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Anyone in the lift industry could be excused if they were found alone in an empty warehouse, curled up in the fetal position. Of the past 50 years, the number of installations last summer, 23, tops only 2009’s 21.

But still, 2010 was a step toward normalcy. There were 10 detachable quads installed, including North America’s first with heated seats, at The Canyons, Utah. There were just four in ’09. Plus, in 2010, Hunter Mountain added a six-pack. Le Massif and Crystal Mountain, Wash., installed iconic gondolas. Overall, VTFH came to nearly 43,000, 60 percent greater than in 2009.

Regionally, the greatest increases in VTFH took place in the West, as both the Pacific and Mountain regions rebounded to something approaching a normal year. Installations in Canada were down a bit more than 10 percent, but Canadian installations were the bright spot in 2009, when they nearly equaled the entire U.S. in VTFH.

(Note: VTFH measures the number of skiers and riders who can be transported 1,000 feet vertically in one hour. It is arrived at by multiplying the vertical rise in feet by the capacity in people-per-hour and divided by 1,000.)

And conveyor installations surged in 2010, totaling 62—more than double that of 2009, and the most since 2006. Both Magic Carpet and Star Lifts attribute this growth to projects postponed from 2009, the continuing growth of tubing and a switch from handle tows to conveyors, as well as more snowsport school installations. Both suppliers expect those last two trends to continue.

AERIAL LIFTS
With resorts recovering from the economic shocks of 2008-09, both Mark Bee of Doppelmayr and Rick Spear of Leitner-Poma expect two trends to drive future lift decisions: comfort and safety, especially kids’ safety.

Dopplemayr’s heated seats have gained an audience in Europe, and Bee expects North America to follow. “Customers love the lift. Most are really pleased about the comfort, and bubbles protect you against the wind,” he notes.

Spear says that automatic restraining bars are one of several safety options lift manufacturers are exploring. “No question, there’s a greater focus on providing more security for kids. Both Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayr are addressing kids’ safety; we have to find better ways to keep ’em in the chairs,” he adds.

Economy is a likely third trend. With hundreds of aging chairs installed in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, the question has long been, “how will we replace them?” One answer: three Doppelmayr fixed-grip installations last year were economically-oriented Eco-drive designs—one each at Loon and Cranmore, N.H., and Welch Village, Minn. There are now six such lifts in operation, with one more already on order for 2011.

Another answer: a new company, Skytrac, has entered the scene (see page 20 for details). Skytrac aims to provide economical yet full-featured lifts built to North American standards.

SURFACE LIFTS
For SunKid, 2010 was the biggest year ever, with 36 installations. “Some areas put their projects on hold in 2009, to see what happened with the economy, then pulled the trigger this past summer,” says Pete Kavanaugh of Star Lifts.

Jennifer Kelly of Magic Carpet agrees, and adds that conveyors are not just replacing handle tows (for both tubing and ski school), but even some shorter beginner chairlifts. Magic Carpet’s sales more than tripled, from 7 to 23.

Both suppliers said sales reflected the usual mix of 80 percent ski school/20 percent tubing. Tubing is growing as new hills are developed and as existing operations add capacity. Snowsport schools continue to add conveyors, too: Beaver Creek has 11; Okemo, six. Even smaller areas often have multiple conveyors.

No, the lift business is not back to its heyday in the ’90s, or even to the numbers seen in the early ’00s. But it’s on the way back up, and suppliers continue to innovate. As someone once wrote, “that which does not kill you makes you stronger.” Let’s hope so!