Eaglecrest Gondola Project - Juneau Alaska

[ChrisC]

This Eaglecrest AK Gondola project is the biggest fiasco.

It’s mostly going to be used as a summer cruise/tourist lift, but does not have capacity to handle any crowds.

It’s a pulse gondola!

Cheaper to have just installed a new 6-10 passenger model that could handle bus loads of visitors.

Axe it!

Juneau Assembly votes to end the city’s involvement in Eaglecrest Ski Area’s gondola

The vote on Wednesday isn't final, but it marked a major pivot away from the city’s investment in the gondola project, which has been plagued with controversy since it was purchased in 2022.

www.ktoo.org

 

[jasoncapecod]

I went zip lining at Eagle crest ski area cool area

 

[Tony Crocker]

Juneau already has a sightseeing gondola within walking distance from the cruise port. I recall using it after dinner on our 2001 cruise to view the sunset and also a tidal bore moving in the water channel.

 

[ChrisC]

Juneau already has a sightseeing gondola within walking distance from the cruise port. I recall using it after dinner on our 2001 cruise to view the sunset and also a tidal bore moving in the water channel.

I have not yet been to Juneau AK. Likely never unless I do a cruise at some point, but I have seen enough of Alaska and Northwest waterways (San Juan Islands, WA sailing, Ferry Seattle to Victoria, etc).

I honestly did not even want to look at any business model with a pulse gondola that the Austrians are throwing out. I guess a sucker is born every minute. I am sure just logistical capacity constraints would destroy any 'guest' revenue in summer - especially if a more modern, closer alternative is available.

And dumping skiers onto an expert ridge/bowl?

This plan is so ill-conceived, no wonder the GM was recently fired.

Eaglecrest looks like a nice mountain, but obviously its skier pool is limited.

Eaglecrest Considers Building Alaska’s First Gondola

Eaglecrest is the only ski resort in Southeast Alaska, a region seeing explosive growth in summer visitation thanks to the cruise ship industry. While some consider cruises a threat to the ski bus…

liftblog.com

Eaglecrest Ski Area's New Gondola Arrives in Juneau, AK: Design Work Currently on Track - SnowBrains

Brought to you by Travel Juneau Letter from the GM – Gondola Update It has been quite the busy summer since the City Assembly allocated a total of $2.5 Million dollars for the purchase, transportation, and initial design of the Pulse Gondola from Austria. Back in April, as soon as the ski area...

snowbrains.com

Eaglecrest Details Gondola Proposal

Alaska’s Eaglecrest Ski Area would bring a first-of-its-kind gondola to North America under a plan spearheaded by General Manager Dave Scanlan. The pulse gondola, currently in service in Aust…

liftblog.com

 

[EMSC]

I honestly did not even want to look at any business model with a pulse gondola that the Austrians are throwing out. I guess a sucker is born every minute.

I've followed the project from a distance occasionally since it pretty much started. It has never made any sense whatsoever and screams of sucker born every minute.

The real problem at this point is that they have blown through more than $8M while not even having gotten 100% of the parts for the 30+ year old lift from Austria, and have completely blown any trust they ever had with the public for trying to get public funding. They should have signed up for a brand new gondola for ~$15M or so way back when they started. Based on the current lifts and infrastructure descriptions I've seen the $8M could have gone a LONG way to upgrading the place instead of being completely wasted.

Heck, imagine if Alterra had partnered with them and spent some of the wasted Deer Valley capital on a year round attraction, lol.

 

[Tony Crocker]

One of the links above mentioned that the Mt. Roberts tram I rode is overcrowded when cruise ships are in port now. The used pulse gondola is obviously a reaction to the skyrocketing prices and backlog orders from Leitner/Poma and Doppelmayr for new lifts. Stuart has had a couple of recent e-mails bemoaning this situation and its impact on the mom-and-pop places he likes.

Perhaps the pulse gondola has adequate capacity for the sightseeing cruisers. I've seen dumber proposals than this one, possibly the Deer Valley expansion among them.