But if lift construction is modest, snowmaking activity by comparison can only be called small scale. The most dynamic projects are taking place in Europe and South America. Here at home most of the work is low-tech system add-ons, though it should be added that even in mid-August there were some big projects that could materialize.
Manufacturers and ski area officials point to three main reasons for the slow pace of construction. First, there is widespread skepticism about the strength of the recovery especially in the wake of the high unemployment figures which do not bode well for discretionary spending on recreation. Second, the banking industry is in disarray and wary of making new loans. (See page 65.) And third, the process is getting more and more difficult to negotiate.
Despite the somewhat gloomy overall big picture, however, there are still many pockets of activity. What follows is a hop, skip and a jump around the country, stopping to visit some of the more interesting projects.
Much of the activity has been in Colorado. Steamboat has added two big Doppelmayr detachable quads, each with bubble enclosures. Crested Butte is also adding a detachable quad — its first — which is being put in by Poma. And at Telluride, CTEC is installing one stage of a three-stage gondola. Stages two and three of the $8 million lift are slated to be added next spring and summer. Telluride is also spending another $6.5 million this year to build a new corporate office building. The major snowmaking news out of Colorado comes from Beaver Creek where Ratnik is expanding coverage onto the newly developed Grouse Mountain area. In other news Ritz Carlton will be opening one of its famous hotels in Aspen in October, Snowmass is spending $1 million on an environmental impact study in preparation for its $37 million expansion plan, while Winter Park is spending $6 million on a new mountaintop restaurant and has bought an old Heron.
In neighboring New Mexico, Taos Ski Valley is getting a new Poma fixed-grip quad — the third fixed grip quad Poma has installed at Taos in the last 4 years.
The biggest news coming out of Utah is taking place at Brighton where CTEC is installing a detachable quad that will open up 200 acres and 10 new runs and make Brighton the first area in the state with two detachables. Snowmaking expansions are taking place at Park City and Deer Valley.
At Big Mountain, Mont., CTEC is installing a fixed grip quad that will serve some new beginner terrain, and SMI has added water storage and about 30 acres of snowmaking coverage.
At Sun Valley, Lift Engineering’s contract to build three new detachables over the next two years tells only part of the story — a story of redesigning the way Mt. Baldy will be skied in the future. Plans call for massive grading, two new restaurants, a lodge, huge mountain shop, and most significant of all — a four-terminal hub concept for 42nd Street at the bottom of Exhibition. Definitely on tap for this year are the River Run detachable quad and some modifications to two other lifts. Meanwhile, York is continuing its snowmaking retrofit at Sun Valley, adding water cooling at Warm Springs.
In the Tahoe region, Heavenly Valley and Squaw Valley are busy with lift system enhancements. Heavenly is putting in a Doppelmayr detachable quad that replaces the old Yan Sky Chair triple. The chairs, rope and other elements of this lift have been reborn as two triples — the new Groove lift and Powder Bowl lift — which in turn have been erected in the same alignment as the old double Siphon lift. Confused? Don’t be. This type of recycling is the name of the game today. Just ask Squaw Valley, which has three separate lift projects underway, all involving the sophisticated reconfiguring of elements of other lift systems of various ages and origins. (See box.) Squaw is also continuing the expansion of its York snowmaking system. Other snowmaking expansions in the Tahoe area are taking place at Alpine Meadows, Heavenly Valley, North Star and Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl is also getting a CTEC fixed grip (convertible to detachable) to serve Nob Hill, while Sierra Ski Ranch is putting in its third Yan detachable quad, to be called Sling Shot, and Boreal is putting in a Doppelmayr detachable quad to be called the Prospector Express. Elsewhere in California, a CTEC convertible quad is going in at Snow Summit.
In the Pacific Northwest, Poma is installing detachable quads at Timberline and a new Riblet fixed grip quad is going in at Washington’s Mt. Baker.
In Alaska, Poma is putting in a fixed-grip quad (and pouring the foundations for another one to go in next year) at Alyeska — a Von Roll double tram to be used for freight this fall, but slated to get 60-passenger cabins next summer.
In the Midwest, the spotlight inevitably is on Doppelmayr’s six-passenger detachable (already nicknamed the “six-pack”) going in at Boyne Mt., Mich. Other Midwest highlights include fixed grip quads at Caberfae, Mich. (CTEC) and Powder Ridge, Minn. (Riblet). In Wisconsin, Von Roll is busy relocating the lifts from the defunct Majestic Hills — taking a double to Sunburst and a triple to Cascade Mountain.
In the Southeast, Winterplace in West Virginia is opening up some new beginner/intermediate terrain with a new CTEC triple. Other areas were concentrating on snowmaking retrofits. Snowshoe, W.V. has also been busy building an 18-hole Gary Player championship golf course.
In the Northeast, highlights include fixed grip quads (all CTECs) at three New York areas — Holliday Valley, Holimont and Bristol Mountain. Massachusetts is getting its first quad — a relocation from Crotched Mt., N.H. to Jiminy Peak. Sunday River, Me. is putting in a Poma detachable quad, while in Vermont, Killington had Poma convert two triples into quads. Okemo is installing a new Poma detachable quad. Snowmaking news in the East includes Delta’s expansion and retrofit at Sugarloaf, Me., expansion at Holiday Valley, N.Y., tower installations at Stratton, Vt. (45) and Wachusett Mountain, Mass. (50), and a new system by Ratnik at Snow Ridge, N.Y.
Other news coming out of the Northeast includes a new mid-mountain lodge at Ragged Mountain, N.H., a new base lodge at Bretton Woods, and two condo projects that may be the first indications of a turnaround in the weak New England real estate market. Sunday River is spending $8 million to build a 146-unit “condo-hotel,” while Smuggler’s Notch, Vt. is building a 16-unit, 2-bedroom condo complex.
In Canada, construction activity appears to be on a similar, fairly slow scale as in the States. Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island, B.C. is getting a new CTEC fixed grip quad (CTEC’s first foray into the Canadian market). The lift will serve the new Sunrise area. Also in B.C., a Doppelmayr detachable quad called the Blackcomb Glacier Express will give skiers access to high alpine terrain, including the Blackcomb and Horstcomb glaciers. At Big White, B.C., a relocation of a double opens up new terrain.
In eastern Canada, BM lifts has the Ontario action, with quads at Oshawa Ski Club and at Sir Sam’s, plus a triple at Mount St. Louis. For Ontario snowmaking, Blue Mountain has invested in 80 snowmaking towers from Snow Economics, while Talisman is expanding and modifying its Ratnik system.
In Quebec, a detachable quad as well as a fixed double are being installed by Doppelmayr at Petite Riviere St. Francois. The former has a 2,165-foot vertical. Turbocristal is also installing a semiautomatic snowmaking system covering 36 acres.
Recycling of old lifts
The recycling of old lifts, so common these days, can be as basic as Winter Park’s purchase of an old Heron double from a neighboring area and relocating it. Or it can be as Byzantine as the Silverado installation as Squaw Valley.
This lift first saw life in the mid-70s as Supersquaw — a Yan triple. It replaced a really old Heron double. Then two years ago, itself replaced by a Poma Detachable quad, it was relocated as Lost Lake Lift, with a top drive, bottom tension. This year it has been moved still again. It remains a triple, but now has a top drive tension and bottom return.
“This alone represents quite a structural change,” says project engineer Rick Jewett, whose design handiwork it was.
The componentry for Silverado includes carriers and gearbox from the old Supersquaw, some line equipment from an old Yan at Vail and some terminal equipment from a Yan lift down the road at Sierra Ski Ranch.
Because Silverado, in its new location, is very steep where it spans a couple of large gullies, it was necessary to introduce some heavy duty sheave assemblies at two towers. Doppelmayr 4T4D units, rated for ±4,000 lb. loadings, were used.
Squaw’s Silverado is indeed a lift with a history. And who can guess where it might go next? —D.R.
