Saranac Lake, NY – It was a community-wide event on Saturday when Saranac Lake area residents and supporters of Mt. Pisgah cut the ribbon the the ski area’s new T-bar.

The Friends of Mt. Pisgah Ski Club, a volunteer support group, set a $750,000 fundraising goal for the new lift through its “Lift Mt. Pisgah” campaign that augmented a $600,000 grant secured by the Village of Saranac Lake from the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation that will also be used to develop a series of multi-use trails at Pisgah for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and mountain biking. Saturday night’s community celebration in the Mt. Pisgah base lodge to celebrate the completion of the new lift’s construction featured food, drinks, live music and a silent auction. The gala raised $12,457  toward the unexpected $100,000 cost to replace electrical systems that support the new lift to meet current codes.

The new T-bar was purchased for $374,769 from Doppelmayr and installed by the lift company. Volunteers built the attendant shacks for the new ski lift, which will be commissioned in mid-November following state inspections.

Mt. Pisgah is a community ski area located in the village of Saranac Lake that first opened in 1950 with 329 vertical feet of terrain covering 15 acres. It has five ski runs, a terrain park, 100% snowmaking coverage, lights for night skiing and a two-lane, 550-foot tubing hill. Ski Lessons are offered through the Friends of Mt. Pisgah Ski Club to introduce many Adirondack area residents to skiing and riding who might otherwise not be able to afford to do so.