3 replies to this topic

[SkiBachelor]

This summer Jackson Hole will be adding 18 gondola cabins to its Bridger Gondola bringing up the capacity by 600. There are also talks about installing a surface lift or chairlift to the top of the mountain which would be the new alternative when the tram is removed.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/wint...4428542,00.html

Quote

Ski-area improvements generally are expensive, and a new tram carries a $25 million price tag. That's too steep for the privately owned ski company, which has realized an average annual net income of $27,000 since 1992 and relies on ticket sales for 70 percent of its income. About $56 million in lift investments and other infrastructure has left it without a capital reserve for a new tram since 1992.

It's hard to believe that Jackson Hole is only making $27,000 a year on average rather than up in the millions. Are other ski areas who don't sell real-estate experiencing these same cash flow problems? How is the sport (skiing and snowboarding) supposed to grow in the future when inflation and insurance rates continue to rise? The simplest thing for ski resorts to do is raise lift ticket prices but it has been shown that peoples' tastes change when prices increase and they will do other things that are cheaper and yield the same marginal utility value. The ski industry is in for a big surprise within the next few years unless it does something about this problem.

[vons]

It is ironic that jakson will be putting a serface lift back in to the summit. There used to be a detachable poma ,with a turn even! that provided access when the wind prevented the tram from operating it was there years ago when I was visiting during the summer but I gess it has since been removed.

[coskibum]

i last skied up there in 2000 and it was gone then.

[Carl]

vons, on Feb 7 2006, 05:26 PM, said:

It is ironic that jakson will be putting a surface lift back in to the summit. There used to be a detachable poma ,with a turn even! that provided access when the wind prevented the tram from operating it was there years ago when I was visiting during the summer but I gess it has since been removed.

Actually the Poma, complete with an angle station, was installed there in response to the public outcry about a surcharge of $2 to ride the Tram. The lift had been stored at the bottom of the Hobacks for many, many years and was rebuilt and installed in Rendezvous Bowl.
It was down due to wind much, much more frequently than the Tram.

After a few years it was deemed too expensive to operate as the maintenance costs were very high as were the snow removal costs. The lift was removed from Rendezvous Bowl.

At the present time the rumor is Chairlift in the Bowl, along with additional cabins on the Bridger Gondola and additional chairs on the Thunder quad.

We'll have to wait and see.

Carl