It's a voice message no Whitehorse skier or snowboarder wants to hear: 'Mount Sima will be closed until further notice due to mechanical problems on the chair.'

Any skier who has called Mount Sima's snowline in recent days has been greeted with the announcement that has seen lift passes rendered useless for now.

It's left skiers and boarders training for the 2007 Canada Winter Games looking for alternatives.

The closure came just a week after the hill, which is run by the non-profit Great Northern Ski Society, had opened for the season.

Set to be open most days over the holidays while schools are closed, last Friday Mount Sima announced it would be closed last Saturday due to a mechanical problem on the hill's only chairlift. It's now expected that closure could last into the new year, as late as Jan. 5 or Jan. 6, as officials wait for a crew and parts from Outside to come in.

'By the time we get the parts, it will probably be Dec. 31 or Jan. 1,' the snowline for the hill informs ski and snowboard enthusiasts.

Dan Boyd, a Great Northern Ski Society director, said this morning the seals and bearings in the drive cable for the lift failed last Friday afternoon, when staff noticed the drive was overheating. Workers continued to monitor the situation over the afternoon, but there weren't any safety problems.

However, officials opted to shut the hill down last Saturday with Finning workers coming in to look at it.

'We don't know totally how it happened,' Boyd said, adding more information may become available after the lift is partially taken apart to be fixed.

The lift was built in 1975, with Sima buying it from the Alyeska resort in Alaska in the early 1990s. Although much of the lift had been overhauled in the 1980s, the seals and bolts weren't part of that work, Boyd said.

Parts have been ordered from the United States with a crew likely coming up from Alberta to work on the equipment.

'The lift has to be partially disassembled,' Boyd said.

The Alberta crew, which specializes in similar chairlift work, will take apart the section, with Finning then putting in the new parts.

Although the final cost is not known, ski society president Ernie Berken said this morning a rough estimate pegs the work at between $20,000 to $30,000. The board is continuing to work out where that money may come from.

Getting that revenue could be an issue though as it's estimated Sima will lose between $30,000 to $40,000 in revenue over the 10 days it's expected to be closed, Berken said.

As soon as a schedule for the parts to be here and for the crew's arrival has been set, Sima officials will have a better idea of exactly when they may open the hill again.

Focusing on the task at hand of getting the lift fixed and running again, Berken said no decision has been made on whether anything will be offered to season pass holders to make up for the more than week-long closure.

'We'll assess that over the rest of the season,' he said. There are usually a few lost days in the season when the hill is closed for reasons beyond anyone's control, he noted.

Whether pass holders are offered anything could depend on how good the rest of the season is, he said.

The board was also looking at helping out the downhill ski teams in the territory. Berken said the board was set to meet with Yukon Alpine and Yukon Freestyle officials to discuss the possibility of the teams competing in the Games using the hill without the lift.

During the Feb. 23-March 10 Games, Mount Sima will host the alpine and freestyle skiing competition along with snowboarding, which is making its debut at the Games as a demonstration sport.

'We have to work out the details,' Berken said of the ski team using the hill, adding among those details is making sure insurance is available for the skiers.

Jon Standing is the alpine sports co-ordinator for the territory and head coach for the Yukon's freestyle ski team in the Games. He said this morning the teams have lost about three days of training, but plans are in the works to find alternatives for the 14 athletes.

While nothing was confirmed at the time, Standing noted his thanks to the board in at least considering the option of permiting ski team members to use the hill.

'We really appreciate Mount Sima's flexibility,' he said.

Permitting the ski teams to use the hill would be an exception for this year because the territory is hosting the Games, he added.

In a normal season, he said, the team wouldn't look and Mount Sima likely wouldn't consider such an arrangement.

The ski teams began training prior to the hill opening to the general public this year. Although Standing heard numerous comments about the skiers being permitted on the hill prior to opening, he stressed the team essentially had to rent the hill and pay additional insurance premiums, which cost about $2,700.

'It's very important we get trained,' he said. 'We don't know just what's going to happen.'

Another possibility included travelling to Watson Lake, where Mount Maichen officials have agreed to let the teams camp and cook in the lodge and use the hill for training.

Standing estimates that would cost between $150 to $200 per skier, depending on the number who went. There is likely one skier who wouldn't be able to make the three- to four-day trip.

Standing was also considering spending the three to four days training in Juneau at the Eaglecrest Ski Area.

Both the freestyle and alpine teams have seven members each. The additional days Mount Sima is open along with time off school would have permitted the competitive skiers to get about a month of normal training into a week.

'This is obviously a very important time of year for us,' Standing said.

The territory's snowboarding team for the Games did not have any scheduled training through Christmas week.

However, Snowboard Yukon president Chris McNutt said this morning athletes on the team are likely planning to do their own training at the hill this week.

'It's in its infancy here,' he said of the sport, noting the local team's coaches are in Vancouver and visit the territory occasionally for training sessions.

Much of the focus for the Yukon's team this year is visiting Outside competitions, including one in Kelowna, B.C. next month, to get them set for the national event.

'That's what's going to be primary,' McNutt said.

The important part of the winter Games' for Yukon snowboard athletes will be the experience they gain from competing at a national level, he said.

Like Standing, McNutt also praised staff and officials at Mount Sima for the hard work they always put into the hill. He also acknowledged the disappointment of many snowboarders who won't get up to the hill this week.

With a week off from his full-time job, McNutt had, like many Whitehorse residents, planned to spend at least some of that time at Sima.

He noted though, it's better the problems happen and get fixed now rather than during the Games.