it needs to raise $250,000 to fund off season maintenance and chairlift repairs.
- Titcomb Mountain looks to retire and replace T-Bar 2.
- Powder Mountain to build a private, homeowner only Leitner-Poma detachable quad this summer.
- Snowbird’s Mineral Basin reopening is further delayed due to “unforseen additional issues“.
- The Forest Service approves Alta to replace Supreme with a new lift and no eight degree bend.
- Pending approval of its members, Bryce Resort plans to install a third Skytrac on the backside of the mountain this summer.
The Summit at Snoqualmie
News Roundup: Auxiliary
- Mt. Ashland reopens on the tree-damaged Ariel double, opens one of the first all-electric chairlifts in the country.
- Sugarbush explains what’s going on with five lifts that have either gone down or not opened yet this season.
- California OSHA tells me it won’t investigate the lift incident that hospitalized five people at Heavenly because most of the Comet Express is in Nevada, including where the collision occurred.
- Whitefish is without Chair 2 while a systems modernization is completed.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshire seeks to raise $5 million to form a co-op.
- Winter Park reopens The Gondola just 48 hours after last week’s tower crack.
- Construction begins on a third Mexicable line in Greater Mexico City with 10 stations and 278 cabins at a cost of $149 million.
- A tower collapses on a fair chairlift in Mexico during operations.
- The Chondola at Telluride is rope evacuated.
- Alpental’s new Internationale chair opened today but was offloaded on auxiliary shortly thereafter due to a mechanical issue. “Our lift maintenance team is working with Doppelmayr and plans to complete full diagnostics and testing in the morning, with the goal of reopening the lift tomorrow once we are 100% satisfied we’ve eliminated all potential issues,” says The Summit.
News Roundup: Silver Fir
- The Jasper SkyTram remains standing after a wildfire but assessment continues and the lift may remained closed for the year.
- Phase one of the Wyler Aerial Tramway replacement project in El Paso, Texas goes out to bid.
- Telluride plans to begin construction on a new Mountain Village gondola in 2028.
- Alyeska’s former CEO says Girdwood could eventually host a second ski resort.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie’s bike park will miss this weekend due to an electrical issue on the Silver Fir Express.
The Summit at Snoqualmie Shuffles New Lift Plans
Instead of building two new chairlifts at Alpental this summer, The Summit at Snoqualmie will instead build one lift at Alpental and another at Summit West in partnership with Doppelmayr. The Summit encompasses four distinct ski areas and is in the midst of a multi-year investment push called Summit 2030 that will now see at least five new lifts installed over four years. Alpental is a major focus of the plan with two lift replacements and one completely new expansion lift. Phase one was a replacement Sessel lift, which debuted this season. A brand new International triple will follow above Sessel this summer. Snoqualmie previously announced Chair 2/Edelweiss would also be replaced in 2024, but that has now been postponed one year to 2025.
Crews have already completed many of the foundations for both International and Chair 2, which ascend extremely steep terrain and have limited to no road access outside of snow season. In fact, crews this week transported the new haul rope for International up the mountain over snow in advance of this summer’s construction. “Shifting the Edelweiss timeline will allow the construction team at Alpental to focus all their efforts on completing International prior to the 24/25 season,” the resort noted. “We’ve mentioned it before but work on International is extremely challenging and time-consuming due to the lack of road access and gnarly terrain.”
Simultaneously with the International project, crews will now replace the Wildside triple with a new fixed grip quad at Summit West for next season. Wildside dates back to 1974 and had broken down occasionally in recent seasons. Summit West has traditional service roads and work can more easily be completed there at the same time as International. “[Wildside] is a much simpler installation with easier access for the construction team and is a great opportunity to get another aging lift replaced,” said Snoqualmie. Unlike the current lift, the realigned Wildside will feature a loading conveyor and restraint bars.
New Chair 2 at Alpental will now debut in winter 2025-26, the fourth season in a row with a new lift on Snoqualmie Pass. In the meantime, skiers can enjoy one more season on the classic Riblet to the top.
News Roundup: Reimagining
- The Canyons Village Management Association budgets $8 million for a Cabriolet replacement and $9.24 million toward a new gondola on the Canyons side of Park City Mountain.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie adds more chairs to Armstrong Express at Alpental.
- Mt. Bachelor offers Skyliner Express chairs for sale.
- Keystone releases an all new trail map showing the Bergman expansion.
- New owners of Holiday Mountain, New York will host a stakeholder meeting tomorrow to outline rebuilding plans.
- The Whistler Blackcomb Peak 2 Peak Gondola may open late for the summer due to an issue related to ice buildup.
- A former employee who fell 30 feet from a Riblet double without a safety bar while downloading accuses Stevens Pass of negligently operating an old, unsafe chairlift.
- Colorado reports a record 14.8 million skier visits.
- New Hampshire also reports strong results from last season.
- Vail Resorts says season pass sales are trending up 6 percent in units and 11 percent in dollars for next season.
- Le Massif will operate two of its longest lifts for a unique night time sound and light show this summer.
- Highland Mountain Bike Park to close its chairlift for a week to replace the communications line.
- Snowmass receives approval to replace Coney Glade with a realigned and extended detachable quad in 2024.
- Five years after closing, Deer Mountain, South Dakota will reopen as a private club.
Three New Triple Chairs Coming to Alpental, Washington
The Summit at Snoqualmie today announced plans to build three new lifts in two years at Alpental, following other recent lift projects at Summit East and Summit Central. Year one at will see construction of a new Sessel triple this summer with a replacement Edelweiss triple and new International triple to follow in 2024. The projects are all part of the Summit 2030 plan announced by The Summit and parent company Boyne Resorts last year.
Sessel will be realigned with a 1,790 foot slope length and 590 foot vertical drop. The existing Riblet lift, built in 1967, rises about 80 feet less. The new Doppelmayr Alpenstar will feature a loading conveyor, boosting rope speed to 500 feet per minute and capacity to 1,800 skiers per hour. The lift will look very similar to the new Hidden Valley triple which Snoqualmie opened this season at Summit East.
Doppelmayr will also commence foundation work for both a replacement Edelweiss chair and brand new International triple this spring. Both these lifts will service upper mountain terrain beginning in the 2024-25 season.
Due to construction, Alpental will close earlier than normal on April 23rd. Most of the ski area is roadless, necessitating over snow access to tower and terminal locations.
Lift Blog 
