49° North: Silver Load Chair 4 To Close For Season
After significant deliberation, 49 Degrees North Ski Area has decided to close Chair 4, Silver Load, for the remainder of the 2018-2019 season. Due to record breaking snowfall the staff at 49 Degree North Ski Area is running at max capacity to keep the resort functional and is unable to safely engage in the repairs to the lift or acquire the part for repair at this time.
“With this season’s record-breaking snowfall, the staff at 49 Degrees North Ski Area is running at maximum capacity to provide the best possible experience for our guests, and to keep the resort functioning as safely and efficiently as possible,” 49 Degrees North owner John Eminger said.
The required fix, the replacement of the Waldron Shaft Coupler Hub, requires building a new coupler hub. This is a 12 week manufactoring process. Each coupüler is unique to a chair lift. Repairs will entail lifting the bull wheel 18“ to 24“ which requires the rope to be removed from the bull whell to make the repair; this is an all hands evolution.
Chair 5 and 6. Sunrise Quad and Angel Peak, will be moved into a more aggressive operational schedule for this spring season. Spring skiiing and riding on Angel Peak and Chair 6 will be a new experience for many customers.
After talking to the lift manufacturer about the lift failure, it is clear there is no human effect i.e. jumping from the lift or a maintenance schedule that may have caused the shaft coupler hub to fail. Shaft coupler hubs are known to Riblet, the manufacturer, to fail but it is not a common event.
In lift of this, the ski area will not engage in repair until the season is complete. Time will be used to order the correct parts and build this tepair into the summer maintenance schedule. Chair 4, Silver Load, will return to its normal operational tempo for the 2019/2020 winter season.
