Colorado has approved a 10-year, $300 million transportation plan that could make the drive to Vail, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain significantly safer - and eventually faster. The plan targets two critical sections of the I-70 Mountain Corridor, with $77 million earmarked for West Vail Pass alone. Combined with the ongoing Floyd Hill project, it's the most ambitious overhaul of one of North America's busiest ski corridors in recent memory. Here's what's changing and when.
A two-seater chairlift from 1981 is making way for a 10-person gondola in St. Johann in Tirol - and if you never rode the old Jodlalm double chair, you missed something. Construction is underway now, capacity jumps from a crawl to 2,400 people per hour, and the new gondola runs direct to the Harschbichl summit at 1,603m without a transfer. Opening planned for winter 2026-27. The chairs from the old lift were sold off - someone's getting a unique garden feature.
Golm occupies an interesting position in Austria's Montafon Valley - substantial vertical drop and legitimate terrain spread, but deliberately pitched at families and developing skiers. Whether that's a weakness or strength depends entirely on what you're after.
Willingen punches above its weight for a central German resort. With 260 vertical metres, extensive night skiing, and snowmaking across nearly every run, it's built for consistency rather than bragging rights.
The cable car into Mürren just got a serious upgrade. The Lauterbrunnen-Grütschalp aerial cableway has been fully renovated and reopens 11 July 2026 - new 135-person cabin (up from 100), new drive systems, new valley station layout with separated passenger flows, and an on-site energy storage system. After 478,500 passengers in 2025 alone, the capacity boost is well overdue.
An hour from Dortmund, Arnsberg offers something increasingly rare in European skiing - genuinely modest ambitions. With 9.5 kilometres of predominantly beginner terrain and €21 day tickets, this is skiing stripped back to essentials.
Timberline Lodge has scrapped its long-planned gondola project and is replacing it with something more skier-focused: two new chairlifts on the lower mountain, plus a new base lodge. The gondola was meant to physically connect Timberline and Summit Pass - acquired back in 2018 - but the resort has decided a lift-based solution better suits its long-term operations. Still needs Forest Service approval before anything gets built.
Zermatt's Matterhorn Ski Paradise is replacing the Patrullarve chairlift this summer - the oldest lift in the ski area, having operated since 1989. The replacement is a detachable six-seater built on Leitner's Ropera technology, targeting completion before the 2026-27 season. Construction is underway now in the Patrullarve-Sunnegga-Blauherd area.
Schilthornbahn AG has reported its best visitor numbers on record for the 2025 financial year, with a 21.9% increase over the previous year that surpassed the prior peaks of 2018 and 2019. The result is notable given the Schilthorn summit was closed for construction until mid-March 2025, cutting early-season visitors by 22%.
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