- Ragged Mountain, New Hampshire is sold to local investors, will no longer be operated by Pacific Group Resorts.
- Voters in Mountain Village, Colorado enact a 5 percent tax on Telluride lift tickets starting next week to fund gondola construction, operations and maintenance.
- The Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation launches a multi-million dollar fundraising effort to finish replacing the Wyler Aerial Tramway in El Paso.
- Sugarbush intends to operate the Slide Brook Express this winter after it missed last season.
- Honolulu’s City Council passes a resolution opposing construction of a sightseeing gondola on the island.
- A study finds Utah’s ski industry generated $2.5 billion in spending last season, directly supporting 31,800 jobs.
- Angel Fire’s new map shows off an all-new lift alignment.
- Big Sky’s fresh map depicts the new, curved Explorer Gondola.
- Mount St. Louis-Moonstone shows where its fifth detachable runs.
- Compagnie des Montagnes de Ski du Quebec (CMSQ) to operate Massif du Sud, its fourth Quebec ski area. Planning is underway for a base-to-summit detachable.
- Camp 10, Wisconsin remains unsure about the future of the Red T-Bar, damaged by an October fire and uninsured.
- The first Doppelmayr TRI-Line gondola is commissioned and ready for winter.
- Saskadena Six retires Chair Two, may build a new lift in the future.
Wyler Aerial Tramway
News Roundup: Last Tram
- Bretton Woods’ new map shows where the new BEQII goes.
- The new Bryce Resort map shows a backside expansion.
- Lutsen gets a new trail map by VistaMap.
- Deer Valley mountain operations leadership joins Doppelmayr on the Ski Utah podcast to preview the East Village expansion.
- Mont Gleason, Quebec plans to replace the Laurent-Lemaire quad soon.
- Anakeesta to replace its fixed-grip chondola with a detachable.
- The State of Texas to hold a press conference next week announcing the next steps in the Wyler Aerial Tram replacement project.
- It’s the final weekend for the Cannon Tramway with the last trip at 4:45 pm Sunday.
- Red Lodge Mountain details several modifications made to its Triple Chair over the summer due to a fatal deropement last spring.
- Ikon adds nine mountains in Japan, South Korea and China.
- Holiday Mountain offers up classic Poma double chairs.
- Whaleback, New Hampshire expects to lose $300,000 this winter without its chairlift; seeks to raise $210,000 by December 1st to open.
- Powder Mountain installs artwork on several lifts including a neon piece on the Paradise Express, flagpole on Timberline and colorful canopy on a conveyor.
- MND wins a tender to build an energy-neutral aerial tramway on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
News Roundup: Ajax
- Epic Pass adds one more Austrian partner – the mighty Sölden.
- Kirsten Lynch resigns as CEO of Vail Resorts and is succeeded by former CEO Rob Katz.
- Vail details the next phase of its Resource Efficiency Transformation Plan, including reorganizing resort divisions, combining snowmaking/grooming/terrain parks into one department and restructuring summer operations.
- President Trump delays implementation of a new 50 percent tariff on the European Union to July 9th.
- The 10 percent “Liberation Day” tariffs are briefly struck down then reimposed by different federal judges.
- Entabeni Systems closes on its purchase of Black Mountain, New Hampshire.
- Holiday Mountain, New York looks to fund a new chairlift in part by making the top station a billboard along NY-17/future Interstate 86.
- A guest gets caught hanging from clothing on a Mammoth chairlift over Memorial Day Weekend.
- Bartholet releases its 2025 Reference Book.
- A new chairlift project pops up in the Forest Service NEPA system for Aspen Mountain.
- No one bids on privatizing Marble Mountain; the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will continue operations.
- A new aerial tramway in Texas gets $7 million closer to construction.
- Deer Valley won’t break ground on Snow Park Redevelopment this summer after all.
News Roundup: Silver Fir
- The Jasper SkyTram remains standing after a wildfire but assessment continues and the lift may remained closed for the year.
- Phase one of the Wyler Aerial Tramway replacement project in El Paso, Texas goes out to bid.
- Telluride plans to begin construction on a new Mountain Village gondola in 2028.
- Alyeska’s former CEO says Girdwood could eventually host a second ski resort.
- The Summit at Snoqualmie’s bike park will miss this weekend due to an electrical issue on the Silver Fir Express.
News Roundup: Trams
- New Hampshire seeks $15 million more on top of $18 million already appropriated for Cannon Mountain tram upgrades.
- Cannon Mountain’s new General Manager says the publicly-owned ski area has a critical need for infrastructure updates beyond the tram.
- America’s next all-new aerial tramway will likely be built in Texas.
- Killington’s large new village development includes a real estate access chairlift.
- Pats Peak looks to replace the Hurricane triple.
- Mont Sutton plans to replace three aging chairlifts with one carpet load quad partially financed by the Province of Quebec.
- Le Relais, Quebec sells to new, local owners.
- Mt. Waterman goes on the market.
- Bogus Basin to auction chairs from two decommissioned lifts.
- Ober Mountain has chairs for sale for $200.
- White Pass proposes replacing Chair 4 with a fixed grip quad.
News Roundup: The Stache
- Two riders who claim they were injured in a Riblet clip ejection incident in 2020 sue Red Lodge Mountain.
- Red Lodge names its new detachable lift Stache Express in honor of longtime General Manager Jeff Schmidt.
- Texas Parks & Wildlife has raised most of the $36 million needed to build a new Wyler Aerial Tramway in El Paso.
- Doppelmayr works with a Utah adaptive organization to make D-Line chairs more accommodating to sit skiers.
- A judge upholds Park City’s decision to block Eagle and Silverlode replacement projects at Park City Mountain.
- Park City continues to look at gondolas as possible public transportation.
- Deer Valley applies for its first lift construction permit for eastward expansion.
- Lutsen Mountains new trail map shows the new Raptor Express.
- Sundance seeks information on chairlift vandals (update: caught).
- Alterra appoints Mammoth and Steamboat leaders to new regional positions overseeing multiple resorts.
- The world’s largest urban gondola network in Bolivia plans more expansion as it nears 500 million rides.
- County commissioners allow the nonprofit seeking to reopen Cuchara to resume work.
News Roundup: Dollars and Euros
- Blackcomb Glacier won’t host skiing this summer.
- Snow King Mountain sells $150,000 worth of retired chairs in one hour.
- Poma unveils the first 34 passenger cabin for the new urban 3S in Toulouse.
- Okemo’s new lifts will be called Evergreen Summit Express and Quantum Six.
- Former Ticketmaster chief Jared Smith is named President of Alterra overseeing mountain and hospitality divisions.
- The latest on the Stresa-Mottarone disaster:
- Numerous pictures surface showing brakes blocked with passengers aboard as far back as 2014.
- An employee says pre-operational checks were skipped entirely on the day of the crash.
- Two of the three men arrested are released.
- A lawyer for the manager still held alleges Leitner was slow to respond to service calls.
- Leitner was paid €127,000 ($155,000) per year to perform major maintenance on the tram under a long-term contract, though officials do not consider the company or any of its employees suspects.
- The owner of the operating company is also under investigation over two injury incidents on a Wiegand mountain coaster at the facility.
- Eitan, the little boy who survived, is released from intensive care.
- Cannon Mountain opens its tramway for the first time in 14 months.
- Europe’s largest ski operator plans to spend €200 million ($244 million) per year through 2025 to catch up on investments sidelined by the pandemic.
- The Pandora’s expansion on Aspen Mountain notches another approval.
- Anakeesta’s chondola lift breaks down for a bit.
- New Zealand’s first 8 passenger chairlift is complete and she’s a beauty.
- With 35 percent of jobs unfilled, Whitefish Mountain Resort cuts summer operating days.
- Schweitzer raises $80,000 for local charities through the sale of chairs from Snow Ghost.
- The Sea to Sky Gondola outlines some of its security plan.
- Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LAART) unveils more on its planned 3S: four stations, three towers, 44 cars and underground cabin storage at Dodger Stadium.
- Steamboat’s gondola building comes down after 35 years.
- Trollhaugen will sell chairs from Chair 1 next week.
- Quebec records 6.1 million skier days in 2020-21, slightly above average.
- The State of Texas commits $10 million towards a replacement Wyler Aerial Tramway in El Paso.
News Roundup: Moving Parts
- The Seattle Times runs a feature story on Vail Resorts’ operational challenges at Stevens Pass compared with Alterra at Crystal Mountain.
- Ridgeline Executive Group will continue running Granby Ranch following the sale to a new ownership group.
- The unique triangle gondola at Sterling Vineyards remains closed seven months after a wildfire with no estimate for reopening.
- Big Snow renames its quad chair in honor of General Manager Jim Haas and others who died of Covid-19.
- Two employees of the Georgian ski resort where a lift rolled back in 2018 have been charged criminally and face up to five years in prison.
- Visits to New York’s three state-owned ski areas were up 14 percent to 672,000 with revenue up 10 percent and expenses down 8 percent.
- Whiteface will replace the Bear and Mixing Bowl lifts with a $2.5 million Skytrac quad.
- Powder Mountain, Mt. Ashland and West Mountain join the Indy Pass, which topped 96,000 redemptions this season.
- Cherry Peak, Eagle Point, Red River and Snow Valley sign on to the Freedom Pass alliance, Toggenburg leaves.
- Another fire threatens Ski Apache, which is so far unscathed.
- We now know why the Mighty Argo Cable Car project is stalled. Owners have sued lenders, alleging breach of contract and a $4.5 million loss.
- The Routt National Forest approves Steamboat’s Wild Blue Gondola and Sundown Express replacement projects, subject to a customary objection period.
- Japan’s first urban gondola opens.
- Mi Teleferico celebrates seven years as La Paz’s urban gondola system, providing 328 million rides.
- Loon Mountain confirms the former Kancamagus detachable quad will replace Seven Brothers in 2022.
- Loveland closes Lift 8 for the season due to a mechanical issue.
- The only jigback tramway in Texas could make a return.
- Holiday Valley posts tons of photos of its latest lift replacement project.
- The first gondola components arrive in Squaw Valley.
News Roundup: Not Cheap
- Above: lots more Ramcharger 8 parts arrive in Big Sky.
- Schweitzer weighs alignment options and manufacturers for two new backside lifts scheduled for construction in 2019.
- The only aerial tramway in Texas closes after nearly six decades. “Replacement of the Wyler Aerial Tramway is estimated to cost millions of dollars. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department does not have the financial resources to execute a capital construction project of this size at this time.”
- Disney gives an Orlando TV station a rare official peak into Skyliner construction.
- Following last week’s mishap, the operator of the Zugspitze Cable Car orders a new 120 passenger cabin, hanger and carriage.
- Beaver Creek’s big McCoy Park expansion should be official in November and is planned to open in late 2020.
- The Lewis & Clark bubble high-speed quad at Big Sky will finally see some action in 2021 when a $400 million Montage hotel opens at its base.
- Ascutney Outdoors is on track to install a T-Bar this fall, anchoring a scaled down version of what was once a five chairlift area.
- LST builds a T-Bar atop a waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen for residents to ski on year round.
- Vail looks to Asia for growth.
- Michael Doppelmayr is profiled for his 60th birthday. Some interesting facts: his company’s gross margin was 12.1 percent last year and his father Artur vehemently opposed Doppelmayr’s merger with Garaventa.
- New York’s high court clears the way for Belleayre to expand into the former Highmount Ski Center.
- Bretton Woods and Doppelmayr make great progress on New Hampshire’s first 8 passenger gondola.
- The leaders of North and South Korea ride a pulse gondola during their three day summit.
- The State of New Hampshire will hold a public meeting about transferring the Mt. Sunapee lease to Vail Resorts on September 26th.
- As it tries to secure a $30 million loan to open this winter, the Hermitage Club lawsuits keep coming.
- Two major lifts are getting closer to reality at Copper Mountain.
News Roundup: Happenings
- Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto inaugurates Mexicable today with free rides all week and an impressive span of service: 4:30 am to 11:00 pm. Mexicable also features the first Leitner DirectDrives in North America.
- Doppelmayr looks at building a gondola network in Port-au-Prince, Haiti financed by China.
- Three public agencies agree to fund $15,000 preliminary study of Austin’s Wire idea with results to be released in nine weeks. Hint: 19 stations is way too many.
- El Paso’s Wyler Aerial Tramway, built in 1959, breaks down.
- Doppelmayr showcases its Koblenz urban 3S at Innotrans in Berlin. Leitner was there too.
- Sunday River sells chairs from South Ridge, Suicide Six sells more from its old double.
- Pebble Creek’s new owner has 4.8 million followers on YouTube.
- Fatzer and Doppelmayr splice the record-breaking Giggijochbahn and the stats are impressive: 4,500 pph, 134 cabins, 6.5 m/s, 62 mm rope.
- The most expensive lift ever built opens Oct. 22nd at Stubaier Glacier.
- America needs an urban gondola done right, Mike Deiparine of Engineering Specialties Group tells Wired.
- First cabin takes a trip on the Blue line, La Paz’s 5th urban gondola.
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