What’s new for 2009-10 – Part 2

Summer can be a very busy time at ski resorts as they get things ready for the new season. Here’s our second round up of some of the developments that have been taking place this Summer, we’ll be adding more as we hear about them…

Sugar bowl gets new chairlift for 2009/10: the new chairlift in the resort in California, USA will take people to the ridge top of Mt. Judah, dropping them off just below the summit.  While skiers and riders can currently access this skiable acreage by hiking, the new lift will allow the resort to maximize usage of, and access to, skiable terrain within the currently permitted boundary.

Heavenly improvements: The improvements continue in year two of Heavenly’s ten-year master plan that promises a steady stream of new lifts, on-mountain restaurants, lodging and base villages that will greatly improve the overall experience. Future projects that have been approved include replacement of an existing fixed-grip chair lift on the mountain’s Nevada side with high-speed, detachable lift technology; a 1,000-seat, LEED-certified, on-mountain restaurant with views of Lake Tahoe; 152 acres of new ski trails; and a skier bridge that will allow skiers and riders to ski from the Gondola top station to Tamarack Express.

Saint-Lary, France - The ski resort of Saint-Lary in the Pyrenees Mountains of France invested 14 million Euros this summer in the construction of a new gondola, diverting an influx of 1,400 cars, 50 buses and 20 shuttles per day. The new state-of-the-art ski lift will carry 3,000 skiers and riders to the top per hour in only eight minutes.

Since 2000, the ski area has reinvested 28 million Euros to modernize the resort and augment its snowmaking production, which now covers 80 percent of the marked runs.

Kananaskis Valley, AB - Nakiska, in the Kananaskis Valley west of Calgary, will debut a new high-speed quad chairlift this ski and snowboard season.

After much planning and implementation, the resort will be loading skiers and riders onto the only new ski lift in the Banff corridor upon season opening in early December on the 5th. The new Gold Chair Express will rise 468 meters (1,535 feet) in less than five minutes, carrying 1910 riders per hour along a slope length of 1460 meters (4,790 feet). The lift replaces the existing Gold Chair, which had a ride time of nine minutes.

What’s new in ski resorts 2009/10 part 1 can be found here.