Mount Sima has gone through some $120,000 in its efforts to open this season, says the treasurer for the board of directors.

Dan Boyd told the Star this morning the non-profit Great Northern Ski Society started off the season with about $50,000 rolled over from last winter, along with an additional $70,000 raised in the sale of season passes and punch cards.

All that money was spent in preparations for opening the Whitehorse hill this winter, Boyd confirmed.

But the board of directors decided last Wednesday to keep the hill closed for the remainder of the season because of a range of problems that have compounded each other.

Boyd said at some point the board had to make a decision on whether to keep spending money or cut its losses and regroup for next season.

'It was an unbelievably hard decision,' Boyd said. 'I have never been required to make such a hard decision in my life.

'But to make a different decision to go ahead when you really feel you are not ready would be worse.'

Boyd said making the decision was extremely stressful and heartbreaking because he has worked very hard as one of many volunteers to make the hill a success, from the very beginning, in his case.

There was, in his mind, however, no choice, given the problems plaguing this year's startup, and finally the resignation of the new manager, who had some safety concerns, Boyd explained.

He said Mount Sima has about $90,000 in the bank, though there are approximately $85,000 in outstanding bills which require immediate payment, such as the fuel and electrical bills and the insurance premium.

In addition to the $85,000 in immediate debt, Boyd pointed out, there is $35,000 to $45,000 in debt that could be paid over a longer term, and does not require immediate attention.

But there is no money to reimburse season pass purchasers, he said.

Boyd said those who bought punch cards can use the cards next year because punch cards are good until they're used up.

One of the options to compensate season pass holders is to extend the passes to next season, Boyd said, adding the board will have to make a decision soon.

He acknowledges extending the season passes would mean a loss of startup revenue next fall. On the other hand, he added, the board doesn't want to discourage future purchases of season passes.

Individuals, Boyd agreed, could seek their money through court action, and they may very well get a judgment in their favour, but there is no money to pay anything out.

'You can't get blood from a stone,' he said.

Boyd said Mount Sima needs understanding from those who purchased season passes, now more than ever.

If the board knew for certain that it could open up on Feb. 15 without anymore issues, and with a staff capable and comfortable with running the hill, it would have gone forward, he said.

With the resignation of the manager, and still a small list of items to be addressed before the hill could open, along with very little natural snow on the ground, the board faced enough uncertainty to stop spending and put the hill on hold, he added.

Boyd called the resignation of Gary McWaters a devastating blow for the board, though he understands McWaters didn't have the level of comfort with safety matters he needed personally to continue.

When a 90-pound set of guide rollers fell off one of the towers on the T-bar lift last month, even though nobody was hurt, it was essentially the straw that broke McWaters' back, Boyd said.

Boyd is optimistic the hill will be operational next year, provided the community continues its support for the facility, and said there is no reason to believe it won't.

Regrouping will require a new, more robust approach for next year, which he suspects will mean a full-time, year-round outdoor operations manager who knows the lift equipment at Mount Sima, he said.

Boyd said attracting qualified personnel to run the hill is a competitive field. He pointed out that McWaters was the only qualified candidate who came forward when the board held a countrywide competition to fill the seasonal position.

To attract and keep individuals, the position pretty well has to be year-round, he said.

Mount Sima is in preliminary discussions with the Yukon government to see if there is any way of getting assistance with the financial crunch the hill is facing currently.

Whether the non-profit organization will seek annual core funding from the government to assist with a year-round position is something that's a little too far down the road to comment on at this time, he said.

Boyd also said it is unfair to blame one or two board members for the situation the hill finds itself in right now.

It was not because of a lack of effort that the board decided to close for the season, he said.

It was a series of unexpected problems that stacked themselves on top of each other, he said.

'It seemed wherever staff turned, it just wouldn't go right.'

There were issues with the snowmaking equipment, unexpected maintenance on the chair lift, and issues with the T-Bbar, all on top of a year of hardly any natural snow to get started with, Boyd said.

Aside from all that, he added, the entire full-time crew at the hill was new, from McWaters on down.

'If people want to blame one or two individuals, that would not be helpful,' Boyd said, adding he's feeling some heavy weight on his shoulders. 'It is our community hill.

'It does not belong to one or two individual;, it is a community hill.'

He said the community has solidly been behind Mount Sima ever since the late mayor, Dr. Don Branigan, advanced the idea with a feasibility study back in 1989.

It will need that continued support to move forward, Boyd insisted.

The total operation and maintenance budget for Sima this winter was $413,000, including startup money for next season.

Boyd said each visit to the hill by one skier, including season pass holders and non-pass holders, generates an average of somewhere between $10 and $11, when you consider lift fees, lunch and so on.

'So if there is 500 skiers in a day, you make about $5,000,' he said.

It's not uncommon to have 600 and 700 skiers on a busy day, nor is it uncommon to generate $15,000 in revenue over a typical four-day opening from Thursday through Sunday, he said.

'There is a lot of money that needs to be spent up front but when the hill operates, and operates well, the money comes back quickly,' Boyd said.

'But you have to spend the money to make money, and that is the dilemma we are in right now.'