- 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 an look into wind hold decision making.
- Snowbasin cancels construction of a Club Med resort, calling into question associated lift projects.
- Great Bear considers building a second chairlift.
- Steamboat 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.
Vail
News Roundup: Three Left
- The lone chairlift at Elko Snobowl is rope evacuated on a busy Saturday.
- Windham Mountain rope evacuates the Wonderama Express after a chair collides with a snow gun.
- The Disney Skyliner closes for planned maintenance.
- Part of a detachable terminal blows away at Kirkwood.
- Aspen’s 1A replacement project remains in seemingly perpetual limbo.
- A new tram update with Big Sky’s Director of Construction.
- Telluride and Doppelmayr to load test Plunge Express this weekend with opening planned for early February.
- The final Vail Resorts Epic Lift Upgrade project opens on Vail Mountain.
- The Snow Flyer at Bittersweet and Transporter at Montana Snowbowl both opened today, marking 100 percent completion for Leitner-Poma and Skytrac projects.
- The workhorse of Crystal Mountain, Michigan will remain closed for another weekend.
- Multiple lifts go down at Cannon Mountain.
- A bill introduced in the New Hampshire legislature has $25 million for a new Cannon tram.
- The new Red Dog at Palisades Tahoe will temporarily close for a re-splice this week; Alpine Bowl will be closed indefinitely due to a mechanical problem.
News Roundup: On Line
- MND raises more money to continue growth plans.
- Palisades Tahoe opens Red Dog, Mount Baldy, Ontario opens the chairlift it worked years to build.
- Vail aims to open Sun Down Express this weekend.
- Sunnyside at Alta will open tomorrow, two months late.
- Cascade Mountain’s delayed lift also spins tomorrow.
- Granite Gorge, New Hampshire reopens after a multi-year closure.
- Loup Loup temporarily closes its lone chairlift to remove hazard trees identified by the Forest Service.
- Children are injured falling from lifts at Boyne Mountain, Bristol Mountain and Mt. Snow.
- Vail Resorts reports a 12.5 percent increase in skier visits but cautions extreme weather and airline disruptions hurt holiday performance.
- Unionized lift mechanics at Park City prepare to negotiate their first contract with Vail Resorts.
- Whitewater’s Silver King lift will be down for up to a month.
- Crystal Mountain, Michigan’s main lift to be down all weekend.
News Roundup: Viral Videos
- Sunshine Village seeks to replace Angel Express by 2024, manufacturer TBD.
- Bromont’s outgoing Versant des Épinettes quad will get a second life at Mont Rigaud.
- Mont-Sainte-Anne reopens without its gondola. The FIS postpones a February World Cup event there.
- Whitefish won’t operate Bad Rock this winter.
- A child falls from a lift at Whitetail.
- A Park City guest is charged with assault for a mid-ride fight on the Saddleback Express.
- A snowboarder falling down a T-Bar line sends four other riders to the hospital in Europe.
- Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania will open the Main Street Express tomorrow.
- Utah Olympic Park and Doppelmayr near the finish line on the West Peak expansion.
- Ditto for Leitner-Poma and Vail on the Sun Down Express.
- Chairs go on Sunnyside at Alta.
- Boyne Resorts looks looks to hire an internal Lift Construction Director.
- The proposed Los Angeles gondola scores a courtroom victory.
- The operator of the Goldbelt Tram agrees to fund $10 million of the Eaglecrest Gondola.
- Granite Peak celebrates expansion approval.
- Mountain Capital Partners acquires a majority stake in Valle Nevado, Chile.
- Silverton Mountain seeks approval for two more chairlifts (pages 63-67).
- Vail Resorts announces a big new lift for Perisher, Australia.
News Roundup: Last of the Year
- A storm blows terminal panels off the new Tecumseh Express at Waterville Valley.
- Ditto for the T-Bar at Smuggs.
- A landslide takes out a lift tower in France.
- A de-roped moving gondola and power lines do not mix well in Bulgaria.
- Two major lifts to go down at Whitefish, one gets rope evacuated over multiple hours.
- An upgrade project run long is what prevented Thunderwolf from opening early season at Big Sky (now finished.)
- Holiday Mountain, Manitoba reopens after years closed.
- Vail christens the Game Creek Express; Sun Down Express remains under construction and Leitner-Poma apologizes.
- The Palisades Base to Base Gondola spins as one continuous lift for the first time.
- Attitash will reveal the name of next year’s new lift on New Year’s Eve.
- Maine approves expansion at Sugarloaf.
News Roundup: More Than a Mechanic
- More huge lift openings this weekend: Creekside Gondola at Whistler Blackcomb, Disciples 8 at Boyne Mountain, Jordan 8 at Sunday River, Sunrise at Stowe, Wild Blue and Greenhorn Ranch Express at Steamboat and maybe Game Creek at Vail.
- Wildwood at Sundance will hopefully spin again Saturday after opening then closing due to a motor failure.
- Palisades Tahoe expects to reopen the Base to Base Gondola early next week as one continuous lift. Red Dog is delayed until January.
- The Colorado Sun looks at lift supply chain challenges.
- Cascade Mountain issues a letter to guests about delays with its lift project.
- Closed Mont-Sainte-Anne offers passholders a Stoneham season pass, a full refund, or a 15% refund and pass for once the mountain reopens.
- Jackson Hole’s owner wants to replace Sublette next.
- Mt. Shasta looks for creative solutions to uphill ingress to and egress from the new Gray Butte lift.
- Locals weigh the future of Silverton’s Kendall Mountain Ski Area.
- A child falls 20 feet from a lift at Brian Head.
- As snow and ice cripple Portland, the city’s Aerial Tram ramps up with 24 hour operations.
- Breckenridge reopens the Peak 8 SuperConnect after yesterday’s incident. Updated statement from the resort copied below.
Breckenridge Ski Resort confirms at approximately 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 22, a chair dislodged from the haul rope of the Peak 8 SuperConnect as it was reaching the top terminal. One guest was on the chair at the time and fell approximately 13 feet. Ski patrol responded immediately. No injuries were reported and the guest declined further care.
The Peak 8 SuperConnect was closed for the remainder of the day on Thursday. The resort’s lift maintenance team was on site at the time of the incident and worked with the Colorado Tramway Safety Board to report the incident.
At the time of this event, the resort was following all standard operating procedures. The wind direction was predominantly favorable for operation of the Peak 8 SuperConnect when it opened for the day at 10 a.m., however an abnormal wind gust across the top terminal, in addition to the chair coming into contact with components of the upper terminal, created the circumstances of this event.
Since the event, the resort’s lift maintenance team has conducted a thorough inspection of the Peak 8 SuperConnect and consulted with the Colorado Tramway Safety Board. The lift resumed operations at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 23.
News Roundup: Doubles Save the Day
- Many big openings this weekend including Lenawee Express at Arapahoe Basin, Big Red at Whistler, Seven Brothers at Loon Mountain, North Bowl Express at Heavenly, Eagle Peak at Lookout Pass and Black Bear 6 at Camelback.
- Palisades Tahoe launches the Base to Base Gondola tomorrow but it will operate as two separate lifts and close Sunday for more work.
- Vail waits for a weather window to fly the pilot line for Sun Down Express, nears the finish line on Game Creek Express.
- Doppelmayr and Steamboat unwrap Wild Blue cabins.
- Kimberley load tests the Northstar Express following a year of repairs.
- New Sunnyside at Alta won’t be finished by Christmas; the Albion double will spin until it opens.
- The new high speed quad at Telluride won’t open until late January due to labor challenges.
- FourRunner goes down at Stowe and the nearby Sunrise Six isn’t finished yet. Lookout saves the week.
- A “series of setbacks to electrical infrastructure” delays opening of new lifts and the entire Big Boulder ski area.
- Cuchara won’t reopen lift-served skiing this year after all.
- Giants Ridge debuts a new VistaMap.
- Sun Valley launches a website dedicated to next summer’s lift projects.
- As the investigation continues into the Mont-Sainte-Anne gondola incident and the mountain remains closed this weekend, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies seeks a public-private partnership to renew its Quebec infrastructure. Quebec’s Premier isn’t sold on giving public money to RCR.
- The Governor of New Hampshire wants replacement of the Cannon Tram to be voted on by the legislature, a funding mechanism could be selected this year with the earliest possible opening in late 2024.
- Ski Utah previews the upcoming Burns Express at Deer Valley.
- Wisconsin approves a pared down master plan for Granite Peak with two expansion lifts, one on each side of existing terrain.
- Homewood forges ahead with plans to go private for homeowners only.
- The sightseeing gondola proposal in Vernon, British Columbia moves forward.
- An idea to connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario by 3S gondola is back.
- Construction begins on the new D-Line gondola at a California vineyard.
News Roundup: To the Polls
- Park City lift mechanics and electricians will vote whether to unionize early next week.
- Charges against four Marines are dropped after they pay more than $18,000 in restitution for allegedly causing a lift deropement at the San Diego Zoo.
- Alta modifies operations and offers passholders refunds due to the delayed Sunnyside lift project.
- Sierra at Tahoe will reopen December 3rd following 15 months of fire recovery efforts.
- A progress report on Copper Mountain’s Alpine terminal replacement project.
- Grand Targhee debuts a new VistaMap.
- Disciples 8 shows up on the Boyne Mountain trail map.
- Echo Mountain and Granby Ranch become the latest Colorado resorts to join the Indy Pass.
- Mammoth Mountain looks to replace the Panorama Gondola with a realigned 10 passenger version.
- Vail Resorts CEO Kirsten Lynch reflects on last season and details what the company is doing to make this season better.
- Northern Virginia Magazine profiles the successful rebirth of Timberline Mountain under the Perfect family.
- A new owner takes a majority stake in Massif du Sud, promising new investment.
- Resorts are still flying towers for new lifts including Red Dog at Palisades, Hidden Valley at Snoqualmie and La Laurentienne at Sommet Gabriel.
- Construction continues on two new lifts at Vail, with completion expected in December.
- Whistler Blackcomb and Doppelmayr expect the delayed Creekside Gondola haul rope to arrive today.
- Reflecting on the Lone Peak Tram as it enters its final season.
- Frost Fire, North Dakota won’t open this season.
- Closed Holiday Mountain, Manitoba plans to reopen under new ownership.
- Searchmont updates guests on numerous lift projects around the mountain.
- Redevelopment of Big Squaw is cancelled due to failed negotiations with the current owner and global financial conditions.
News Roundup: Game Creek
- Indy Pass adds Calabogie Peaks and Loch Lomond, Ontario; Arctic Valley, Alaska and Mt. Crescent, Iowa plus more allied resorts.
- In Tennessee, Skyland Ranch will open November 11th with a brand new combination chairlift/gondola.
- Windham Mountain acquires 450 acres, hires SE Group to craft a master plan for Eastward expansion.
- Rusty Gregory, Stephen Kircher and Mike Kaplan talk recession, climate change and resilience at a virtual event.
- Montana Snowbowl’s new Skytrac will be called Transporter.
- Snowriver introduces a website and logo.
- Breckenridge will sell 85 double chairs from Rip’s Ride for charity.
- All systems are go for Kimberley’s Northstar Express to reopen this season.
- Cannon Mountain warns a big increase in energy costs will lead to higher prices this winter.
- Ober Gatlinburg becomes Ober Mountain with a new owner, new President and capital investments to come.
- Blue Mountain’s trail map shows the location of the the new Main Street Express.
- The Highlands closes Heather Express for the season early due to mechanical problems.
- Doppelmayr plans to build Mexico City’s new six-station gondola line in just 15 months.
- Season four of the Ski Utah podcast debuts with an episode all about the Snowbird Tram’s modernization.
- Eaglecrest chooses an alignment for its used gondola.
- Thanks to reader Mark for these great photos of projects nearing completion on Vail Mountain.
News Roundup: Falling Trees
- Doppelmayr wins the contract to build Cablebus Line 3, a six station/40 tower gondola in Mexico City with a bid $19 million under Leitner.
- Steamboat’s new gondola won’t open until mid to late December.
- A falling tree de-ropes the Busch Gardens Williamsburg gondola off multiple towers.
- NSAA reports the number of US ski areas operating last season increased by 11 to 473.
- A brand new chairlift at Ski Wentworth gets battered by wind and falling trees from Hurricane Fiona but is believed to be undamaged.
- Lake Louise says both Upper Juniper and Sunnyside high speed quads could be constructed as early as 2023 (map here).
- A new map shows the location of Vail’s upcoming Chair 17 in Sun Down Bowl.
- Deer Valley’s new map shows where the new Burns Express goes.
- Apex Mountain uses video footage and social media to identify a group who tampered with the resort’s detachable quad.
- The Los Angeles transit authority expects to release the draft Environmental Impact Report for the Dodger Stadium gondola October 17th.
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