In a decision the Durango Herald calls a “bombshell,” the Forest Service proposes granting road access to the controversial Village at Wolf Creek, which would include two new lifts near Wolf Creek Ski Area’s new Meadow quad.
Tawatinaw Valley, a county-owned ski hill in Alberta with three T-Bars, will go out of business on October 1st due to continued losses.
The price of steel is up up 33 percent in the United States so far this year and companies like Caterpillar and Polaris are increasing prices as a result.
The first Doppelmayr/Garaventa lift with D-Line cubic glass enclosures comes together in Switzerland.
Leitner-Poma of America President Rick Spear goes on the MarketScale Transportation Podcast to discuss the ski lift business and growth of urban cable transport.
With two Mueller lifts in need of work, Mt. Timothy, BC will likely close if it can’t find a buyer.
Big White’s retired Powder triple is headed to Red Mountain.
The Province that owns Atlantic Canada’s largest ski resort grows tired of losing money and looks for a private operator for Marble Mountain.
Doppelmayr will build the largest vertical six-pack in the world this year at Ischgl, Austria with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain in a single section.
Boyne Resorts President and CEO Stephen Kircher says a recent bond sale and tax cuts should yield increased capital investment at his resorts over the next five years. Boyne doesn’t plan to buy new mountains any time soon, however.
Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory says of committing $555 million to mountain improvements: “We went to each resort and said, ‘Tell us, as resort operators, what will make the biggest positive impact on the guest experience.’ They had long lists.”
Leitner is pulling ropes at 12,740′ for the highest-ever 3S gondola.
Big Sky posts sweet photos from the Austrian factory where America’s first eight passenger chairlift and D-Line stations are being prepared for shipment. Chairs will have some unique designs on the back too.
The Portland Aerial Tram returns to service 5:30 am Monday, three weeks early, thanks to crews slipping track ropes much faster than expected.
There will be no construction at Valemount Glacier this year after all.
Catamount (the New York/Massachusetts one, not Colorado) seeks new investors or an outright buyer.
Following another best ever season, Whitefish Mountain Resort eyes improving lift service from the base lodge and in Hellroaring Basin, which might mean replacing lifts 4 and 8.
Ski Areas of New York will again offer a series of lift maintenance training classes across the state.
French regulators propose $800,000 in fines against MND Group and its CEO for allegedly misleading investors and deleting emails, which the company denies.
Amid the turmoil, MND subsidiary LST Ropeways inks an order to install its second detachable chairlift worth $5.4 million in Avoriaz, France.
As Crested Butte departs the Powder Alliance, Marmot Basin, Castle Mountain, Sugar Bowl and Loveland join up.
Red Mountain is searching for a used Doppelmayr T-Bar.
The Trump Administration’s proposed tariffs target goods from China including “teleferics, chair lifts, ski draglines; and traction mechanisms for funiculars.” Outside contacted both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma for comment with interesting results.
More contractors and employees say the Hermitage Club didn’t fully pay them and the Town of Wilmington may hold a tax sale in June.
A man claims he was left to spend a cold night on one of Gore Mountain’s chairlifts and wasn’t found until the next morning, April Fool’s Day.
A bullwheel bearing issue on Nob Hill at Sugar Bowl throws a major wrench in the end of the season.
We regret to inform you, Nob Hill lift is closed for the remainder of the season. The repairs will take several days to accomplish & cannot begin until after the upcoming storm. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Tomorrow all resort services via Judah portal only.
— Sugar Bowl Resort (@sugarbowlresort) April 5, 2018
Bretton Woods’ new gondola is on track to break ground in June or July, which would make 11 new gondolas for 2018 in North America – the most ever.
Approaching two years post-Olympics, both urban gondolas in Rio remain abandoned.
Bloomberg is out with a not-so-complimentary article about the Whistler Blackcomb-Vail transition.
Doppelmayr wins contracts to build nine Beijing 2022 Olympic lifts including five gondolas and two bubble six place chairs.
A gondola once the symbol of an Olympics destroyed by war returns to Sarajevo thanks to Leitner Ropeways and a $3.5 million donation from an American.
The Oakland Athletics consider building a gondola to their new stadium.
If approved, Vail’s new Golden Peak lift will likely be a T-Bar.
Owl’s Head retires its Green lift and will give the chairs away to season pass buyers.
I started this blog three years ago this week as an off season project. It now sees 215,000 page views each month from 40,000+ unique visitors. Thanks to everyone who has helped to make Lift Blog a success!
The latest Doppelmayr Wir highlights Yellowstone Club’s expansion and more.
The Gondola Project updates us on the Leitner-Poma tram project at San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower transit center.
Aspen Skiing Co. eyes opening the Pandora quad chairlift on Aspen Mountain in 2020.
Majella Group CEO Sebastian Monsour tells the Bangor Daily News his Australian company is still working to close on the purchase of Saddleback Mountain while a former employee is suing for unpaid wages.
In advance of its new gondola, Silver Star’s 1970 Mueller is listed for sale on SAM.
CWA launches a slick new website and refreshed logo.
Val Neigette, Quebec will close for good on April 1st and its 1990 Doppelmayr quad is on the market.
An editorial in the Park Record floats the cool idea of a gondola from offsite parking at Kimball Junction to Park City’s Sun Peak zone with a possible mid-station at Utah Olympic Park.
The new two stage Blackcomb Gondola will feature 184 Omega IV 10 LWI cabins from CWA.
Monster Doppelmayr UNI-G XXL terminals are headed to British Columbia for the first time. Whistler Blackcomb and Vail Resorts held a community open house last night to detail plans for what will be a packed summer building four new lifts on both iconic mountains. The largest component of the $52 million project is a new Blackcomb Gondola announced in December.
The beastly gondola will load where the current Wizard lift does before continuing to a very large mid-station located below the current Solar Coaster base. An even larger cabin parking facility will be built in the trees to the west of the dual terminal. The second stage of the gondola (separate haul ropes and drives) will continue after a slight angle change to Rendezvous just below the current Solar Coaster unload. 10-passenger cabins will depart every nine seconds yielding a 4,000 passenger hourly capacity – second highest ever in North America.
Also on Blackcomb, a new, longer Catskinner four place detachable will start to the southwest of the existing Yan triple chair. This lift will have 97 chairs reused from Emerald Express and 14 new towers. Emerald’s Spacejet-style terminals will also come over from Whistler.
Berkshire Bank seeks to foreclose on the Hermitage Club, saying the private ski area owes $16.6 million on $17.1 million in loans taken out between 2014 and 2017.
Hunter Mountain apologizes to season pass holders and explains in detail why two of its lifts went down for much of Presidents’ Week.
HeliOps profiles Brian Jorgenson of Timberline Helicopters, who explains why even at $1.50 per second, the UH-60 Black Hawk has become the gold standard for western ski lift missions.
The largest urban gondola system in North America will open this May in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.
Boston’s proposed Seaport gondola has a new route.
A conference center in Wisconsin called Forest Springs plans to expand its ski area with a new chairlift.
Silver Star’s new gondola is on track for a rare July opening with the top terminal and all foundations complete.
. @VailResorts invests in the heart of Whistler Blackcomb. Historic investment of $66 million (USD $52 million) for the 2018.19 season will feature a new Blackcomb Gondola and two new lifts, cutting wait times at the core of each mountain. Info: https://t.co/eaEXH9j8ACpic.twitter.com/Lk6Tkse5hr
It’s 4:45 am in Jackson Hole and I’m awake because today is the biggest day of the year for the North American lift business. Moments ago, Vail Resorts released its first quarter 2018 financial results which include guidance on next year’s capital improvements to the tune of $150 million. As I speculated it might, Broomfield, Colorado-based Vail is going all in on new lifts next year, with $52 million (CAD$66 million) going to Whistler Blackcomb alone.
Goodbye Wizard and Solar Coaster, hello gondola on Blackcomb Mountain.
On Blackcomb, the company will add a signature 10-passenger gondola with mid-station replacing Wizard and Solar Coaster, two 1987 bubble quad chairs with very high hours. The new 4,000 skier-per-hour machine will be W-B’s sixth gondola and the second-highest capacity lift in North America after Squaw Valley’s Gold Coast Funitel. The mid-station will likely be located downhill of the current Wizard/Solar Coaster transition where more space can be created for a large terminal and cabin parking. The two stages will be able to be run independently with two haul ropes and separate drive systems. Together with the Peak 2 Peak and WhistlerVillage gondolas, the new gondola will create the world’s only three-gondola connection and an impressive 8.4 mile-long continuous sightseeing trip. The nearby Excalibur Gondola, amazingly Blackcomb’s last all-new lift, debuted in 1994.
The 1997 Doppelmayr-built Emerald Express on Whistler Mountain will move to Blackcomb, replacing the Catskinner triple likely in a modified alignment. An all-new Emerald six-place lift will also welcome skiers on Whistler Mountain for 2018-19. “Our integration efforts at Whistler Blackcomb are largely complete,” commented Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz. “We believe this plan will dramatically improve the on-mountain experience for our guests with enhanced lift capacity, improved circulation and a significantly elevated experience for skiers, riders and sightseeing guests.” The three new lifts represent a combined 43 percent improvement in capacity over the lifts they replace and are part of the largest-ever capital improvement season at Whistler Blackcomb, topping even the 2008 construction of the Peak 2 Peak Gondola. “We believe these transformational, mountain-focused investments are the most significant improvements we can undertake to support Whistler Blackcomb’s long-term growth and our commitment to pursue the most impactful projects to enhance the guest experience,” Vail noted.
In a bit of a surprise, Vail chose to upgrade High Meadow at Park City Mountain, the main beginner lift at Canyons Village.
At Park City, the rumored Sunrise replacement will wait for another year but the High Meadow lift will be swapped for a high-speed quad chair, reducing ride time by 70 percent and anchoring a new family fun zone. On the shores of Lake Tahoe, Heavenly will finally replace Galaxy, which has fallen into disuse. A new fixed-grip triple chair will serve 400 acres of terrain that was inaccessible the past two seasons. Vail Resorts will also replace a T-Bar with a fixed-grip quad at Perisher in Australia. “We remain committed to reinvesting in our resorts, creating an experience of a lifetime for our guests and generating strong returns for our shareholders,” Katz concluded.
Galaxy will remain closed this season but 2018 will see a new lift go in on the Nevada side of Heavenly.
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