Electrical issue closed lift, prompted transport from backside: SilverStar Mountain Resort

Electrical issue closed lift

Photo: SilverStar Mountain Resort

Powder Gulch seen on Star's webcam

UPDATE 4:33 p.m.

An electrical issue caused the Powder Gulch chairlift to close unexpectedly Tuesday morning, causing mountain-goers to require transport from the bottom of the backside of the mountain.

Ian Jenkins with SilverStar Mountain Resort confirmed the chair was closed at about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.

“Resort Operations was able to successfully unload all guests from the chairlift before closing it for maintenance,” said Jenkins in an email. “All Putnam Creek terrain was subsequently closed.”

Staff were deployed on snowmobiles and a passenger carrier snowcat, and snacks, hot chocolate and water were delivered to people at the bottom.

People stuck at the bottom of the chairlift were transported to the Home Run T-Bar by resort operations; Jenkins says transportation was prioritized by age and health issues.

The Silverwoods chair was closed to deploy needed staff for transportation.

The lift reopened at 1:10 p.m. to help with transporting guests.

“As always, our guest safety is our highest priority, and we took all precautionary measures necessary,” said Jenkins.

The issue is now resolved and Powder Gulch and all other chairlifts will open as scheduled tomorrow.”

Anyone involved in the situation is encouraged to reach out to Guest services.

ORIGINAL 3:08 p.m.

SilverStar Mountain Resort is helping guests out from the bottom of the backside chairlift, according to an alert on its webpage.

The resort closed the Powder Gulch Chair, and the Silverwoods Chair and terrain as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.

According to the alert it was to assist guests out from the bottom of the backside chairlift.

The resort recently updated the alert to simply notify guests that both chairs and both terrains are closed for the rest of the day.

The situation leading to the closure and requiring assistance remains unknown.

Castanet has reached out to SilverStar Mountain Resort for more information.