Vail Resorts, by most measures now the largest ski resorts operator in the world, has announced that it will invest $320 million to build 19 new lifts ahead of the 22-23 season. This is on top of a $200m+ spend by the company over the past few years and will take the company's 15 year investment total through the 2 billion mark.
The projects include 12 new high-speed chairlifts, a new high-speed gondola, 6 new fixed-grip chairlifts and new lift-served terrain. There will be a new high-speed lift and gondola out of Whistler Blackcomb's Creekside; New high-speed lift in Vail's Back Bowls; the company's first (and North America's second) high-speed 8-person chair in Park City and enhancements to Keystone's Bergman Bowl with 550 acres of new lift-served terrain. Vail say the spend, their largest single-year investment ever, is designed to materially reduce wait times and increase uphill capacity.
Among the more significant development announced so far Keystone Resort's Bergman Bowl will get a new high-speed 6-person chairlift, increasing lift-served terrain by 555 acres including 16 new trails, and providing access for novice and intermediate guests and provides expanded entry to expert terrain in Independence and Erickson Bowls.
Park City Mountain's new Silverlode lift will be Vail Resorts' first-ever high-speed 8-person chair and the second in North Americas after Big Sky's lift. The new Silverlode lift will replace an existing 6-person chair, will increase uphill capacity by 20% and reduce wait times at a critical spot to circulate guests on mountain.
At Stowe Mountain Resort the replacement and extension of an existing fixed-grip triple to a high-speed 6-person lift will increase uphill capacity by 100%, eliminate the steep hike to the base of the lift, improve reliability on windy days and offer beginner and intermediate guests with better access to lower-level terrain choices.