Doppelmayr USA

Image:CTEC chairlift 2007.jpg, Montana]]

CTEC, which stands for Cable Transportation Engineering Company, was the successor to Thiokol, a company which built 41 ski lifts between 1971 and 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_survey.htm|title=North American Chairlift Installation Survey

|accessdate=16 June 2018}} By 1977, Thiokol had decided to stop producing ski lifts and sold their designs to two employees, Jan Leonard and Mark Ballantyne.{{cite web|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/chairlift_manufacturers_ctec.htm|title=CTEC Inc.|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

CTEC's first lift produced as an independent manufacturer was at Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Pennsylvania, in 1978.{{cite web|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_na1978.htm|title=1978 Chairlift Installations - North America|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}} Leonard oversaw engineering at the company's Salt Lake City facility while manufacturing was performed in Sacramento, California, where Ballantyne worked. CTEC slowly grew to become one of three major lift manufacturers in North America along with European-owned Doppelmayr USA and Poma of America. In 1989, CTEC partnered with Von Roll to build its first detachable chairlift at Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah.{{cite web|title=1989 Chairlift Installations - North America|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_na1989.htm|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

From 1990 onwards, CTEC used detachable grips built by the Swiss company Garaventa. In 1992, CTEC and Garaventa merged and the new company was named Garaventa CTEC. Prior to the merger, Garaventa had built only a few lifts in North America, including Aerial Trams at Snowbird, Utah, and Palisades Tahoe, California. The combined company utilized the designs and manufacturing facilities of CTEC since Garaventa never had much of a presence in North America besides supplying parts to CTEC. CTEC's growing reputation combined with the European ownership and parts supply of Garaventa allowed it to win contracts for large lifts such as the Gold Coast Funitel at Palisades Tahoe, California, gondolas at Telluride Ski Resort and Vail Ski Resort, and Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in Colorado, and Deer Valley, Utah.{{cite web|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_na.htm|title=Lift Construction Survey - North America|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

Doppelmayr was a world-renowned Austrian ropeway manufacturer that began exporting surface lifts to North America in the 1950s under the name "Alpine Lift." The first Doppelmayr chairlift in North America was installed at Marmot Basin, Alberta, in 1968.{{cite web|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_na1968.htm#canada|title=Canada|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}} Doppelmayr's first North American manufacturing facility in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, opened in 1978.

Unlike its competitors, Doppelmayr used exclusively European designs in North America. The company built the world's first detachable high speed quad chairlift in 1981 at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado.{{cite web|title=1982 Chairlift Installations - North America|url=http://www.skilifts.org/old/install_na1982.htm|website=Skilifts.org|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

In 1996, Doppelmayr's European holding company purchased the ropeway department of Von Roll, a Swiss manufacturer which had been making lifts in North America since the mid-1980s. Von Roll owned Hall Ski-Lift, an American company that produced more than 400 lifts from 1960 to 1985. Doppelmayr now controlled all the spare parts sales for Doppelmayr, Von Roll, and Hall brand lifts.

Image:Doppelmayr CTEC Detachable Chairlift 2006.JPG

File:MountaintopExpress Vail.JPG, Colorado, a typical Doppelmayr Uni-G model high-speed six-pack, built in 2013]]

In 2002, Garaventa of Switzerland merged with Doppelmayr of Austria, forming the world's largest aerial lift manufacturer. The new company would be known as the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in Europe and Doppelmayr CTEC in North America.{{cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-120873139/merger-leaves-world-just.html|work=The Denver Post|author=Blevins, Jason|title=Merger Leaves World with Just Two Major Ski-Lift Manufacturers|date=23 August 2001}}

Starting in 2003, Doppelmayr CTEC produced a new line of products that combined the best designs of Doppelmayr and CTEC. The Uni-GS detachable chairlift terminal design was specifically designed for the North American market and incorporated elements of Garaventa CTEC's Stealth line and Doppelmayr's Uni line. Many of CTEC's fixed-grip designs were kept. Today, manufacturing of fixed-grip chairlift terminals and all tower tubes and chairs is done at Doppelmayr CTEC's Salt Lake City factory, while all line equipment and detachable terminals are made in the Quebec plant.{{cite web |url=http://www.doppelmayrctec.com/ |title=Home |website=doppelmayrctec.com}}

File:Quicksilver Gondola Angle.jpg

In 2003, the company installed its first UNI-GS detachable chairlift, the Panorama Quad, at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire.{{cite web |url=https://www.gunstock.com/discover/map/ |title=Trail Map |website=www.gunstock.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530002300/http://www.gunstock.com/discover/map/ |archive-date=2012-05-30}}

In 2003, the company was selected to design, fabricate, install and maintain the Portland Aerial Tram at a cost of $57 million.{{cite news|url=http://www.portlandtram.org/news_item/Tram_History.htm|title=Portland Aerial Tram History|accessdate=22 April 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722111121/http://www.portlandtram.org/news_item/Tram_History.htm|archivedate=22 July 2009|df=dmy-all}}

In 2005, the company purchased Partek, a small chairlift manufacturer based in Pine Island, New York. Also included in the purchase were Partek's rights to Borvig lifts.{{cite news|url=http://www.saminfo.com/headline-news/5916-4432-620-and-then-there-were-two|title=And Then There Were Two|publisher=Ski Area Management|date=25 January 2005|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

Jan Leonard stepped down as president of the company in October 2007 to start a new company, Skytrac Lifts. He was replaced by VP Mark Bee.{{cite news|url=http://www.saminfo.com/headline-news/6550-5074-788-doppelmayr-ctec-president-jan-leonard-moving-on|title=Doppelmayr CTEC President Jan Leonard, Moving on|publisher=Ski Area Management|date=2 October 2007|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

In 2007 and 2008, Doppelmayr CTEC constructed two notable lifts at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia. The new tram at Jackson Hole cost $31 million and replaced the iconic original Jackson Hole Tram.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/travel/escapes/30ski.html|author=Olsson, Helen|title=Sleek New Rides Up the Slopes|work=The New York Times|date=29 January 2009|accessdate=16 June 2018}} Whistler-Blackcomb's Peak 2 Peak Gondola is the largest lift of its kind in the world, breaking multiple world records and costing CDN $52 million.{{cite news|url=https://freeskier.com/stories/whistler-blackcomb-peak-2-peak-gondola-launching-december-12|author=Williams, Shay|title=Whistler Blackcomb Peak 2 Peak Gondola to Launch Friday, December 12|website=Freeksier.com|date=10 December 2008|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

File:Pucci lift.jpg

In February 2021, the new Pucci chairlift which went into service in 2020/2021 season at the Timberline Lodge ski area in Mount Hood, Oregon furnished by Doppelmayr USA{{Cite web|title=News From The Mountain|url=https://timberlinemountain.com/shop/news-from-the-mountain/|access-date=2021-03-02|website=TimberlineMountain|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=Dec 12, 2020|title=Mt. Hood National Forest - Timberline Lodge & Ski Area|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mthood/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=53626&actid=89|publisher=USDA Forest Service}} broke down due to an electronic failure{{Citation|title=Timberline ski patrol, staff used rope evacuation to rescue 42 people stuck on broken ski lift| date=March 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03A_pTC01xU|language=en|access-date=2021-03-02}} causing 42 people to become stranded. The Doppelmayr USA chairlift's auxiliary motor failed to bring down the passengers stranded and they had to be rescued with ropes.{{Cite web|last=Oregonian/OregonLive|first=Maxine Bernstein {{!}} The|date=2021-02-28|title=Timberline ski patrol, staff used rope evacuation to rescue 42 people stuck on broken ski lift|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2021/02/timberline-ski-patrol-staff-used-rope-evacuation-to-rescue-42-people-stuck-on-broken-ski-lift.html|access-date=2021-03-02|website=oregonlive|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Prewitt|first=Andi|date=March 1, 2021|title=Timberline Ski Area Staff Had to Evacuate More Than 40 People From a Lift Using Ropes This Weekend|url=https://www.wweek.com/outdoors/2021/03/01/timberline-ski-area-staff-had-to-evacuate-more-than-40-people-from-a-lift-using-ropes-this-weekend/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302003653/https://www.wweek.com/outdoors/2021/03/01/timberline-ski-area-staff-had-to-evacuate-more-than-40-people-from-a-lift-using-ropes-this-weekend/ |archive-date=2021-03-02 }}

• List of aerial lift manufacturers

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03A_pTC01xU The Oregonian video of people being rescued from broken down Doppelmayr chairlift]

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Category:Aerial lift manufacturers

Category:Manufacturing companies based in Salt Lake City

Category:2002 establishments in Utah

Category:American subsidiaries of foreign companies

Category:Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group