Park City
News Roundup: Passport
- Vail Resorts reportsskier visits down 3.1%, lift revenue up 3.4%, ski school revenue up 2.7%, dining up 2.2% and retail/rental down 4.0% with pass sales for next year down slightly in units.
- Burke Mountainto be sold to Bear Den Partners for $11.5 million.
- Park City explores possible routes for aMain Street-Deer Valley gondola.
- Ski Utahcontinues advocating for a Little Cottonwood gondola.
- Tellurideseeks approval for yet-to-be-specified projects from its master plan.
- Boyne launchestwo multi-resort pass products good at all their resorts.
- Local artists to transform Park City Sunrise chairs into works of art to beauctioned for charity.
- Italy opens acriminal investigation into last week’s fatal tram incident involving a haul rope failure and track rope brake failure on one of two cabins.
- Steeplechase, Minnesotaturns to crowdfunding to finance expansion.
- Leitner-Poma Canada ishiring lift installers for a project at Whitewater, BC.
- Loveland to operate the new Lift 7 quadas a triple.
- Killington isfull steam ahead on Superstar replacement.
- Red Lodge Mountainbegins repairing the chairlift involved in a fatal incident last month.
- Palisades Tahoe invites local high school students onmountain operations tours to aid with recruitment.
News Roundup: Court of Appeals
- Sipapu, New Mexicoproposes replacing one of thelast detachable Poma lifts in the United States.
- Four people are killed in an aerial tramway crash in Italy.
- Skiland, Alaskarope evacuates its only chairlift.
- Kicking Horsecloses for the season without its gondola; any compensation for passholders affected by five weeks of gondola closure to be determined at a later date.
- Two new gondolasnear completion in West Virginia.
- South Carolina’s only gondola isalmost ready to roll.
- Bretton Woodsformally announces the Bethlehem Express replacement project.
- A Utah court of appealshears arguments from Park City the town and Park City the ski area re: canceled 2022 Eagle and Silverlode lift projects.
- Vail alsotussles with South Lake Tahoe over Heavenly parking and taxation.
- Titcomb Mountain, Mainefundraises to build a new T-Bar as soon as this summer.
News Roundup: USFS
- The Forest Serviceapproves three lift projects at Taos, including abase to base gondola.
- Red Lodge Mountainreopens all lifts except theTriple Chair involved in last month’sfatal incident.
- The widow of the man killed at Red Lodgehires a law firm and engineer to look into the circumstances.
- Telluride Ski Resortdeclines to help fund a new Mountain Village gondola so the town looks to pass a lift ticket tax.
- Powder Mountainto construct a new lift in Wolf Canyon/DMI.
- A childfalls from a lift at Park City.
- Anurban gondola is floated in Denver.
- Cataloochee, North Carolina lists parts from theOmigosh doublefor sale.
- New York’s state-owned ski areas reportvisitation up over 3 percent this season with revenue up more than 8 percent.
- Black Mountain, New Hampshiredelays going to a co-op model, will continue to be run by Indy Pass for now.
- Whaleback, NHpasses $100,000 toward its goal of $250,000 to continue operations.
- The Caribou-Targhee National Forest weighs whether tochange its forest plan to accommodate Grand Targhee’sproposed South Bowl and/or Mono Trees expansions.
- The Arapaho National Forest releases theDraft Environmental Assessment for Winter Park’sproposed Gemini Gondola, Copper Creek South chairlift,Looking Glass replacement,Endeavour replacement andDiscovery replacement.
- Park City shuttersSunrise toresume construction of theSunrise Gondola.
News Roundup: Pass Edition
- Ikon Pass adds Ischgl, Austria; loses Windham Mountain Club, New York and makes Arapahoe Basin unlimited with no blackouts. Full Ikon also adds two bonus days at Buck Hill, Minnesota; Cranmore, New Hampshire; Jiminy Peak, Massachusetts and Wild Mountain, Minnesota.
- Arapahoe Basinleaves the Mountain Collective Pass.
- Vail makesminimal changes to Epic Pass for next year.
- Indy Pass adds Burke Mountain, Vermont and Tenney Mountain, New Hampshire.
- The family behind Wisconsin Resorts Inc.want to buy Burke Mountain but the resort’sreceiver says he has a better buyer.
- Wisconsin Resorts-owned Searchmont, Ontario teases multiple future terrain expansions on anew trail map.
- The group behind Perfect North Slopes, Indianawill operate Swiss Valley, Michigan
- Arope evacuation at Norway Mountain, Michigan.
- Fresh off building four new lifts, Powder Mountain hastwo more in the pipeline.
- Ski Cooper, Coloradoslashes midweek tickets to $45, revenue surges.
- Also at Cooper, a skier is airlifted to the hospital afterfalling from a lift.
- Vailsettles a lawsuit with a woman who fell from a lift at Stevens Pass.
- Park Citygets Pioneer going for the first time this season.
- Woods Valley, New York toreplaces its T-Bar with a CTEC quad ending higher on the mountain.
- 7th Heaven at Blackcomb suffers fromdelayed openings, closures and reduced speeds due to an electrical issue.
- Snowbird’sMineral Basin Expressrepair timeline is extended due to storms.
- Whaleback Mountain’s only chairlift isclosed all week due to mechanical.
- Sandia Peakworks to revive mothballedChair 2.
- A 2005 Doppelmayr Funifor suffers aserious incident in Italy involving asevered haul rope and cabin colliding into the bottom terminal. The lift was outside operating hours and one operator suffered minor injuries.
News Roundup: Lynx Express
- June Mountaincloses for two days due to issues with againgJ1.
- Lovelandproposes replacingLift 7 with a quad.
- Indy Pass plansmore resort additions through the spring and fall.
- One of them is Tenney Mountain, which also looks to build a high speed quad.
- Tenney’sHornet double needs a gearbox rebuild, will beclosed until mid-March.
- Skeetawk, Alaskaseeks state funding to develop electrical infrastructure for a future Lift 2.
- Burke Mountain’s receiver says asale may be near.
- The proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola in metro Vancouver would include significanttransit oriented development.
- Mt. Seymour, BC removes theBrockton chair from service for anunknown amount of time.
- Manning Park, BCcloses the similarBlue Chair for inspections due to the incident at Mt. Seymour.
- Marble Mountain, Newfoundlandhits the market.
- Chair 8 at Bear Mountain suffers agrip slip incident with passengers.
- Rezoning paves the way for more development at Powder Mountain.
- Leitner to build aseven station gondola in Iraq.
- Poley Mountain, New Brunswickworks to repair itstriple chair.
- Bretton Woodsapplies to build a new lift, Attitash seeks to reduce capacity on the closedFlying Bear.
- Solitude completes amid-winter bullwheel bearing replacement onSunrise.
- Thefirst terminal and towers go up for the winter build Saluda Skyride in South Carolina.
- Mt. Crescent, Iowa rebrands asCrescent Hill.
- Aninside look at operating the largest lift fleet in the country.
- Andone of the smaller ones.
- Mineral Basin at Snowbirdto be closed for a week-ish due to a machanical issue.
News Roundup: Windstorm
- Killington’sSuperstar lift replacement willcancel the 2025 Killington World Cup; chairs from Superstar will move toGolden Express at Pico.
- An unseated passenger issuccessfully caught in a deceleration net at Killington.
- Powderhorn plans adetachable replacement forWest End.
- Gunstock loses itssummit chairlift for much of the holiday weekdue to gearbox failure.
- Silver Mountain, Idahorope evacuatesChair 4 due to a power outage and evacuation engine failure (now back open).
- A falling tree in high wind causes athree tower deropement on theBelleaye Express at Belleayre, New York (scheduled to reopen some time tomorrow).
- The same storm leads to aderopement and rope evacuation at Pats Peak, New Hampshire (back open).
- And theroof blows off Stratton’sgondola top terminal (also back open).
- Following three recent incidents in the state, New Hampshire clarifies how itstramway oversight works.
- Brattleboro Ski Hill in Vermont closes due to anelectric motor issue.
- Arkansasadopts the ANSI standard in advance of its first chairlift installation.
- Pioneer at Park Citystill hasn’t run this season but may soon.
- Cannon’s tramway is still on track for$19 million in upgrades.
- Sugarloafconfirms plans to install Big Sky’s formerSix Shooter to replaceTimberline, a two year project.
- Stevens Passrope evacuates the newKehr’s quad at night.
- Echo Mountain, Coloradoalso has a night rope evac.
- Timberlinecloses the Molly’s detachable quad due to damage to a tower from a snow cat.
- Tenney Mountain, New Hampshireloses its main lift due to a mechanical issue.
- Hersheypark, Pennsylvaniaretires its chairlift ride.
News Roundup: Short Films
- Homewood’s new gondola is finallyapproved.
- Eaglecrest receives a keygondola construction permit.
- TheWall Street Journal coversseveral challenges facing Vail Resorts.
- Unionized Crested Butte lift mechanicsauthorize a strike should they be unable to reach a contract agreement with Vail.
- Breckenridge lift staffstage a one day sick out in protest of employee housing conditions, closing several lifts on Wednesday.
- Pioneer at Park City hasn’t opened this season due to anoffseason deropement still being repaired.
- Blackcomb’sGlacier Express to beclosed a week or longer due to a possible gearbox issue.
- Mount Snow’sChallenger has beeninoperative since January 13th.
- Mammut sponsors ashort film exploring the transformation of Shames Mountain, British Columbia into a community co-op.
- British Columbia openspublic consultation for the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort.
- A gondola transit network in Oshawa, Ontariocould cost CA$1.1 billion.
- Reed Hastingsexplains his sweeping changes at Powder Mountain including four new lifts in one summer and partial privatization.
- Chicopee, Ontarioexplains why its three new lifts aren’t spinning yet.
- Bristol Mountainpartially rope evacuates theComet Express.
- Ditto for theMt. Hood Express at Mt. Hood Meadows.
- The Balsamsextends approval for long-delayed redevelopment.
- Mont Farlagne, New Brunswickreopens its only chairlift after a month-long closure due to a bullwheel issue.
- Ischgl invites guests to help build a life sizereplica of a 3S gondola cabin with Lego bricks.
- The latest New Hampshire tram board minuteshint at a possible new lift for Bretton Woods.
- Mountain Village and Telluride beginplanning their new gondola in earnest.
- Vermonters askWhy hasn’t Burke Mountain sold? as receivership fees surpass $12 million.
- Sugarbush getsall but one of its chairlifts going after a challenging start to the season.
- Severalvideos show the chaotic aftermath of thebullwheel detachment in Spain last week.
- Colorado releases theWinter Park gondola crack incident report, a full report of investigation remains in progress.
News Roundup: The Bar
- Vail Resorts reports a0.3% decline in North American skier visits through 1/5 with revenue up 4.5%, ski school up 1.1%, dining up 6.6% and retail/rental down 5.4%.
- Park City offers guests who visited during the patrol strikepartial credit toward a season pass next year.
- Park City businesses report adrop in business following the patrol strike.
- Kimberley, BC’sTamarack chair goesdown for awhile.
- Another snowboarder falls from a lift in Colorado –this time at Copper.
- A man who fell from Willamette Pass’Peak 2 triple in high windsseeks $3.6 million in damages.
- Europeanspoke fun at the lack of bars on lifts and Americans’ refusal to use them on lifts that are equipped.
- A trial in British Columbia finds proper signageincreases bar use dramatically.
- The Atlanticruns a story on ski industry consolidation, labor relations and cheap season passes.
- Mt. Hood Meadowsprovides an update onHeather Canyon, which has yet to open this season.
- An Alaska windstormblows a lift shack over on one lift and sends achair into the bullwheel on another at Arctic Valley.
- Sugarbushapologizes for not havingCastlerock andSlide Brook operable at this point in the season.
- Leadersapprove a large development at Nordic Valley, Utah; likely to coincide with a new out-of-base lift.
- The municipality of Whistler to study avalley gondola transit line.
- Castle Mountainseeks a name for its first high speed quad.
News Roundup: Strike Over
- Park City’s patrol strike ends after 12 days; Vailapologizes to guests and aclass action lawsuit is filed.
- Spirit Mountain, Minnesotasolicits bids to replaceGandy with a quad this summer.
- Bald Mountain, Idahomay not open this season due to inability to secure insurance.
- Leitner-Poma President Daren Colejoins Banff Sunshine’s podcast to discuss theSuper Angel Express and lift business more broadly.
- A sit skier who fell from Winter Park’sExplorer Express and was seriously injuredfiles suit.
- Pursuitcompletes its acquisition of theJasper SkyTram.
- Saskadena Six, Vermontwill not operateChair Two this season, looks at a replacement.
- Eaglecrest, Alaska continues tolook toward a sightseeing gondola to subsidize its money-losing ski operation.
- Killington’s Superstar six pack willcost $12.16 million,
- Mt. Bachelor plansseveral enhancements to theNorthwest Express.
- Sugarbush tobring in additional staff from across Alterra to try and get non-functional lifts open.
- Four Seasons, New York islisted for sale.
- Sandia Peakproposes replacingChair 1.
News Roundup: Tough Holiday
- Heavenly reopens theComet Express following aserious incident that sent five to the hospital butdeclines to specify what went wrong. From Heavenly: “Comet Express is open and operating normally. Safety is our top priority at Heavenly Mountain Resort, and we take this incident very seriously. Following a thorough inspection by the Heavenly team and the lift manufacturer, the issue was identified and resolved, and the lift was cleared for operations by the U.S. Forest Service.”
- A chair bail on theLookout Express at Sun Valleycracks in two; the lift has since reopened and the resort declined a request for comment.
- As the Park City patrol strike drags on,most of the mountain remains closed, the COOposts a video message to frustrated guests and Vaillooks to hire new patrollers.
- Apiece of guidage fails on theonly chairlift in the Yukon, leading to a rope evacuation.
- Sugarloaf’s SuperQuadmisses some of the holiday week.
- Panama looks to build asix station, 6.6 km urban gondola.
- Sasquatch Mountain, BC’striple chair will bedown for the foreseeable future due to a maintenance issue.
- Mt. Hood Meadows’ Heather Canyon double isdamaged by a falling tree.
- Mont Orford opens apop up bar in a gondola cabin.
- Ski Martock, Nova Scotiacloses for the week due to a lift issue.
- Waterville Valleyformally seeks approval for a village to summit gondola and southeastward expansion.
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