It’s that time of year when news about the ski industry comes fast and furious. Ski areas are keen to pump out what’s new and the arrival of the season generally gives the media a new topic. Perhaps they are even getting tired of repeatedly covering the world on the brink of exploding. We canvas many sources of ski news so here is our pick of the litter.

Are Ski Lifts Not Aging Well?  There have been an alarming number of failures of lifts as the season has started. A Telluride Chairlift failed Christmas Eve and 70 skiers had to be roped off. (Also alarming is the pictures of that event show how little snow Telluride has!) Five skiers were injured when a chairlift at Heavenly in Tahoe slid back into another chair and the skiers fell 30 feet. Shockingly, a gondola tower at Winter Park in Colorado cracked stranding 180 skiers who had to be evacuated. And on the other side of the Pond, about 240 skiers were stranded on a chairlift in the French Alps on Christmas Eve and had to be roped off the lift.

Speaking of Old Lifts…Welcome to Sugarbush, Vermont. Sugarbush in Vermont FINALLY replaced its Heavens Gate summit chairlift this year. Unfortunately serious problems with the tension system on the chair has caused delays and slow speeds. It gets worse. Four other lifts have not opened as of December 28th either due to mechanical issues or delayed inspections. One other lift has to operate at reduced speeds due to computer issues.  We aren’t engineers, but using our incredible math skills we have determined that the average age of the affected lifts is 21 years!! For more details see Sugarbush Lift Problems

Closed for Christmas! We often struggle Christmas morning…do we ski first or open presents first? Two of our favorite ski areas make this choice very easy – both Montana Snowbowl above Missoula and Mad River Glen in Vermont were closed on Christmas Day! Gotta love that!

Park City Patrollers and Vail Resorts Duke It Out. There has been a long running feud between the unionized patrollers (roughly 200) at Park City Resort and Vail Resorts, who owns Park City. Both parties agreed to mediation several weeks ago, but now things have completely fallen apart. On December 27th the patrollers and safety staff that are members of the union walked out. Demands include a $2.00 raise from $21 to $23 dollars an hour for starting employees, increased wages for senior patrollers and improved benefits. Shame on us but we were surprised to learn that patrollers are routinely paid on an hourly basis and that the amounts Park City folks are being paid aren’t unusual. Living on those hourly rates in the Park City area must be interesting.

The strike is of course timed to cause the most problems for Vail Resorts during the busiest time of the year. Vail has insisted that they have brought in qualified replacements, but one has to wonder. Complicating the situation, Park City has very little snow thus far this season. There are reports of two hour lift lines!  The Lift Blog has a good piece on it if you want more – Park City Patrollers Strike.

In Bounds Avalanche at Bridger Bowl. We wrote about the possibility of avalanches within open areas last year (In Bounds Avalanche Risks). While the risks are low given the avalanche control work patrollers and safety crews do at western areas, this event is a good reminder that it can happen. On December 15th a skier was buried in bounds, but luckily was rescued by a friend and was uninjured. Takeaways – don’t ski alone on deep days or when the weather is inclement; wear an avi beacon on powder days (it is not reported as to whether this skier had one) and don’t automatically assume being in bounds means there is no danger. Interestingly, the crown of the avalanche was only 8″ deep, but after running for more than 600 feet it had the ability to bury a skier.

Yellowstone Owner Files Papers to Develop Another Private Area. In a recent article we discussed the increasing trend of private skiing and cited the potential Stagecoach development in Colorado as an example (Privatization of the Ski Industry). The owners of the completely private resort The Yellowstone Club in Montana have filed a planning application indicating their intent to build a private housing community and a private ski area in the Stagecoach area. According to the Discovery Land Company this final application takes into account concerns that have been voiced by locals the last couple years over this potential development. Stay tuned.

Happy New Years!

Be Well; Ski Well!

 

By Kevin Dennis
conSKIerge co-founder

Kevin Dennis is a life long ski bum with a 34 year legal career on the side. Now retired, he skis 80+ days a year. While he lives in Alta UT in the winters, he has traveled extensively through skiing and has skied almost every major resort in North America (and many you have never heard of). He continues to hit the road often throughout the western United States and Canada and trips over the last several years have included ventures in British Columbia, Montana and Colorado. Whether you want to know about the behemoths like Aspen or Squaw or are interested in the road less travelled (Lost Trail Powder Mountain in Montana or Whitewater in BC anyone?), Kevin has been there, has an opinion and you will most likely have to tell him to shut up after a half hour!