Chair 2 down for holiday ski rush

The busiest week of the ski season is upon Whitefish Mountain Resort and a major lift – the Chair 2 Swift Creek Express – will be closed due to unfinished maintenance upgrades. 

During the day, all of Chair 2’s terrain will be accessible from the summit except for Swift Creek. Chairs 6 and 3 and T-bar 1 will operate for night skiing during the holidays. 

Visits peak during the stretch between Christmas and New Year's Eve, with more than 8,500 skiers hitting the slopes on the busiest days.

An exact reopening of Chair 2 has not been determined. Skiers may see Chair 2 spinning as tests are run this week.

The modernization of Chair 2 began last summer, but work has taken longer than expected, resort officials said last week. 

The resort had initially planned to open Chair 2 as soon as snow conditions in that area would permit.  

“We certainly did not intend for this project to encroach into the ski season, but we're committed to getting it done correctly despite supply chain disruptions and other challenges that come with retrofitting an older chair lift,” said Chad Sokol, resort spokesperson. 

Chair 2 is from the late 1980's and has been in its current location on the mountain since 2007. It is a Dopplemayr high-speed quad and the project involves upgrading internal systems, so the towers and terminals are not changing. 

The maintenance has been a long time coming with the resort announcing in 2023 that it needed to be updated. 

Now that the project has come about, it is “actually quite complex and has been challenging for a number of reasons, including delayed parts shipments and scheduling difficulties,” Whitefish Mountain Resort President Nick Polumbus stated in a letter to passholders on Saturday.  

“Our lift mechanics have been devoted to this project for months, replacing and upgrading numerous internal systems and components. The work is nearing completion, and the lift manufacturer has sent in its own engineers as well as a contractor to see it across the finish line.  

The resort’s Santa gift giveaway and torchlight parade on Christmas Eve will take place at the Base Lodge and on Chipmunk, the slope under Chair 6.