Big Sky Resort‘s Swift Current 6 chairlift, which was hit in an inbound avalanche on Wednesday, February 5, was able to continue operations after power was restored to the area on Thursday, February 6.
The dramatic slide in the Bone Crusher area led to a rope evacuation of seven resort employees that were on the lift at the time, though fortunately nobody was injured or caught in the avalanche.
“This morning’s events reinforce why we conduct thorough avalanche mitigation work before opening to the public. Our ski patrol and mountain operations teams executed their safety protocols while managing the situation professionally and efficiently.” –Tom Marshall, Big Sky GM
Though the closure of Swift Current 6 meant upper mountain terrain was more difficult to access, those who wanted to reach the are could do so by connecting from the Mountain Village from Explore to the Challenger lift or they could head to the Madison base area.
Upper mountain lifts were once again expected to be on a delayed opening due to mitigation efforts, but nearly every lift on the mountain is scheduled to open throughout the day. The Shedhorn lift, which NBC Montana reports was impacted by the avalanche, remains closed for maintenance.
