Curious about why Big Sky’s old gondola was shipped to Sugarloaf (and updating info for stories), I placed a call to Sugarloaf head honcho John Diller. What’s the scoop, I asked. The answer, one that’s hedged as pie-in-the-sky, was intriguing.
The gondola was a Sugarloaf icon, Diller said, one that they’d like to replace. Big Sky was replacing its gondy, so the old one was shipped here. But it doesn’t have enough cars to work on the current favored location.
Enter phase II: Loon, a sister resort in New Hampshire, has an overcrowding problem and is looking to replace its gondola. If and when that happens, the Loon gondy also likely be shipped to the ‘loaf, and between the two there will be enough cars to span…
The favored site for now–again, Diller emphasizes it’s all speculation right now– is on West Mountain, from the access road to Bullwinkle’s. The big plus of this location is that it, in conjunction with the Bullwinkle’s expansions, would weatherproof summer operations for weddings and other functions. That would bolster summer operations.
Yeah, I know, it’s a hand-me-down, but hey, it’s a lift, and it’s a gondy, and it’s a start. Let’s hope it happens.
As for what’s new this season: Look for enhanced snowmaking, part one of a two-year program to double capacity; new signage; perhaps expansion at Bullwinkle’s; beginning of a new look for the base village; and general sprucing up.
