Work on schedule for new Big Mtn. chairlift

Construction work for the new Flower Point chairlift at Whitefish Mountain Resort has started and is on schedule to be completed in time for the 2014-2015 winter ski season.

A semi-truck load of chairs arrived last week from Kimberley Alpine Resort in British Columbia. The towers, sheaves and terminals will arrive later this summer.

The silver 1980s-era Yan fixed-grip triple chair was mostly used as a backup lift at Kimberley. Before that, it was used at Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia.

The new lift will be 3,400 feet long and haul 157 chairs at a capacity of 1,800 skiers per hour. The $1.4 million Flower Point project will add about 200 acres and 800 vertical feet of lift-served skiing to the resort.

The base terminal is being constructed above a Forest Service road used to access Chair 7. The top terminal will be constructed just below the summit of Flower Point.

Crews began pouring concrete last month for the base terminal and hope to finish concrete work for the top and bottom terminals and all of the towers before winter.

Trees will be cleared this summer to shape four new named trails and two connector trails that are expected to be intermediate level. The trails will be kept fairly narrow, with tree islands and feathered edges to maintain a natural feel.

Skiers will be able to access the new trails this coming winter from the top of T-bar 2 or by hiking outside of the patrolled area to the top of Flower Point.

The lift was purchased with more chairs than will be used for the Flower Point project. The extra chairs will be sold for $100 each, with proceeds going to the North Valley Food Bank.