Mount Sima ski hill saved by fundraising efforts

A concerted effort to raise money for the troubled ski hill has worked, as news came out Tuesday that Whitehorse ski hill Mount Sima willopen this season. After months of uncertainty a decision about opening the MountSimaski hill has now been made.

At a press conference at noon local time on Tuesday, a group calledFriends of MountSimadelivered the news that it had come up with more than $200,000 through fundraising and advanced salesof season's passes enough to open the ski resort for a year.

Fundraising efforts

"It is a beautiful day outside and it is a great day for us to be able to announce that MountSimawill be open this year," Friends of Mount Sima board presidentLaurie Henderson said. "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we could not have done this without significant support from the Whitehorse community."

The board says it is now in a better position than any previous season with over half of the operating budget in place before the hill opens.

That's a far cry from how things looked only a few short weeks ago, when the city said the ski hill wouldn't open this year because government coffers couldn't afford to cover losses anymore.

The financial difficulties were so bad thatthe previous board of directors resigned en masse and closed the hill earlier this year.

Once word was out that the ski hill was under threat, Henderson said fundraising efforts went even better than had been hoped.