8 Lift and Terrain Additions We’re Stoked About For 2025-'26

Are we really skiers if we’re not spending the off season obsessing over next winter’s biggest resort upgrades and additions?

(Photo: Purgatory Mountain/Christian Ridings)

Samantha Berman

Updated September 5, 2025 09:38AM

With winter’s first flake imminent, it’s prime trip-planning season. We skiers can be creatures of habit, but sometimes it’s nice to widen our universe a bit and check out someplace new. No time like the present, no?

If you need a good reason, there are dozens of new and upgraded lifts going in next winter, plus some significant terrain expansions planned at ski areas throughout North America. We rounded up some of the ones we’re most looking forward to, and shared some details about each one below. Just a little something to inspire you to explore some new territory this season.

8 Resort Upgrades Coming to the Slopes This Season

Deer Valley, Utah

East Village Express Gondola

Just down the road from Park City, Deer Valley is busy erecting several new lifts this summer that will service a whopping 3,700 acres of new terrain in the East Village development. The crown jewel of the project is the East Village Express Gondola, a 10-passenger gondy that will run from the base of the new East Village base to the top of Park Peak. It will ferry skiers to a mix of beginner- through expert runs. Another six lifts are part of the resort’s massive expansion, including the Pinyon Express, also serving the Park Peak terrain, and the Galena Express, providing skiers access to runs on the resort’s eastern border.

These lifts join the three that debuted last season, making it 10 new chairlifts for Deer Valley since the fall of 2024. The resort has more than doubled its skiable acres and added an entire new base village with hotels, dining, and skier amenities.

Killington Resort, Vt.

Superstar Express

Snowy runs shot from parking lot at Killington. — The old Superstar lift had a starring role in Killington’s spring skiing scene. (Photo: Courtesy of Killington Resort)

The Vermont resort is replacing its Superstar quad with a high-speed six-person chair this summer. Though it won’t have a bubble like the Snowdon Six, it will be a heavier chair from Doppelmayr that’s more easily able to withstand windy conditions. The lift serves the Stifel World Cup course that’s held at Killington in November every year. The resort is hoping the construction will be done in time, and that the 2025 race can go on as planned.

The $12 million Superstar upgrade is part of an overall $30 million capital improvement project taking place over the next two seasons.

Park City Resort, Utah

Sunrise Gondola

The 6,500-foot, 10-person gondola will replace the old Sunrise triple, and transport skiers from the Canyons base to mid-mountain. The new gondola will greatly increase capacity, cutting down wait times and congestion in the Canyons base area and helping to quickly move skiers up and onto the slopes. It will also be able to operate on windy days, when the old chair was often subjected to wind holds.

Aspen Snowmass, Colo.

Elk Camp High-Speed Six-Pack

"None" — The Elk Camp area has been an ideal spot for families to explore. (Photo: Courtesy of Aspen Skiing Co,)

The current Elk Camp quad will be replaced with a high-speed six-person lift for the coming winter, which will increase capacity to the intermediate terrain in the Elk Camp area. This chair is also used heavily in the summer as a bike haul, and the upgrade will double the number of bikes it can carry.

Purgatory Mountain Resort, Colo.

Gelande Triple and new terrain

The southern Colorado resort is building a new lift this summer and developing five new runs and trail connectors to accompany it. The new Gelande triple will expand advanced and expert skiable acres on the frontside of the mountain as well as provide another way for skiers to get to the summit without having to go through the Columbine and Village bases.

Wachusett Mountain, Mass.

Polar Express

Sunrise at Wachusett — Wachusett’s Polar Express has been hauling skiers to the summit for three decades. (Photo: Courtesy of Wachusett/Andrew Santoro)

Wachusett’s 30-year-old lift is getting an upgrade for the 2025-26 season when it reopens as a high-speed six-pack. The ski area’s oldest lift has been ferrying skiers to the summit since 1994. The new lift will have the ability to increase skier capacity, but it won’t run at full speed on certain days to avoid overcrowding. The new Polar Express will also have automatic restraint bars that lock for the duration of the ride.

Loon Mountain, N.H.

Pulse Gondola

Debuting the first of its kind in New England, Loon’s pulse gondola will connect two base areas and provide transportation over the East Branch Pemigewasset River. While it won’t directly serve any ski terrain, the new lift will make it easier for skiers to navigate the resort and provide better access to Loon’s newly expanded South Peak terrain and Timbertown Quad chair.

Big Sky, Mont.

Explorer Gondola

Big Sky Explorer double — Big Sky’s fixed-grip double will be replaced with a two-stage gondola for 2025-’26. (Photo: Courtesy of Big Sky Resort)

Big Sky continues its march toward having the most modern lift system in North America as it replaces its circa-1973 Explorer double chair with a two-stage gondola. The new 10-passenger gondola will run from the village to the base of the Lone Peak Tram, offering better access to the Explorer and Swift Current terrain along the way. When completed next season, the new ride will be able to carry an impressive 3,200 skiers per hour.

Samantha Berman

Samantha Berman is SKI’s travel and resorts editor. Since joining the editorial team in 2003, Sam has helped mold the direction of the brand’s travel coverage, sharing her years of experience visiting ski resorts and mountain towns across North America, the Alps, and beyond. She also spearheads SKI's annual Reader Resort Survey and oversees the resulting Resort Guide rankings and coverage that comes out every fall. Growing up in an East Coast ski family, Sam cherished family time with her mother, father, and two brothers at resorts in New York and Vermont, and has successfully passed her love of the sport down to her three sons, all of whom are avid skiers. Now living in Denver, Colo., she spends weekends skiing the resorts of Colorado’s Front Range, learning new things about the region’s most-visited resorts and sharing them with SKI’s readers. Follow her coverage for inside intel on where to ski, stay, eat, après, and more at resorts across the globe.

View profile