Skiiers and residents at Big White near Kelowna had a stuttered start Friday after a tree downed a powerline that supplies the mountain community with electricity.
The outage happened at about 8:15 a.m. and affected more than 2,000 customers. Fortis B.C. estimated that power would be back on at 10 p.m.
People who were out skiing, however, would have access to some of the resort’s amenities via a backup power generator.
“If you are on the mountain, be prepared for the power to be out until 10 pm this evening,” read the update from Big White Resort. “Please be aware that lifts that are operational are running on a backup system, which is slower than normal operations,” the resort’s missive states.
Lifts operating include Gem Lake, Powder, Snowghost, The Cliff, Bullet Chair and *Alpine T-Bar were on standby.
Lifts not operating include Black Forest, Ridge Chair; Lara’s Gondola will run until 4 p.m. and all lifts will close at 3:30 p.m.
Activities cancelled include skating, tubing and night skiing.