delivered five fewer lifts to ski areas in 2024 than 2023, for a total of 25 ski area installations. “If you look at overall con- struction crew engagement and business volume, [2024 was] pretty comparable to previous years. Slight variation is normal for us.” Skytrac was the only manufacturer to sell the same number of lifts as last year, with nine installations. “Overall, it was a very solid year,” says Skytrac pres- ident Carl Skylling. “We had really good support in particular from smaller- and medium-sized independent operators this year.” Asked if inflation could be a factor in selling fewer lifts, Manley says it might have been. “We’ve certainly heard from people that they’re concerned about the cost [of new lifts]. We are as well. We’re suffering from the same labor and mate-
rials increases as everybody else. It’s gotten a lot more expensive to do con- struction. It’s gotten a lot more expensive to build things.” Premium Projects Large lifts, premium features, and multi- lift projects were some of the highlights of the construction season. Big for bigger. Doppelmayr installed the largest new lift of the year—Mad- ison 8, a D-Line eight-place bubble at Big Sky Resort, Mont. This was the first time a U.S. resort removed and replaced a six-pack with something even larger. Madison 8 is the longest eight-seater in the world and features automatic station parking, requiring the longest terminals ever used on such a lift. It also features auto-close/locking restraint bars, heated seats, and a four-ring direct drive, simi-
lar to other recent installations at Big Sky and other Boyne Resorts properties. Just a stone’s throw away, developers of the new One&Only Moonlight Basin hotel added their own D-Line lift, a luxe two-way eight-place gondola with heat- ed seats that will connect the property to Big Sky Resort. Transport gondolas. Across the industry, all four gondolas built in 2024 were people movers as opposed to true ski lifts, bringing skiers and non-skiers alike from point A to point B. Leitner-Po- ma constructed three of them, including the second-largest new lift of the year by VTFH at Grouse Mountain in Brit- ish Columbia. The eight-place gondola supplements an existing aerial tramway, providing the sole public access to the ski area. Due to a steep, remote align- ment, Leitner-Poma designed several
Opposite page: Installing towers for the new Doppelmayr Interconnect triple at The Highlands, Mich. Above: Lowering the roof onto the top terminal for the Skytrac Timberline quad at Powder Mountain, Utah. Right: A helicopter flies towers for the Leitner-Poma Sublette quad at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo.
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator