Skiers stranded after Whitefish Mountain Resort chairlift breaks down

Whitefish Mountain Resort’s Chair 1, otherwise known as “Big Mountain Express,” broke down Wednesday, leaving skiers stranded for several hours as crews evacuated them chair by chair.

Big Mountain Express is one of the resort’s largest and most heavily trafficked chairlifts, bringing skiers around 1,800 feet up to the summit from the resort’s southern side. A normal trip up the lift takes about eight minutes.

Chair 2, “Swift Creek Express,” was out of operation all day as well, according to resort spokesperson Chad Sokol.

Sokol could not immediately give a reason for the breakdowns.

“This happens occasionally with all chairlifts, but today we’ve had more than one go down,” wrote Sokol in an email.

Sokol pointed out that the disruptions didn’t affect other lifts, and that Chairs 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 were running most of the day.

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or aknowler@dailyinterlake.com.