Schweitzer Rushes Ski Lift Work Repairs Likely To Be Completed By Mid-December At The Latest

Work on Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s most important ski lift has progressed well as North Idaho’s biggest ski hill prepares for another season.

The resort shut down its “quad” lift - carrying four skiers in each chair - in March after discovering tiny cracks in the grip mechanisms that hold onto the chairs.

Dozens of other ski resorts in the West found similar problems with their quad lifts manufactured by Lift Engineering Inc. of Carson City, Nev.

Sun Valley Ski Resort opted to have its quads retrofitted by Doppelmayr USA, and Schweitzer chose to do the same at a cost of around $1 million.

The resort discounted daily lift tickets while the quad was down. Season pass prices have remained the same for the 1996-1997 ski season, with adult passes going for $650 a year.

Fixing the lift means rebuilding the top and bottom terminals, removing some of the equipment by helicopter, and getting new grips for each of the chairs, said Bob Hamilton, marketing director.

If all goes well, the lift will reopen between Nov. 28 and Dec. 15, with safety testing being the variable, Hamilton said.

“And that’s a conservative estimate,” he said. “Things are going pretty well.”

The timing is important for Schweitzer, which depends on the holiday weekends in December for a large share of its revenue.

Some regrading of ski runs and needed brush-cutting on the mountain were completed this summer, Hamilton said.

Skiers will notice the construction of a new building adjacent to the Day Lodge. The Schweitzer Arcade Building will house condominiums and stores, and will take about a dozen parking spaces out of service while it’s being built.

Schweitzer Mountain Bed and Breakfast will open Thanksgiving weekend, located to the south of the Green Gables Lodge behind the other condominiums that ring the mountain.

Georgia and George Nichols of Hayden Lake will live in the 5,000-square-foot facility year-round. The five-room Bavarianstyle B&B features a spacious loft, private baths and a hot tub. Nightly rates will range from $95-$165.

The Nichols retired in North Idaho in 1992 after working in California. “I cook, he skis,” Georgia Nichols said. “We’ve got a wonderful building.”

Long-range snow forecasts have ski resorts optimistic about the upcoming ski year after a dissapointing 1995-96 season.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Schweitzer Mountain Resort Ski Pass prices