Colorado 24-25

[RachelV]

Summit County resorts are starting to open, so I thought I'd get a Colorado thread started for the 24-25 season. I generally only ski A-Basin and Keystone, but am also happy to get beers / coffee / dinner / walk dogs / etc with anyone passing through Summit County. I have an Indy pass and would also love to hit Granby Ski Ranch and Sunlight this season. I'll definitely use the Loveland days.

A-Basin on Sunday, Nov 3:


The forecast is also looking quite good (if cold, yikes) for both snow and snowmaking. Would be fun to get a faster start to the season than last year. Fingers crossed!


@marzNC also started this thread for Wolf Creek specifically:

Wolf Creek in southeast Colorado, 2024-25

Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) will be the first to open in Colorado for 2024-25. WCSA benefits from snowstorms that come from more than one direction. The first storm dropped almost two feet in the last few days. They seem intent on making the most of it to celebrate 85 years since the founding...

www.theskidiva.com

 

[DebbieSue]

Woo hoo!!! Let the season begin!

 

[skibum4ever]

One of our Keystone condos is in escrow and is supposed to close on 11/22. DH wants to visit the condo before that, though I really trust our realtor and don't see the need. However, if Keystone conditions continue to improve and Mammoth remains dry, it could spark an early season trip.

 

[Fern Lake Flavor]

Speaking of CO and Sunlight... just heard tell of the Boot Tan Fest recently, a self-proclaimed "Largest Ski and Snowboard Festival for Women and Femmes" that takes place in April at Sunlight. From what I read, it looks like a big, wild Girls Par-tay (including an annual Naked Run).

Has anyone every attended this?

 

[skivet]

That sounds like an awesome spring event.

Speaking of CO and Sunlight... just heard tell of the Boot Tan Fest recently, a self-proclaimed "Largest Ski and Snowboard Festival for Women and Femmes" that takes place in April at Sunlight. From what I read, it looks like a big, wild Girls Par-tay (including an annual Naked Run).

Has anyone ever attended this?

 

[marzNC]

Colorado is off to a stellar start!

OpenSnow Colorado Daily Snow, November 10, 2024:

 

[marzNC]

Crested Butte opens today, Nov. 27. Mountain ops must be scrambling this morning since the latest storm dropped 31 inches in the last 48 hours! The Timelapse for the Pow Stake and the official Snow State were fun to view at 9am ET.

Excerpt from OpenSnow Colorado Daily Snow, November 27, 2024:

 

[RachelV]

This is as good as gets, and pretty unusual for Colorado in November. Can't wait to ski some actual terrain this weekend!!

 

[kathuang]

Hi from Colorado!
I mostly ski Vail and Beaver Creek and would love company!

 

[IceHeeler]

I'm a Winter Park local and am loving the base layer we have so far. Rumor is the Mary Jane side is opening this Friday. I haven't been to Granby Ranch in winter in a really long time. I'd love to join in for a day there.

 

[RachelV]

I'm a Winter Park local and am loving the base layer we have so far. Rumor is the Mary Jane side is opening this Friday. I haven't been to Granby Ranch in winter in a really long time. I'd love to join in for a day there.

My Dec / Jan have gotten pretty chill from a ski perspective due to my dog's surgery, but I'd love to hit Granby Ranch after that. I'll hit you up or start a thread once I have a sense of when I can make it happen.

 

[marzNC]

Oh my, the Winter Park gondola is likely to be down for a while. There are pictures in the Liftblog article.

December 21, 2024

Winter Park Gondola Closed Following Incident

A tower component failed on The Gondola at Winter Park Resort today, leading to a five hour rope evacuation. Photos show a rocker arm that connects two sections of a 16 sheave assembly cracked near…

liftblog.com

"A tower component failed on The Gondola at Winter Park Resort today, leading to a rope evacuation. Photos show a rocker arm that connects two sections of a 16 sheave assembly cracked nearly in half and bent. The affected assembly is located on tower 1 and holds the haul rope down on the heavy side of the lift, adjacent to the bottom terminal. The gondola is listed as closed and guests are being evacuated by rope. . . ."

 

[IceHeeler]

Oh my, the Winter Park gondola is likely to be down for a while. There are pictures in the Liftblog article.

The good news is no one was hurt in the evacuation. They shut down other lifts so all qualified hands could help with the evac. It was an excellent example of a professional emergency response.

I was surprised to learn the replacement part is made by a company out of Grand Junction. Based on the conversations I've had with Ops, the part is already on its way. The resort is trying to get it back up and going as quickly as possible. I thought this was going to be a season-long closure so anytime this season feels like a win.

 

[marzNC]

I was surprised to learn the replacement part is made by a company out of Grand Junction. Based on the conversations I've had with Ops, the part is already on its way. The resort is trying to get it back up and going as quickly as possible. I thought this was going to be a season-long closure so anytime this season feels like a win.

That's great!

Leitner-Poma was created after a merger of French companies in 2000. The founder of Poma was a young French engineer who invented the "poma" surface lift in the 1930s. That company started installing lifts in N. America in the 1950s. The manufacturing facility and offices in Grand Junction date from the early 1980s. The latest campus in Grand Junction opened in 2007. A new facility for Skytrac, a subsidiary, was established in Utah in 2023. Skytrac does a lot of lift refurbishments to keep older lifts in service longer.

October 2023

Leitner-Poma Breaks Ground on Utah Factory

Elected officials joined Leitner-Poma of America yesterday in Tooele, Utah to turn the first dirt for what will become the company’s largest North American facility. The 130,000 square foot c…

liftblog.com

" . . .
Elected officials joined Leitner-Poma of America yesterday in Tooele, Utah to turn the first dirt for what will become the company’s largest North American facility. The 130,000 square foot campus will complement an existing 100,000 square foot factory in Grand Junction, Colorado opened in 2007. Leitner-Poma subsidiary Skytrac Lifts will move from leased space near the Salt Lake City airport to Tooele. The state-of-the-art facility will allow the firms, which are owned by HTI Group of Italy, to increase production and expand headcount up to 120 employees, with further growth possible in additional phases of the project. In addition to Skytrac and Leitner-Poma production, the building will also house a parts warehouse and offices for HTI snowmaking brand DemacLenko and HTI grooming brand Prinoth. All told HTI plans to invest $27 million in Tooele.

When the new facility opens in May 2024, LPOA and Skytrac will manufacture 85 to 90 percent of lift equipment for the North American market in the United States. “Today, we are thrilled to mark a new era of our company here in Tooele,” said Daren Cole, president of LPOA. “We are really invested in the State of Utah and the resort industry. We are focused on Made in America here in Utah and the U.S.” He noted Leitner-Poma’s primary competitor imports much of its equipment from Europe. Leitner-Poma is Italian-owned but offers a largely North American-designed and manufactured product line.
. . ."

 

[marzNC]

I've seen pictures of a crane at Winter Park as a crew worked to replace the broken part. Of course, there will be testing and inspections before the gondola can be re-opened to the public.

 

[marzNC]

The Winter Park gondola was operational on Dec. 23.

December 23, 2024

Winter Park Resort reopens gondola that malfunctioned and caused five-hour rescue of 182 passengers

Winter Park Resort’s communications team has confirmed the gondola is back up and running two days after a malfunction occurred Saturday, Dec. 21, at about 12:15 p.m. While the incident that stranded 182 passengers is...

www.skyhinews.com

" . . .
Winter Park Resort’s communications team has confirmed the gondola is back up and running two days after a malfunction occurred Saturday, Dec. 21, at about 12:15 p.m.

While the incident that stranded 182 passengers is still under investigation, according to the Colorado Tramway Safety Board, the agency said resortgoers were allowed to board the gondola at 1:11 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23.

The lift was closed after the lift’s system identified an issue, and the resort identified a crack in a metal support on the lift. Winter Park ski patrollers evacuated people stuck on the lift via a rope system that was attached to each cabin.
. . ."

 

[marzNC]

So far, so good for the repaired gondola at Winter Park.

December 23, 2024

Winter Park reopens gondola Monday after replacing cracked steel beam. Other resorts keep eye on towers.

Leitner-Poma in Grand Junction manufactured and shipped a replacement tower beam a few hours after Winter Park closed, evacuated The Gondola

coloradosun.com