tractors completed civil construction while Doppelmayr assembled the Keet- ley six-pack and two quads. Highlander Lift Services & Construction installed two others simultaneously. “For some of the bigger projects we are seeing more clients take on civil works,” says Schmitz. “There are often benefits in doing that as they often have other infrastructure projects happening at the same time, perhaps other concrete work in the same area.” Work will con- tinue throughout 2025 as Deer Valley plans to construct a two-stage gondola and several more chairlifts. Elsewhere in Utah, Powder Moun- tain split a four-lift order between Sky- trac and Doppelmayr. Two quad chairs provide access to former hike-to terrain and two replace older equipment. “They are great lifts with great skiing,” notes Skylling, whose company built three of the four. “They were all pretty substan- tial. They have full APUs, full evacuation engines and they were just done right.” Nearby, private Wasatch Peaks Ranch added a gondola and detachable quad from Leitner-Poma while Snowbird added a Doppelmayr fixed-grip quad. Including conveyors, a whopping 18 new lifts were installed in Utah in 2024. Manufacturing expansions. With business booming, both aerial lift manu- facturers are investing in the state. Sister firms Skytrac and Leitner-Poma of Ameri- ca christened a shared 130,000-square-foot plant in Tooele last summer, replacing a smaller, leased space in Salt Lake City during the busy construction season. “We had a pretty tight timeline to get out of our old place,” says Skylling. “Our contractor did an amazing job getting us in. We were able to move our production in phases and plan which machines to move when. We were able to keep pro- duction rolling and finish up the year on schedule.” Leitner-Poma plans to move production of towers and line equipment to the Utah facility and add a parts ware- house as its installed base grows nearby. Just down Interstate 80, Doppelmayr USA is planning a major expansion of its longtime Salt Lake headquarters. Expect- ed to break ground in early 2025, the project will increase domestic produc- tion capacity and reduce the company’s reliance on cross-ocean shipping. “We
TOTAL NEW LIFT INSTALLATIONS: 10-YEAR COMPARISON
23
29
34
37
42
24
33
58
57
47
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
TOTAL NEW VTFH: 10-YEAR COMPARISON
48,895
36,484
54,148
89,821
49,211
34,044
57,643
118,515
125,735
91,056
140K
120K
100K
80K
60K
40K
20K
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Note: VTFH measures the number of riders who can be transported 1,000 vertical feet in one hour. It is derived by multiplying the vertical rise in feet by the lift capacity per hour and dividing by 1,000.
NEW LIFTS BY REGION: 10-YEAR COMPARISON
PACIFIC
MIDWEST
MOUNTAIN
CANADA
EAST
25
20
15
10
5
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
These line charts provide a more visual illustration of the 10-year comparisons that are presented as tables in the annual Lift Construction Survey’s online version at saminfo.com, making it easier to see trends.
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