Resort to move idle Chair 5 to East Rim

Whitefish Mountain Resort on Friday announced a $1.2 million project to move Chair 5 to the East Rim to improve access for advanced and intermediate terrain.

The relocation of the now unused Chair 5 is expected to begin in April and be complete by the winter 2017-18 season.

Moving the lift will also offer skiers an alternate access to north side terrain and ease volume on Chair 1, as well as mitigate the traverse from the east side terrain along Russ’s Street back to Chair 1.

“We are pleased to continue what has been a decade of steady improvements at Whitefish Mountain Resort with the reposition of Chair 5 to better utilize our lift infrastructure and improve the guest experience as we celebrate our 70th anniversary,” Whitefish Mountain Resort CEO Dan Graves said in a prepared release. “The East Rim Chair will create a stand-alone pod of skiing in the North Bowl and East Rim areas where our guests can take advantage of early and late season ski conditions found on the upper mountain. The lift’s new location also will spread skiers out across the resort alleviating congestion on Russ’s Street including the upper section commonly called the Ant Hill.”

Next season marks the resort’s 70th anniversary. It will also be 10 years since Big Mountain became Whitefish Mountain Resort.

The bottom terminal of Chair 5 will be located near the intersection of Russ’s Street and Moe-Mentum, and the top terminal will be west of Don’s Descent on the East Rim. Moving the lift will also allow access from the unloading terminal to Chair 7, the Flower Point Chair and T-Bar 2.

It is also expected to alleviate skier congestions at Chair 1, as well as at the summit, often referred to as Ant hill, due to skier congestion.

During the relocation, Chair 5 will see improvements like a new electric motor, braking system, hydraulic tension system and a rebuild of the gear box and restraining bars for chairs.

Chair 5 has not operated since the 2014-15 season and has seen minimal use since the 1990s.

Chair 5 was first installed in 1981 at the cost of $500,000. At the time, it added access to the summit which was then served only by the original Chair 1, but as the resort added chairlifts and terrain on the North Side and Hellroaring Basin, ridership on Chair 5 diminished.

The resort has done similar relocations before, moving Chair 7 to Hellroaring Basin in 1997 and Chair 1 to Chair 2 in 20017.

The chair is set to operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The chair has an 814-foot vertical rise, has a length of 2,540 feet and a capacity of 1,600 users per hour.

Skytrac will be responsible for the move.