Slump closes Big Mountain's main chairlift

Excessive moisture this spring is being blamed for a significant ground slump around a tower on Chair 1 at Whitefish Mountain Resort. The scenic lift will be closed indefinitely until the safety issue is resolved, resort spokesperson Riley Polumbus said.

Lift crews first noticed the slumping about 25 feet above tower six on the detachable quad lift on Saturday, the resort's opening day. The lift ran for the entire day without incident while crews monitored the area.

Crews placed flags around the area that afternoon. When they returned on Sunday morning, they noticed the flags had moved and the slump had grown.

A visual inspection showed the tower to be leaning about four inches. Chairs and gondola cars were removed in order to release tension on the lift cable. Crews then tied back and secured the tower.

"We were on top of it from the get go," Polumbus said.

The lift manufacturer, a hydrologist and a soil engineer have been contacted. A helicopter will arrive this week to remove the tower.

"We'll be putting all necessary resources toward assessing the situation, finding a solution and getting our scenic lift up and running as soon as the lift is back to engineering standards," resort CEO Dan Graves said. "Our main concern is for the safety of our customers and employees."

All hiking and mountain biking trails under Chair 1 are closed until further notice. That includes the Danny On Trail and upper sections of the Go Fish and Gopher biking trails. The Summit House at the top of Chair 1 is also closed.

Despite the lift closing and soggy weather, the resort posted good numbers on opening day.

The zipline "was really jamming," Polumbus said, with 118 visitors over the weekend. Walk in the Tree Tops had about 34 visitors, and the scenic lift ride took 117 people to the summit on Saturday.

The popular alpine slide never opened due to the rain. The resort is looking into alternative activities while the scenic lift ride is shut down.