SAM Magazine—Juneau, Alaska, May 22, 2026—The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted 8-1 Monday night to abandon Eaglecrest Ski Area’s long-planned used gondola installation and repay Goldbelt Incorporated’s $10 million investment in the project, now about $12.2 million with accrued interest.

The vote reverses the Assembly’s 2022 decision to buy a 20-year-old Doppelmayr pulse gondola from an Austrian ski area for roughly $2 million, with an estimated installation cost of $9 million at the time. Assembly members narrowly approved the project with a 5-4 vote in favor. 

The Juneau Empire reported in 2024 that the original hope was for the gondola to be operating by winter 2025-26, but delays involving Juneau’s municipal government moved the timeline forward to summer 2027.

In March, Eaglecrest’s board of directors advised the city that a revised estimate placed installation costs at $27 million, pushing the project’s total price tag near $37 million once previous expenditures were factored in.

Faced with the ballooning cost and a lengthening timeline, assembly members decided to divest from the project.

About $2.7 million remaining in the capital account will go toward repaying Goldbelt, a local Native corporation that invested in the project in exchange for a percentage of the gondola’s gross revenue. The remaining $9.5 million will come from the city’s general fund.

Assembly member Nano Brooks cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing the city should explore alternatives such as renegotiating the deadline and interest rate with Goldbelt before drawing down reserves. 

City officials have also advanced a plan to sell the gondola for parts rather than seek new investors for the project. The gondola cabins are currently being refurbished in Colorado; parts from a second gondola remain in Austria. 

Leadership turnover has shadowed the gondola project. Former general manager Dave Scanlan, who championed year-round expansion at Eaglecrest, resigned under board pressure in May 2024. The board hired Craig Cimmons that August, but he resigned in January 2026. Erin Lupro, who served as interim GM after Scanlan’s departure, has served as acting general manager since Cimmons left.

The gondola was envisioned as a central component of a summer operations plan intended to attract cruise-ship tourists and other visitors to Eaglecrest, ultimately allowing the ski area to generate enough revenue to become self-sustaining. Eaglecrest hasn’t been able to operate without significant financial support from the city in recent years. 

To keep the municipally owned hill running, the Assembly is scheduled to approve a bare-bones operating subsidy that will allow Eaglecrest to open for the 2026-27 season with a 44 percent staff reduction while its board revisits long-term plans.