Mount Sima's 2010-2011 season was plagued with chairlift woes from day one.

Starting on Dec. 4 – the hill's earliest ever opening day – when a circuit board problem forced the first chairlift evacuation in its 17-year history, the lift continued to suffer mechanical problems through January and February.

Now the troubled chairlift is prompting youth to act.

The Save Our Sima (S.O.S.) project – led by secondary school students from F.H. Collins, Porter Creek and Vanier – held a press conference outside City Hall last night before making their presentation to council.

"It just takes somebody to kind of strike the match,” S.O.S. spokesperson Nicholas Terry said.

Fellow spokesperson Miriam Moore agreed.

"And that's what we're doing – we're just trying to start the fire and getting people really wanting this lift,” she said.

The group of seven students donned t-shirts bearing a locally-designed logo depicting skiers, snowboarders, mountain bikers, arms hugging the base of Sima and – perhaps most appropriately – what looks like a functioning chairlift.

The project goal is simply to raise awareness about Mount Sima, advocate for a chairlift and raise funds toward that end.

The t-shirts are a start.

Coast Mountain Sports donated 100 shirts to the cause, and the group is asking for sponsorship from businesses, which will be featured on the backs of the shirts.

S.O.S. has also used Facebook to attract attention from youth.

The Facebook group – entitled S.O.S. Save Our Sima project – had 92 members as of noon today.

"That was one of our big steps that we did to get it out there to the youth, because that's the main goal here,” S.O.S. member Lindsay Webster said.

"We're taking the initiative and we want everyone else's support.”

Terry said the S.O.S. project is supported by the Great Northern Ski Society (which oversees the hill's operations) and the Mount Sima board of directors.

"However, we're not affiliated with them. All of our ideas are our own, it's our own initiative…we're the ones that think of the ideas and they just help with the administrative work, bank accounts, getting past legal stuff, etc.”

Terry said the initial funds raised from the t-shirts is buffer money.

The GNSS told the group that a triple Doppelmayr chairlift would cost roughly $3 million.

That sum includes set up and transportation fees, Terry said.

"We understand that it's going to be hard for us to raise $3 million,” he told council.

"That's a very hard thing to fund-raise for. Selling lemonade won't do it. We've acknowledged that; we realize that we want to show you guys, the council, that youth appreciate Mount Sima and we are willing to tell you that we want a new chairlift and we want to see a Mount Sima that's reliable, functional and safe.”

Coun. Florence Roberts asked if the group intended to fund-raise for that amount.

"Would you be involved in the fund-raising as well?” Roberts asked.

"We have full intention of that,” Terry said.

Coun. Betty Irwin raised similar concerns after praising the group for its verve.

"You realize $3 million is a breathtaking amount of money. So this is going to take a lot of deliberation on the part of council as to whether this money is well spent here or in other areas,” Irwin said.

Moore told council that safety is the main issue, citing the Dec. 4 evacuation.

Sima and ski patrol volunteers and Whitehorse firefighters were called to the scene to evacuate the more than 100 skiers and snowboarders who were stranded on the lift.

"It was pure luck that it was good temperatures…and if it was a colder day, the results could have been pretty disastrous,” Moore said.

"If it had been minus 20, minus 25, people would have been severely injured or they could have gotten really sick, which would have been disastrous for Sima's insurance bills alone.”

Terry noted that the WildPlay Element Park, being constructed over the summer, and a bike park offer opportunities for Sima to become a resort destination similar to Whistler, B.C.

"We feel that you might be able to retain a lot of that clientele by providing Mount Sima with a chairlift that is reliable, maybe slightly faster,” Terry said, adding that such a feature could attract skiers from communities around Whitehorse such as Carmacks and Carcross.

Businesses would also benefit from more outside attention at Sima, he added.

"It's just an overall better experience, which would, in the long run, benefit the entire community, whether you use Mount Sima or not.”

Council later announced a $30,000 City Recreational Grant for the GNSS is scheduled for council approval Monday.