LIFT STATUS
Our main chairlift to the summit is still down…..But we are not giving up on it. We are working to get you to the top soon! We wish we could give you a completion date, but at this time that is still unknown. There are many obstacles to overcome. At this time the Holiday Mountain gearbox has been installed and our team with the help of dedicated contractors and engineers are working hard to get it spinning agin.
This page will be updated periodically when new information is available.
Please direct any questions to board@whaleback.com
Related Information
Letter to Community, October 20, 2025
Timeline
Feb 27 - Noise in the lift machinery
Mountain Ops team identified gearbox bearing failure as the source and made the decision to shut down the chairlift in order to avoid a catastrophic failure.
Feb 28 - Pfister Mountain Services came to Whaleback to evaluate the lift
Pfister Mountain Services evaluation confirmed the following:
The bearings in the gearbox need replacement.
Replacing the bearing requires removal and rebuilding of the gearbox.
This will require the following:
Remove roof from lift building
Remove cable from bull wheel
Bring in crane to remove bullwheel from lift
Remove gearbox with crane
Send to specialist company for rebuilding, expected to take 8-10 weeks
This work is on schedule with Pfister Mountain Services for July.
March 11 - SkyTrac Lifts met with Jon Hunt, and several board members to assess the current situation and discuss options for modernizing the chairlift.
Previously considered option of staged replacement is not feasible given incompatibility with current and newer lifts.
New replacement lift estimated cost $3-4 million
March 12 - Email sent to the community announcing the situation to the Whaleback community
The recommendation is to make critical repairs to the existing lift needed to provide top to bottom skiing for the next 2-3 seasons.