- Indy Pass adds Upper Midwest mountains Whitecap, Camp 10, Paul Bunyan and Coffee Mill.
- Ikon signs SilverStar, BC as a full partner and Giants Ridge, Minnesota to its bonus tier.
- Alaska’s capital city is poised to cancel installation of a used gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area after spending $8.3 million (this detailed presentation shows the project could be revived with private investment and would likely be profitable.)
- Pico retires the Outpost double with no immediate replacement.
- Lonesome Pine, Maine fundraises to replace its T-Bar.
- Also in Maine, Mt. Jefferson might install a used double from a larger resort.
- Germany’s Zugspitze blows up two glacier T-Bars due to melting.
- Switzerland opens a criminal investigation into last month’s Engelberg gondola detachment.
- Marquette Mountain, Michigan to install a new chairlift this summer, details TBA.
- Antelope Butte, Wyoming envisions a Westside intermediate lift.
- Colorado’s Mighty Argo Cable Car could open this month.
- The Boone’s Ridge wildlife center in Kentucky, which would include an MND gondola, to sell $70 million worth of bonds.
- Ski profiles the process to install new Elk Camp at Snowmass from factory to load test.
- After losing $1.6 million, the private operator of the Stone Mountain aerial tram will end its contract with the State of Georgia early and lay off staff. Aramark Destinations will take over operations June 1st.
- The Forest Service to close regional offices and relocate headquarters to Salt Lake City.
US Forest Service
News Roundup: Valentine’s Edition
- Vail Resorts reaches an agreement with Crested Butte lift mechanics, averting a strike.
- A window falls from a cabin on Stowe’s Mansfield Gondola during operations.
- Mission Ridge acknowledges three different chairs have detached this season from Chair 4, a 1971 Riblet double (all empty and no injuries).
- Waterville Valley completes a midseason splice on the High Country T-Bar.
- A new owner looks to reopen Crystal Mountain, BC via crowdfunding.
- Winter Park’s High Lonesome Express is back after a four week maintenance closure.
- Still no Slide Brook Express at Sugarbush but hopefully soon.
- The Glade Triple at Catamount will miss the rest of the season.
- Badger Pass, California won’t open this season.
- Ditto for Cedar Pass, also in California.
- Park City gets serious about a gondola connecting Main Street to Deer Valley.
- President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports with potential impacts on lift manufacturers.
- The US Forest Service, landlord to 124 ski areas, lays off 3,400 employees.
- A bipartisan group of Senators sponsor a bill that would direct the Forest Service retain some of the fees resorts pay to the federal government for ski purposes, such as processing resort improvement projects.
- The gondola in Moab, Utah which sat for 25 years without ever opening, is finally being removed.
- Solitude demystifies lift maintenance for customers.
News Roundup: Cirque
- The Salesforce Transit Center tram opens Monday.
- Volunteers are determined to complete the Ascutney Mountain T-Bar project in time for next winter.
- Peak Resorts reports a great fourth quarter with $36.9 million in earnings on $85.5 million in revenue, up from a year ago 52.5 and 71.5 percent, respectively.
- Mexico City awards the contract for the first Cablebús urban gondola line to Doppelmayr, which will utilize D-Line technology.
https://twitter.com/CablebusCDMX/status/1144637660561997824
- The reopening of Big Tupper, NY hits a snag.
- Proposed changes to the NEPA process would streamline approval of projects on National Forest lands impacting less than 20 acres, such as chairlift replacements.
- The Balsams goes up for sale.
- At Squaw Alpine, the extended Hot Wheels replacement will be named Treeline Cirque.
- Seattle’s ABC affiliate checks in on Stevens Pass’ trio of lift projects.
- Five months before its grand opening, Woodward Park City is really coming along. Bonus: it looks like Doppelmayr has a new, more modern lift operator shack option (also seen at Manning Park.)
Lift Blog 