As the first snow of winter begins to settle in, Kimberley Alpine Resort has posted another update regarding the status of the rebuild project on their North Star Quad chairlift, which was destroyed by an arsonist at the beginning of last year’s ski season.
READ MORE: Fire that damaged Kimberley ski hill’s chairlift deemed arson: RCMP
The latest update from KAR states that the team has been making “great progress” and that the timeline for re-opening the chair, which is the main artery up Northstar Mountain, falls “within range” of the third week of December —the usual opening date of the resort.
The latest update, posted Oct. 7, said that all parts required for the project had arrived on time and that the Leitner-Poma repair crew had moved into Kimberley in September and had begun daily work.
This latest update, however, said that the lift manufacturer ran into some problems that necessitated additional electronic components to move forward with the repair. Those parts have been secured and are en route and the resort said they’ve been given a firm delivery date of the end of November.
The installation crews will then move back onto the site “within hours” of the parts’ arrival and resume their work.
KAR stated in their post that the manufacturer has reaffirmed their understanding of the importance of this project’s timely completion, as the Quad’s operation is critical to the smooth operation of the resort as a whole and the importance of the resort to Kimberley’s economy.
“There is a lot of excitement and optimism within our team for the upcoming ski season and we are in full preparation mode to get the resort ready for opening,” the resort said, adding that their snowmaking crews are gearing up to begin making snow, potentially as soon as Saturday, Nov. 5.
“We appreciate your excitement for getting the lift going soon and for the coming ski season, and look forward to providing further updates on the progress of the repair soon.”
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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