Vidanta SkyDream – Lift Blog

News Roundup: Firm Orders

August 13, 2021Peter Landsman18 Comments

Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta will build a second SkyDream gondola system, this time at Vidanta Riviera Maya.
Sundance auctions chairs from the former Arrowhead triple.
The team at Craigleith, Ontario wins the inaugural Ski Area Management/Leitner-Poma Rise Up Challenge.
Four Japanese resorts sign on to the Indy Pass.
Arizona Snowbowl’s new gondola has been down for two weeks and the ski area moves its entire summer operation to a different base area and the Grand Canyon Express.
Beaver Creek’s two new quads will be named McCoy Park Express and Reunion.
The sale price for Blue Mountain, PA is revealed as $31.9 million.
MND reports annual results with ropeway sales up 32 percent and a firm order backlog of €91.7 million.
A group continues to push for a West Seattle gondola as a planned rail project gets delayed.
Squaw Alpine and Leitner-Poma make great progress on the base to base gondola, though they aren’t publicly committing to a completion timeline.
Citing staffing and fire danger, Mt. Shasta ends its summer season early.
After missing a year, Searchmont plans to reopen this season with two new triple chairs.
Manitoba’s Holiday Mountain announces it won’t open in 2021-22.
Vail Resorts unveils a succession plan with CEO Rob Katz moving to an Executive Chairperson role and Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch becoming CEO November 1.
Icy Strait Point and Norwegian Cruise Line cut the ribbon on the Transporter gondola with another 8 passenger system set to open later this summer.
Jay Peak’s former President and CEO will plead guilty to a single charge of providing false statements and other charges are expected to be dropped.
Keystone posts a big update on the Peru Express replacement project.
Aspen Snowmass introduces a new brand and logo which is already on some gondola cabins.
Snowbasin’s Middle Bowl replacement project gets off to the races.

News Roundup: A Landslide

May 21, 2021May 22, 2021Peter Landsman5 Comments

After a year with no revenue, one Canadian resort resorts to GoFundMe to stay afloat.
SE Group will study the viability of a proposed hiking/biking chairlift near Park City.
97 percent of Bryce Resort homeowners vote to fund $2.5 million replacement of Chair 2.
Cape Smokey receives a CA$2.5 million construction loan from the Government of Canada, although travel restrictions may delay completion of a new gondola.
Doppelmayr’s 2021 Yearbook is out along with a new Wir magazine.
Poma’s latest Reference Book also drops.
Trails and the new lift line have been cleared on Sunday River’s Merrill Hill.
Skytrac is still recruiting construction employees in Crested Butte, Steamboat, Whiteface and Whitefish.
The first-of-its-kind Leitner 2S in Germany is complete, though Covid prevents public operation and a noise issue hinders full speed operation for now.
Doppelmayr and Sun Group mark 14 years of building record breaking ropeways in Vietnam.
Great Bear to raffle off retired Borvig quad chairs.
The story of how MND came to be through 15 acquisitions and a focus on emerging markets.
MND reports half year results with revenue declining 5 percent but snowmaking and ropeway revenue increasing by 6 percent.
Less than four years ago, new terminal equipment was shoehorned into the Steamboat Gondola building. Now it’s being used for fire training in advance of demolition.
Big Sky launches a Swift Current 6 update site.
Vidanta SkyDream claims to be the world’s first gondola transportation at a beach resort.
The Epcot Disney Skyliner line will close for a six day maintenance window in January.
For the second time in two months, a guest is injured falling from equipment at Camelback.
Berkshire East and Catamount Jon Schaefer owner talks expansion, says he came close to buying the Hermitage Club’s six pack and tells the story of re-pouring foundations for Bousquet’s new triple chair in January.
Montana’s shuttered Marshall Mountain sells to a new owner.
The proposed Los Angeles urban 3S releases its preferred alignment and will host two public meetings in June.
In an interview, Poma Chairman Jean Souchal laments losing 30 percent of business from Covid but he remains optimistic, especially about urban transport by rope.
Copper’s proposed Lumberjack replacement would be a detachable quad following a modified alignment.
One of the Jay Peak fraudsters faces three years in prison.
Icy Strait Point, home to two new gondolas stalled by the pandemic, will open this summer after all.

News Roundup: Endless Winter

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020Peter Landsman9 Comments

Construction will begin early next year on a new point of interest chairlift in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Amazon files a patent for a skier-pulling drone.
Mission Ridge provides another fantastic construction update.
2020-21 is the final season the largest ski resort in California will be known by the name Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.
The Forest Service seeks public comments on eight lift projects and more included in the Grand Targhee master plan.
Big Snow American Dream reopens Tuesday after nearly six months closed. The snow never melted!
Utah Olympic Park expects to add a fourth chairlift and new terrain next summer.
After years focusing on snowmaking, Telluride’s owner considers lift upgrades.
Ski Santa Fe fires up snow guns to help protect lifts from wildfire.
Glenwood Caverns reopens today following a 16 day fire closure.
Riders get stuck on the Sandia Peak Tramway for hours.
Vermont may provide direct payments to ski resorts.
Harry’s Dream at Beaver Mountain gets a new Skytrac return terminal.
Vail Resorts won’t sell day tickets early season and will require passholders to make reservations at all 34 of its North American mountains for 2020-21.
The Denver Post catches up with Colorado mountain leaders to talk winter plans.
The Lower T-Bar at Pass Powderkeg, AB is being extended.
Doppelmayr begins testing its D-Line gondola to the beach in Mexico.
The City of Los Angeles releases four gondola alignment alternatives it’s studying for Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign.

News Roundup: Suits

July 24, 2020Peter Landsman5 Comments

Skeetawk secures a 40 year lease to operate on public land in Alaska.
The Salt Lake Tribune features a pro-Little Cottonwood Gondola op-ed by Ski Utah CEO Nathan Rafferty.
D-Line stations, cabins and chairs and are now available as HO scale models.
A disabled skier sues Aspen Snowmass over a 2019 lift fall.
The haul rope is on North America’s third D-Line lift system.
A helicopter flies concrete for tower foundations at Saddleback.
The ever-growing Indy Pass adds Snow King Mountain, White Pine and Winterplace.
Closed Crystal Mountain, BC still faces lawsuits more than six years after a lift deropement.
Arapahoe Basin presses ahead with new lift projects despite taking a big Covid hit.
China Peak bids farewell to the mighty Chair 3.
Gore Mountain formally announces construction of two new quads.
Court documents reveal more details on the Liftopia-Mountain Collective dispute.
All new Whiteface gondola cabins arrive stateside.

News Roundup: First to Go

April 10, 2020Peter Landsman20 Comments

Timberline Lodge, unsure whether its ordered new lift can be built this summer, holds off on removing Pucci.
In Serbia, the world’s longest multi-stage gondola gets set to open next month (29,088′ slope length!)
Another postponement: the Goldenhorn surface lift at Aspen Highlands, now scheduled to be built next year.
Carvatech, an independent manufacturer of gondola and tramway cabins, launches a cool new website.
Mexico’s Grupo Vidanta updates customers on COVID-19 and includes awesome footage of its future gondola system.
As tax revenues fall, a new chairlift for Great Bear may be one of the first items to go from the City of Sioux Falls’ 2021 budget.
Jon Schaefer, the first US ski area owner to close due to the coronavirus and creator of Goggles for Docs, turns his attention to getting resort employees back to work.
Aspen Skiing Company delays updating plans for the Pandora’s expansion due to COVID-19.
The new owner of Teton Pass calls reopening a success.
A Vail lift operator may not have been paying attention leading up to a man’s death on the Skyline Express in February.
Citing favorable financing conditions, Zermatt Bergbahnen AG commits to spending $62 million on lifts over the next two years, including a D-Line gondola and the Alpine Crossing 3S.

News Roundup: Season Pass Season

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020Peter Landsman12 Comments

The man who died on a Vail chairlift two weeks ago did not fall through a flipped up seat as initially believed.
A key parcel between Deer Valley’s Snow Park and Silver Lake villages won’t include a gondola.
The multi-stage gondola taking shape near Puerto Vallarta will feature angle stations and very tall towers in a tropical paradise.
A ski area on Prince Edward Island closes due to lift problems.
The Ascutney Outdoors model proves promising where a for-profit, high speed quad model failed.
Arizona Snowbowl inches closer to reopening its summit lift.
Alaska’s new ski area trying to get off the ground needs more money.
The chairlift at Great Bear derails and gets rope evacuated.
There was an evac at Swiss Valley the same day.
Here are details on the upcoming Hermitage auction including removal deadlines, the proposed asset purchase agreement with Boyne and the original lift quote.
Sugarloaf’s General Manager and VP of Mountain Operations join WSKI TV to break down Sugarloaf 2030 and plans for a D-Line lift.
The Payette Lakes Ski Club begins fundraising to replace a 50 year old T-Bar.
Woodward Park City visitation has been about as expected during the inaugural season.
A child is injured in a fall from Northstar’s Vista Express.
The City of Steamboat plans to sign with Doppelmayr for the new Barrows quad at Howelsen Hill.
Wisconsin’s Christie Mountain is for sale.
Inc. profiles two entrepreneurial owners pressing on independently at Wyoming’s two largest ski resorts.
The Forest Service releases its Draft Environmental Assessment for Mission Ridge’s proposed expansion, which would include two two new quad chairs and two pulse gondolas.
Jägerndorfer’s 2020 collection features the largest number of lift models ever.
A man is critically injured in a fall from the Purgatory Village Express.
Testing and analysis continues at Mont-Sainte-Anne. One of those injured last week tells his story.
Two new products join the Ikon Pass lineup for 20/21. Stratton and Sugarbush will go unlimited while Aspen and Jackson Hole will be more restricted.

News Roundup: SkyDream

November 29, 2019November 29, 2019Peter Landsman7 Comments

Backpacker previews Copper’s long-awaited Tucker Mountain lift.
Vail’s updated trail map shows where the new Golden Peak T-Bar #16 goes.
Belleayre’s new beginner quad will be named Lightning.
A guest took a now viral video of Snowdon Six bubble chairs dancing at Killington Saturday. The lift was closed to the public at the time and reopened later that day.
The new Steamboat Gondola became one of the fastest 8 passenger gondolas in North America Saturday. Sunday evening, a drive line problem was discovered and the lift will remain closed until it’s fixed. Daily updates are being posted on Steamboat.com
Frost Fire names its new Skytrac quad Lyle’s Lift.
The new boss at Whistler Blackcomb says the Blackcomb Gondola should be more reliable now after a tough first season.
Big Snow American Dream names its lifts The BIG Express Quad and Poma (both lifts were built by Doppelmayr.)
Steamboat town officials earmark some money for the replacement of Barrows at Howelsen Hill.
Another spectacular 3S gondola joins the global ranks tomorrow.
The Forest Service approves Whitefish Mountain Resort’s two lift Hellroaring Basin Improvements Project, subject to an objection period.
After a decade without lift service, Wildwood is officially back on the Tamarack trail map.
Canadian police continue to investigate the Sea to Sky Gondola downing.
The new Skyway gondola is the cornerstone of an elevated ski experience at Bretton Woods.
Lookout Pass names its new quad Peak One to differentiate it from the upcoming Eagle Peak expansion.
The new Ski Santa Fe trail map artwork is released.
Doppelmayr books a massive order for a five station, four mile D-Line gondola system at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico.

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