WHITEFISH - Skiers and boarders were rope evacuated from Chair 4 on Wednesdaydue to a mechanical issue.
Whitefish Mountain Resort dfficials say they hope to have the chairlift up and running in the next day or two.
“Lightening has struck a few times up here this season, unfortunately,” said Whitefish Mountain Resort spokesman Chad Sokol.
Sokol said the resort's brand-new six-pack chairlift stopped spinning due to a mechanical issue, and around 150 patrons had to be rope evacuated from the lift.
“Wish this didn’t happen, we know what the problems are and we’re working through them,” added Sokol.
Sokol said all patrons were brought down safely thanks to the expertise of the snow patrol and staff members.
The process includes climbing up the nearest chairlift tower and rigging a secure rope and seat together to lower individuals down safely.
“They’re trained for this, regularly, and these rope evacuations, they can appear dramatic, but they’re performed very safely and this one went very smoothy and efficiently, the vast majority of guests were you know in good spirits, a little cold,” said Sokol.
The rope evacuation from a chairlift is the second time in a little over a month at the resort, although the troubles occurred on two different chairlifts and are completely isolated mechanical issues.
“They’re all different issues, things we have identified, things we are working on, they’re all safe to ride, unfortunately, some of them do have paused operations occasionally and we’re working to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Sokol said resort staff is undergoing additional training on lift operations and troubleshooting.
“From start to finish the process took about three hours, again we know that’s a huge inconvenience for people who come up here to enjoy a day on the slopes, we’re working through it and trying to improve and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
