Schweitzer Mountain Resort, located near Sandpoint, is drawing up plans to install a second high-speed, six-person chairlift on the ski hill this summer, although it wont decide whether to do so until April.


The proposed $3.2 million project also calls for reconfiguring another chairlift and adding a platter lift for beginning skiers, says Tom Fortune, Schweitzers general manager.


Were doing the engineering for (the project) now so we can pull the trigger for it in April if we can justify it, he says. The decision to go ahead with the project will be made based on the resorts financial results from the 2000-2001 ski season, which should be tallied by April.


The six-person chair would replace the lower half of Chair One, which also is known as the Midway chair because skiers currently have the option of getting off the lift halfway up the mountain. Unlike Chair One, however, skiers would load onto the new six-pack chairlift at Schweitzer Village, rather than uphill from the village as is now the case, Fortune says. Also, the new chair will end at the midway point, so skiers who want to go the rest of the way up will need to load onto Chair One.


The two-person Chair One, will be reconfigured to serve just the upper, expert, portion of the run. Schweitzer plans to build a new loading area for that chairlift at the midway point so that more advanced-terrain people will be able to stick to that upper-mountain lift, Fortune says.


The new chair will be easier to get onto and off of than Chair One, which will open up more terrain suitable for beginning skiers, he says.


Schweitzer also plans to create a new ski area for beginners behind the Selkirk Lodge, he says. That area would be served by a new platter lift, which would pull standing skiers uphill.


It would be strictly for first-timers, Fortune says. We want to create a state-of-the art beginner area for teaching people.


Schweitzers parent company, Seattle-based Harbor Resorts LLC, has said that enhancing facilities on the mountain for beginning skiers and snowboarders will be a priority, since having new people take up those sports is essential to the long-term financial health of the resort.


The current ski season, however, has been hampered by a lower-than-normal snowfall, making it uncertain whether Schweitzer can afford to go ahead with the new chairlift projects, he says.


After its best-ever December, Schweitzers business was down about 25 percent in January compared with last year, he says. February picked up again, however, and Fortune says its hard to predict how the season will end up.


Wed like to be able to (add the new lifts) this summer, he adds, but if not, probably next summer.