The Great Northern Ski Society can now get started on repairs to reopen the city's only ski hill after city council approved the requested $25,000 in recreation grant funding at its regular meeting Monday night.

"(It's), of course, positive because as you know, timing's tight, and we have to get rolling on this particular project that's going to be the first step to show some physical activity on the hill," society president Keith Thaxter told reporters last night following the vote. "That's what's really important now."

Mount Sima closed after only a few days of operation last winter as it was plagued by weather, safety, staffing and operational issues. Season passes and punch cards from last winter will be honoured for the upcoming season.

To reopen, work has to be done on the hill to all three lifts (the chair lift, T-bar and tow rope) along with the snow-making equipment.

Along with the funding requests, the society's board has restructured. It is now made up of such stakeholders as the ski and snowboarding associations, ski patrol, city, territory, Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce and others rather than being made up of general volunteers. The society operates the hill.

While the society had to wait to find out if it was approved for city funding, and is continuing to wait for word on territorial funding, Thaxter had the initial work lined up to be started as soon as the city funding was approved.

Council also voted to have city management look at ways it can provide in-kind support for repairs and maintenance to the equipment at the hill.

Some councillors, such as Dave Stockdale and Doug Graham, noted concerns over taking $5,000 out of the fall recreation grants to put toward the funding, along with the $20,000 in spring recreation grants left over. In the end, however, council voted unanimously to fund the request.

With the vote scheduled for last night, Thaxter had a ticket booked on Air North for Randy Gilege of the Summit Lift Co. to come to Whitehorse on Thursday to do an initial, more detailed inspection on exactly what will need to be done to reopen the ski/snowboard facility.

A report compiled by Juneau's Eaglecrest officials after the hill closed last January outlined the work that needs to be done and offered suggestions for Mount Sima's long-term viability.

Gilege's three days in the territory will focus on confirming the repairs and parts required for the three lifts.

Initial estimates pegged the work at $22,000 for parts and another $60,000 to $70,000 for labour.

After Gilege does the inspection, a detailed work plan will be developed with work that can be done by locals identified. Using local labour where possible could reduce the costs of the repairs to the hill and help provide training to local workers as well.

The society will also be working with local industries and others such as the city to have locals involved and trained on the hill's equipment for further maintenance. The initiative would also lower the cost of repairs, the society said in a statement.

Thaxter was quick to note both Air North and the Airport Chalet have provided a discount on the flight and accommodations for Gilege.

While Gilege will provide more details on the repairs needed for the lift operations, repairs to the snow-making equipment are already planned to start on Aug. 20, taking about two weeks to finish. Klondike Welding has committed to provide in-kind assistance on the welding portion of the work.

Any city money left after Gilege's inspection and snow-making equipment repairs have been funded would go to purchasing parts for the chair lift and rope tow. The parts need to be ordered by early September to get them to Whitehorse, likely from Washington State, the closest area parts can come from.

Further funding will have to be approved before the repairs can go ahead.

While the society is waiting for word from the territory on its request, Thaxter won't discuss the request to the government after agreeing to keep it confidential.

He noted the government knows the concerns of the society has about getting the funding shortly so the hill's next season can go ahead.

The city's vote to approve the funding could be beneficial to the territorial request, he said.

"It shows that other funding agencies are coming to the table to provide some support," Thaxter commented, adding that the other very positive thing to come out of last night's vote is that in three days, there will be physical activity happening on the hill in the form of Gilege's inspection.

"We're not waiting. We have to jump at every opportunity and plan as far in the future as we can," Thaxter said.

Along with the requests that were made to the city and territory to help get the hill open this winter, the society has applied to the federal government for money to come up with a long-term plan that would push it toward self-sufficiency, operating throughout the year. The society is waiting for word on that funding.