It was a busy scene on Thursday morning at Mt. Sima as a mass of skiers and snowboarders huddled in their brightly coloured gear.

They were eager to be the first up the hill on the new Pelly Construction chairlift.

Josh and Steven Harlow, Aiden Allen, and William Thompson were the first customers to the top.

"I'm totally stoked, it's going to be awesome,” said Steven Harlow.

"It'll be nice to finally go up with the chair and not have to worry about it breaking down,”

added Josh Harlow.

The days of having to worry about the reliability of the chairlift are long behind us, Craig

Hougen said, president of the Great Northern Ski Society.

"This is state of the art equipment,” he said.

"It signifies a new Mt. Sima, a Mt. Sima that is going to be a year round facility for all

Yukoners.”

Hougen said the chairlift has a lifespan of 30 years but there are many around the world that are operating well past that time frame.

"It's an asset that the community and the Yukon will have for many years to come,” he said, adding that the community support has been tremendous.

Hougen also announced that the Ski Society is closing in on their corporate sponsorship

goals, having secured $233,000 of their $300,000 target.

"We have some more announcements coming in January and I'm absolutely confident we're going to make our goal,” he said.

Minister Elaine Taylor was also on hand to witness the unveiling of the new chair and

appeared just as excited as the skiers and boarders.

"I wish I were one of the skiers going up the hill today,” she jovially said.

Taylor highlighted the importance of the new chairlift for the upcoming Arctic Winter Games.

"Mt. Sima will be standing predominately within the Games,” she said.

"It's a huge asset and another piece of recreational infrastructure which is a great investment for the community. It makes us an even more attractive place to live and call our home.”

Mayor Bev Buckway also noted the importance with the Games approaching, saying,

"We're going to be the envy of a lot of those countries when they see the facilities that we

have here in Whitehorse.”

Buckway said the decision to build the new chairlift was simple.

"We had some difficulties in the past when people were stranded on the hill and the city

looked at that and said ‘safety comes first','” she said.

"So it was a pretty simple decision to invest in this ski lift.”

The city contributed $1.6 million to the project, which was in addition to funding from the

federal and territorial government.

Pelly Construction donated $100,000 to the chairlift and said it was a natural decision to

write the cheque.

"We eagerly made this donation to the community where the majority of our hard working

Yukon employees live,” said Jennifer Byram, Vice President Administration with Pelly

Construction.

"It's because of their hard work and loyalty to our company that we're able to make this

donation.”

As the speakers lined up to cut the red ribbon, a chorus of cheers echoed through the crowd.

The excitement for the skiers and boarders on hand was undeniable as they quickly formed a long line to get their first run of the ski season underway.

Mt. Sima will now operate every day during the holiday break from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. until January 2, 2012 but will be closed on Christmas day.