In a season of chairlift problems for state ski areas, the non-profit Whaleback in Enfield is facing one significant enough that it is “threatening our ability to continue operations – both this season and beyond.”

The ski area’s only chairlift was taken out of operation at the start of March due to mechanical problems. That left half the mountain, including its best runs, unreachable unless you walk or ski uphill.

Whaleback has launched a fundraising campaign to raise $250,000 for repairs and to replace lost revenue so it can continue with post-skiing events such as a summer camp and music concerts, not to mention skiing next winter. That’s a large amount of money to raise for a non-profit that has an annual operating budget of about $1.2 million and which, according to a Monitor story, has lost money on operations every year for the previous 18 years.

Ironically, the bad news comes as Whaleback is being celebrated in a just-released documentary film called “Mountains Not for Profit” that details its efforts and those of three other non-profit areas to thrive in an era of ski industry consolidation.

The chairlift closure is the latest blow to the small mountain that has had a rocky recent history. It was founded in 1956 and was renamed Whaleback in 1970. For years it thrived due in part to a convenient location alongside Interstate 89, close to Lebanon and about a half-hour from Concord. It garnered big support from the local community, especially skiers in and around Dartmouth College. 

But like many small mountains, it struggled with the cost of snowmaking to meet modern expectations and counter the lack of natural snow. It closed in 2001 and was bought in 2004 by investors featuring Olympic freestyle skier Evan Dybvig. They had had big plans for expansion but those all fell through. 

In 2013, facing closure again, it was bought by a new non-profit group, the Upper Valley Snow Sports Foundation, designed to use community support to keep it going. Jon Hunt was hired as the mountain’s first executive director to run the entire foundation, with an emphasis on fund-raising, and things seemed to be going well until a few weeks ago.

Other aerial chairlift issues this winter have included a fallen chair at Attitash that injured a skier, a mechanic failure that shut down a major chairlift at Gunstock for a week, at least three stalled lifts in the middle of operations at different mountains forcing skiers to be lowered to the ground in rope slings, and gearbox problems that closed the only summit lift at Tenney Mountain Ski Area in Plymouth at the start of March.

David brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com