Two of our postponed events (due to our chairlift issues) have been rescheduled.
Freestyle Friday, sponsored by Medium Control, is rescheduled for Friday, February 21st. School is out and we are open for day hours that day, so registration is noon-1pm with an event start of 1:15. The event was originally scheduled for 2/7.
The Husky Hustle, sponsored by the Grand Avenue Vet Clinic, is rescheduled for March 1st. The event was originally schedule for 2/9.
We are working on repairs to our chairlift related to the issue that came up yesterday (see previous post). We will send out an update through our email list and post here once we are able to determine if we can open tonight. It is our goal to be open. We will not know for sure until 2pm or later, and the final word could come close to the opening time of 4:30. If you are not yet on our email list, look for the “subscribe now” box on the right hand side of any page of our web site. Once subscribing, be sure to look for the confirmation email that will be sent to you and accept!
Chester Bowl is closed today, Thursday, February 13th.
We have had a string of bad luck with our chairlift recently. Our electrical issue that kept us from opening last week is resolved. Unfortunately, when we were starting the lift today we had a second and unrelated issue come up that is preventing us from being able to open.
We have a lift technician coming tomorrow morning to work with us on fixing the problem. You can expect to see an email tomorrow some time after noon along with a web post with an update on the lift status and whether we will be able to open on Friday.
We sincerely apologize for these lift issues, and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Chester Bowl is open daily, 11:00am-4:30pm, during February Break Week, 2/17-2/21. Spend your break with us! Please note that we are NOT open during evening hours that week, and that we ARE open on Tuesday and Wednesday, even though those are days we are usually closed.
We are back open! We have repaired our chairlift, and will be open Monday, February 10, from 4:30-8:30pm. We will not be open on Tuesday or Wednesday as part of our normal schedule, but will be open again on Thursday evening.
Thank you all for your patience as we worked to isolate and repair the problem. Here is the short version of what happened:
Chairlifts have an electrical safety circuit throughout the lift. If someone struggles getting on to the chairlift or falls getting off, the lift operator hits the Stop button. This opens the electrical circuit and stops the lift. There are also many safety switches throughout the chairlift. If there is a mechanical problem, it will trigger the safety switch, open the circuit, and stop the lift. Our issue is that the lift was stopping without being triggered by staff or a mechanical issue. We knew the problem was within the electrical system or the safety circuit, but it is very difficult to troubleshoot. After discovering the issue last Monday, we thought we had isolated and repaired it on Tuesday and Wednesday. About an hour after opening on Thursday, the unexplained stops started up again and caused us to close for the weekend to keep working on it. Thanks to the help of Luke Meints (City Electrician), Mark Hoffman (Spirit Mountain Lift Technician), and Ian Koivisto (Mont Du Lac Lift Technician) we were able to find and repair the area that was causing the stops. After the repairs, we were able to run the lift today for several hours without any issues, allowing us to open tonight.
Come celebrate with us tonight by skiing and snowboarding at Chester Bowl!
We will reschedule the Freestyle Friday and Sunday Race that had to be postponed from this weekend, but do not have dates set yet. Please watch your emails for updates.
If you see any of our partners with the City Facilities Maintenance Department, Spirit Mountain, and Mont Du Lac, please thank them for their support.
If any problems do resurface this evening, we will immediately post to www.chesterbowl.org.
Thank you for your patience and support, Dave & Sam