Schweitzer Ski Lift Will Remain Closed

Fri., March 8, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s detachable quad ski lift will remain closed until the middle of next week, the resort said Thursday.

Ski resorts from British Columbia to Sun Valley have stopped some of their four-person ski lifts for safety inspections, lengthening lift lines.

The shutdowns were ordered by Lift Engineering Ltd. of Carson City, Nev., which makes the lifts.

The “quad” lift at Schweitzer has been idle since last weekend, waiting to be inspected. Maintenance crews are working 24 hours a day to inspect the chairs, said Bill Mullane, spokesman for the Sandpoint resort.

The inspection should be finished by Friday, but it will take until sometime next week to get final approval of the inspection from the manufacturer.

Schweitzer will discount its lift tickets while the quad remains down, Mullane said in a release Thursday. All the resort’s five double chairs will give access to the entire mountain.

Sun Valley’s three quads went down last weekend for inspection, but two are running again, said Jack Sibbach, resort spokesman.

Crews there did find some tiny cracks in castings found within the grip portions of the chairs for its lifts. The cracked portions were replaced, and the lifts were certified safe by insurance companies and by the forest service, he said.

“We want to make sure that riding a ski lift is as safe an experience as possible,” he said.

All three of Sun Valley’s Lift Engineering quads were running again by Thursday.

With about a foot of new powder at the resort, having the quad running could help Schweitzer salvage what has become an underwhelming ski season.

, DataTimes

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