The above $52 million masterpiece and highest-ever 3S opens for business in the shadow of the Matterhorn.
The Leitner-Poma Group’s sixth tricable gondola is set to carry commuters between three stations in Toulouse, France from 2020 and will cost $94.5 million to build.
Alterra closes on its purchase of Crystal Mountain.
A lift operator and his employer, Killingon/Pico, are sued following a loading mishap.
CWA teases Omega V, the next evolution of the world’s best selling gondola cabin. While we wait to see what it looks like, check out hundreds of CWA designs from the past 75 years.
The Palm Springs Tram gets a new 13,500′ x 45 mm upper haul rope from Fatzer. Thanks Kirk D. for the photos.
Horseshoe Resort’s retired 1989 Doppelmayr detachable quad hits the used market.
Whistler Blackcomb’s 2018-19 trail map shows what $52 million worth of new lifts looks like.
The Hermitage Club is still trying to ink a reopening deal with members and Oz Real Estate.
Powdr breaks ground on Woodward Park City, set to debut with a fixed-grip quad in November 2019. No word yet on the manufacturer.
The Forest Service green lights Aspen Highlands’ Goldenhorn platter project.
Peak Resorts posts quarterly results: an $11.8 million net loss on $7 million in revenue as the company worked to build Hunter North and the Carinthia Lodge at Mt. Snow. SKIS had $10.1 million in cash on hand as of July 31st with $180.6 million in debt. CEO Tim Boyd says he’s still open to acquiring more mountains.
Disney will build and maintain a boat and dock specifically for Skyliner gondola evacuation purposes.
Mexicable’s second gondola line could be a $105 million monster: 5.2 miles long with six stations carrying an estimated 35,000 riders each day.
I usually write about lifts and not myself but Skytrac recently interviewed me.
A BC court will hear the case of a skier injured when a Mueller lift de-roped four years ago. Crystal Mountain never reopened following the incident, which was blamed on multiple factors.
A local photographer is posting weekly pictures of Killington’s three simultaneous lift installations.
Fatzer releases more details on the US debut of Compacta at Big Sky.
The Balsams withdraws its application for a $28 million state loan guarantee, effectively shelving redevelopment for now.
LST’s American lift number two looks sharp at Waterville Valley.
Another Blackcomb Gondola update courtesy of Rob at WB shows how giant UNI-G XXLs are.
As Oz Real Estate weighs investing more than $50 million, the Hermitage Club receiver reports the resort’s lifts need $86,000 in maintenance that neither the bank nor members have agreed to fund.
Mountain Capital Partners hosts a packed public meeting regarding its Nordic Valley expansion. “I’ve never had a project not be successful and I’m not going to start with this one,” James Coleman tells the crowd.
Days before the deadline for public comments, Sunshine Village CEO Ralph Scurfield pens an op-ed criticizing Parks Canada’s proposed site guidelines that would eliminate three future lifts from consideration.
The Jackson/Teton County Parks & Recreation Board unanimously says no to a Snow King Gondola alignment as the Forest Service extends public comment until September 13th.
The Capital Gondola project moves along in Albany.
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.
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