Well, we knew it was coming, and it did. We have hit new lows for new lift construction in North America with a total of 48. This is lower than anything we have recorded in the 29 years SAM has been tracking. (If you’re looking for a teeny-tiny silver lining, take comfort that the total for the U.S. is unchanged from last year at 30.)
In terms of VTFH (Vertical Transport Feet per Hour), this year’s total of 88,642.4 is the lowest since 1982. (For those who forget from year to year, VTFH expresses the number of passengers transported 1,000 vertical feet in an hour. It is obtained by multiplying the vertical in feet by the capacity and dividing by 1,000.)
Putting this year’s totals in perspective, the record number of new lifts was set in 1972 when 220 were installed; the record for new VTFH was 1988 with 158,235.
It is not hard to find the reasons for this year’s downturn: economy, economy, economy and weather. The last factor clearly pushes capital expansion dollars into snowmaking rather than into lifts. The question, of course, is when and how robust will be the rebound for the lift industry when it comes.
Of the lifts built this year, quads dominated again and detachables maintained their momentum. But the real news was with the two big gondolas — Doppelmayr’s at Keystone and Poma’s at Stowe, Vt. Another headliner was Doppelmayr’s 6-seater chair in Quebec and Lift Engineering’s technically innovative bubble on their detachable at Whistler (see separate feature on Page 58).
The East could claim one of the brightest spots for the year at Whitetail in Pennsylvania with its four CTEC chairs — one a detachable — at the region’s first new major resort in a decade. These lifts account for 5,918.2 of VTFH, representing about 30 percent of the eastern total. Also in the East, Poma’s 8-passenger gondola at Stowe, billed as “the world’s fastest” because of its 1,200 FPM line speed, yields a hefty 5,670 in VTFH. It replaces a 1968 4-passenger PHB gondola.
Rounding out the eastern highlights are quads at Maine’s Sunday River (L/E), Holiday Valley, N.Y. (CTEC), Jack Frost in Pennsylvania (Borvig) and Okemo, Vt. (Poma).
In the Canadian East, eight chairs meant a respectable total and included a big, late-order detachable quad the new owners of Mt. Tremblant scrambled to get in, and the 6-passenger quad detachable, which Doppelmayr has been displaying at trade shows. The world’s first, it was installed at Mont Orignal in Quebec.
In the Midwest, both the total lifts (six) and new VTFH (3,622.8) were the highest in three years, but the totals still aren’t exactly exuberant compared to 1987, for instance, when 10 chairs went in with 5,283.8 in VTFH. Five of this year’s six midwestern chairlifts were triples, bucking the quadmania in the rest of the country.
In the West, the new lift scene fell right through the floor with only 14, adding total VTFH of 31,423. This is the lowest in many moons on both scores and contrasts starkly with the 24 lifts and 55,729 VTFH for the average of the previous five years. It also represented a much smaller slice of the national pie than normal. Still, there were some exciting installations in the mix, including three Doppelmayrs at the Keystone expansion.
Detachables also went in at Sierra Ski Ranch (L/E), Beaver Creek (CTEC) and Doppelmayrs at Beaver Creek, Keystone, Big Sky and Brighton.
The Canadian West picture was comparatively upbeat, with Lift Engineering installing five big quads, four of which are detachables, one with a bubble.
The five surface lifts installed represent an up-tick, but, well, it’s still no big deal.
Wire rope tows (handle tows) and disc-seat poles continue to fill an important need. Fifteen were installed, divided among six manufacturers/importers. We could see more in the future.
This annual listing of new lifts in North America does not by any means tell the whole story of what the skier finds at the slopes, because we do not show relocated lifts — for instance, Von Roll had two, Lift Engineering had one, as did Riblet; reconfigured lifts, like Poma’s upgrade of a Winter Park quad to detachable, and Lift Engineering’s conversion of the old Germania double at Alta into a triple; re-engineered lifts, often meaning new drives — among them Borvig’s at Lutsen, Minn., CTEC’s two and several others. This is all part of the steady upgrading of the total uphill network for skiers, and represents considerable, but unpublicized investment.
What about the future? Nobody is predicting a sudden and sharp turn-around, but it is also true that a lot of ski areas love to talk of their expansion plans “for when things get better.” Who knows, that could be sooner than later.
