• The White River National Forest conditionally approves new lifts at Arapahoe Basin including a Beavers chair, Zuma surface lift, replacements for Molly Hogan/Pallavicini and removal of Norway.
• The Science Channel profiles the Palm Springs Tramway, which has the largest vertical rise of any lift in North America.
• Two more American urban gondola ideas pop up: Uptown Gondola in Cincinnati and Honolulu Aerial.
• Austrian ski pass merger creates a ticket valid for a record 925 lifts.
• Dubai will get a gondola to serve a $1.6 billion artificial peninsula called Blue Waters Island.
• China reverse-engineers the Doppelmayr Uni-G, with poor results.
• A consortium led by Poma beats out Doppelmayr in the bidding to build a two-stage urban gondola over water in Guayaquil, Ecuador with a second line in the works.
• South America now makes up 17 percent of Doppelmayr’s global revenue, approximately equal to North America.
• Peru’s President recently visited the ancient fortress of Kuelap, where Poma is 90 percent finished with a new 8-passenger gondola.  The only problem?  The haul rope hasn’t been installed yet.  So crews slung cabins from towers for the Presidential photo-op to make it look closer to being done!
• 2017-18 reopening of The Balsams is an open question.
• Burke Mountain Academy will buy a T-Bar to replace the 1956 Mountain Poma at Vermont’s Burke Mountain in 2017.
• Echo Mountain sells to a 27-year old D.U. grad for $3.8 million.
• Jay Peak Resort seeks loan in “extremely tight cash situation” after $2.5 million payment to Doppelmayr/Garaventa for tram upgrades.
• Montana Snowbowl begins work on TV Mountain expansion, to include a used Riblet from Snowmass.
• The Vancouver Sun reveals Vail courted Whistler Blackcomb for months, will cut season pass prices in half.

This is an open thread.  Feel free to leave a comment on anything lift-related.