CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Testing is expected to continue this weekend on a chairlift at the Sugarloaf Mountain Resort that derailed on Dec. 28.

Sugarloaf mechanics, working with the state’s chief inspector and an insurance representative, conducted a load test Friday on the Spillway East lift. Passing the test, which involves loading chairs with water-filled boxes, is required before the state allows Sugarloaf to reopen the lift.

“Today’s test revealed no mechanical concerns, and the resort expects to complete testing and work on the lift this weekend,” Sugarloaf said in a statement Friday evening. “Completion of the testing, and the subsequent reopening of the lift, will be largely dependent upon weather conditions this weekend.”

Winds of 60 mph or more are forecast for Sugarloaf’s summit today.

The cause of the accident has not been disclosed, and it’s not clear when the state Tramway Board will issue its report.

Eight skiers were injured when the cable holding Spillway East’s double chairs came off the wheels carrying it past a 30-foot-tall tower. Five chairs fell to the snow below. About 150 skiers in other chairs on the lift were evacuated with ropes and pulleys.

The lift derailed on a windy morning after a Sugarloaf mechanic tried to realign a sheave train, the assembly of rubber-lined wheels that carries the cable over a tower. The sheave train was tilted so that the cable ran toward the outside of its track.

The sheave train assembly on that tower was replaced. The resort also replaced wheels on other sheave trains with new wheels that have deeper grooves, said Ethan Austin, Sugarloaf’s spokesman.

The testing and repairs have taken about a month longer than expected. Sugarloaf mechanics, overseen by state inspectors and the resort’s insurance carrier, have been working on the lift almost daily.

Austin said the extra time was needed because of additional maintenance work, weather delays “and the fact that they just wanted to be as thorough as possible. … They went through the lift with a fine-toothed comb.”

Friday’s test involved loading about half of the lift’s 162 chairs with cardboard boxes lined with plastic trash bags. Each box was filled with about 368 pounds of water, bringing the lift to 100 percent of its capacity.

Workers then ran the lift and tested its motors and brake systems. The work began shortly after noon and continued after sundown.

Sugarloaf clearly hoped to have the lift reopened for the holiday weekend.

“February vacation is always a big week,” Austin said. But “we wouldn’t (open) it if there are any concerns about how it’s operating.”

Sugarloaf skiers have been eager to see the chairlift “spinning” again. While Spillway East is susceptible to closures because of strong winds, it serves the center of the mountain and is a key link to some of Sugarloaf’s most challenging trails.

“They had it spinning (Friday) in the wind and everything, and it looked great,” said Zev Ginsberg, a skier from Newton, Mass.

With the resort’s Timberline lift also closed Friday because of wind, Ginsberg said he had to do some hiking to get to the snowfields at the summit.

“You can get there, but you’ve got to earn your runs,” he said.

Bob Jung, a regular Sugarloaf skier from Connecticut, said he will ride Spillway East again as soon as it reopens.

“Absolutely,” he said. “We’ve all been anxious to get it running.”

Regular skiers also are anxious to hear if the 35-year-old chairlift will be replaced this summer with a bigger, more reliable lift.

Even before the accident, replacement of the two-person chairs was the top priority in a 10-year investment plan called Sugarloaf 2020. Sugarloaf managers proposed replacing the lift as soon as this summer with a four-person chairlift, which would be heavier and less susceptible to being shut down because of wind.

Whether the lift is replaced this summer is up to CNL Lifestyle Properties, the Florida-based company that owns Sugarloaf.

Austin said the resort may have a decision by the end of February.

A representative of Boyne Resorts, the Michigan-based company that operates Sugarloaf, said the decision is likely to be announced in early March.

Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at:

jrichardson@pressherald.com