Enfield, New Hampshire — It was a disappointing end to the season at Whaleback. A gearbox failure resulted in the closure of the Summit Chairlift for the last couple weeks of the ski season. The ski area started a $250,000 fundraiser to make repairs to the chairlift, and many stepped up. This included Killington, which donated proceeds from its closing day tickets to Whaleback. Ultimately, Whaleback surpassed its fundraising goal for the project, and work is now underway.
Last month, Whaleback Mountain began work on a project aimed at reviving the chairlift. The plan is to remove the gearbox, replace the bearings inside of it, and then put it all back together again. To accomplish this, several steps are required: removing the roof from the lift building, removing the cable from the bull wheel, bringing in a crane to remove the bull wheel from the lift, removing the gearbox with a crane, and then sending it to a specialist for repair. That repair is expected to take 8-10 weeks.
Yesterday, Whaleback showed crews removing the roof from the base terminal. So based on the above to-do list, the process is well underway.
The goal of this project is to keep the Summit Chair going for the next two to three seasons, while work continues on planning for its successor. Work will continue throughout this summer on the chairlift repair project. In addition, construction on the surface lift that will service the race trail and terrain park is close to completion.
In the meantime, Whaelabck is hosting events with food and live music each Friday night this summer.
Image/Video Credits: Whaleback Mountain
