Bromont - Launch of new Altitude investment project - Hybrid lift

[Shane]

Bromont has just announced their Altitude investment project, with a video highlighting the new summit lodge, as well as the new lift that will be installed to replace the #4 lift on Versant du Village. After earlier discussions that the lift would be a six-passenger chairlift, it is now announced that it will be a 6-passenger chairlift / 8-passenger gondola Hybrid lift. In total, more than $25 million in improvements.

More water slides and zip lines are also shown in the promotional video. Also mentioned are improvements to the main chalet on Versant du Village and to the one on Versant du Lac.

The new waterslide will open in June this year. The new lift will be built by Doppelmayr and open in time for the next ski season 2018-19. The summit chalet will start construction this fall to open the following ski season 2019-20. 

Here is the official press release on the announcement.

https://www.slopeedge.net/content/investments-of-more-than-25-million-at-the-ski-resort-bromont-montagne-d-experiences

[Paul]

I was out at the Bromont Flea Market today and got a couple of shots of the mountain. The snow is pretty much done but I took a super zoom with my camera of the summit and you'll notice the crane at the top getting ready to take down the upper terminal of the Quad. The towers are still in place for the time being and the cable is off the line. 

[Shane]

Nice pictures Paul.

Looks like things are progressing well so far. The drive section of the summit terminal appears gone already. I'm sure the Bromont maintenance department won't miss that lift.

Thanks for the photos. I'm disappointing that their webcams are offline, which would have given a great view of the base terminal and what's going on there.

[Paul]

Here are some update photos from today of the summit at Bromont while at the Flea Market. Pretty amazing difference in about a month. At the Flea Market by the Autoroute, you are still a good 2 to 3 miles away to the summit. These were taken with my Canon SX-510 HS point and shoot camera with a ridiculous zoom on it. 30x optical zoom and these were taken at 60 to 75x digital zoom. 

 

[Shane]

Those are great pics Paul. Thanks for sharing them.

They really are following through with their plan to level the summit area, which I find is a good idea. It was always awkward to arrive on one lift and have to loop around like you were on a different step or floor than the other lifts, so it will be good to have it smoothed out finally. Plus I'm sure they need to rework the summit to accommodate the future summit chalet as well.

[Shane]

Bromont just had a media event to announce the launch of Phase 2 of the Altitude project. Shown on instagram, they have an image that mentions $100 million in investments. More details to follow but here’s the press release on CNW in French. 

https://www.newswire.ca/fr/news-releases/bonification-de-loffre-touristique-du-quebec---un-projet-de-pres-de-76-m-pour-le-developpement-et-la-modernisation-de-bromont-montagne-dexperiences-689907631.html

This second phase of development at Bromont promises an enlargement of the welcome, arrivals and mountain access areas and services on the Versant du Village, as well as the addition of new activites that will enrich the four seasons offerings.

[Shane]

Bromont have announced the name of the new lift : L'Express du Village.

Here are some stats on the new L'Express du Village lift as provided by Bromont.

• Capacity of 3220 people per hour.
• 72 - 6 passenger chairs.
• 18 - 8 passenger gondola cabins
• 4 chairs separate each gondola cabin
• 4 minutes 25 seconds to reach the summit, which is a reduction of 55 seconds from the old lift.

For comparison with the old #4 Versant du Village lift being replaced:

• Capacity of 2400 people per hour.
• 108 - 4 passenger chairs.
• 5 minutes 21 seconds to reach the summit.

[Paul]

Here is a shot of the summit of the mountain taken Sunday September 23, 2018 from the Bromont Flea Market site. Work is progressing. 

 

[Shane]

Penseur on Remontees-Mecaniques.net has posted some pictures of the current progress of the new lift.

You can find them here: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12714&view=findpost&p=302197

From the pictures, the bottom terminal is going up, and the enclosure shell for it should be up in a matter of a week or so I would guess. Farther up the line, the towers don't seem to be installed yet. We don't see the summit terminal and it may well be more advanced. If so, it would be more or less around the same point progress wise as the Lowell Thomas at Tremblant.

[Paul]

I drove by Bromont today on the way to a family party and it looks like the top terminal is going up. I saw some activity up there since the last time I was in Bromont at the flea market. No pics though. Too cloudy to get a decent zoom in shot of it.

[Shane]

Two weeks ago Bromont posted a construction update video. It shows the new lift going in, the summit and new summit chalet foundations, improvements to some trails (grading and widening) among other things. Its short and sweet, worth watching. Needless to say, the new summit chalet will have a great view of the region.

Important to remember, the new hybrid lift will open this year, the summit chalet will only open the following season.

 

[Shane]

Here are some screenshots from the Summit webcam. You can clearly see how the top has been greatly flattened from before. The new Hybrid lift and the Versant du Lac quad are now at the same level. Wonder if they will bring the top of the fixed grip Versant du Village quad closer to this area, as it still is a touch downhill from the actual summit and the other two lifts.

[Ocean]

I guess we'll find out soon! I plan to visit later this week

[Shane]

Here's two more pictures from just moments ago.

[Shane]

The chairs and most gondola cabins appear to be on the line now. Some left to load.

Bromont is aiming to open the new Express du Village lift slightly before Christmas. That gives them another week to finish it up. Today being Saturday, I was checking the webcam and there were people working on the lift and loading more chairs and cabins.

[Shane]

Bromont held the official inauguration ceremony of the new Express du Village hybrid lift today. After 8 months of work, the lift is finally ready. It will open this coming Sunday at 8:30am to the delight of all skiers and snowboarders.

Here are some photos and video from Bromont's Facebook page from the inauguration. (Credit Bromont facebook page)

Here's a recap of some stats on the lift, compared to the old detachable quad it replaces.

The new L'Express du Village lift.

• Capacity of 3220 people per hour.
• 72 - 6 passenger chairs.
• 18 - 8 passenger gondola cabins
• 4 chairs separate each gondola cabin
• 4 minutes 25 seconds to reach the summit, which is a reduction of 55 seconds from the old lift.

For comparison with the old #4 Versant du Village lift being replaced:

• Capacity of 2400 people per hour.
• 108 - 4 passenger chairs.
• 5 minutes 21 seconds to reach the summit.

You can read the official news release here : https://www.slopeedge.net/content/inauguration-of-the-new-chairlift-l-express-du-village-at-bromont

And here are some photos from the webcam today, first the morning and then the evening.

Don't forget... just to the side of this new lift... a summit chalet will rise for the following ski season. Big changes at Bromont to come over the next years, this is only the start!

[Ocean]

Update: so apparently the Chondola opened, and then promptly closed due to some issue. It was "indefinitely" closed but is now reopened. Perhaps a trip is in order

[Shane]

Seems like the new lift has been running into some issues. Again it is closed now for the past couple days. Not sure what is going on, hoping they can get things working at 100% soon.

It doesn't need to be said that this is the most advanced lift in Quebec, and as such it is a complicated piece of machinery and pieces that operate at a very specific timing and speed. I don't doubt it will be reliable very soon, but it is something that takes time to achieve.

[Ocean]

Yeah my friend was there the other night and she said people were stuck on it for 1.5 hours!!!! And that night was cold, but at least not cold like tonight. Imagine being stuck on the chair in this weather, ick. I'm sure it'll get sorted. I honestly expected some lift glitches which is perhaps why I haven't hightailed it out to Bromont to activate my pass yet. I had honestly planned to avoid the chodola altogether and stick to the super slow old lift, it's always a nice ride anyways.

[Shane]

L’Express du Village is now reopened.