Mt. Sima ski hill in Whitehorse to close July 2

The Great Northern Ski Society is throwing in the towel in its fight to keep the Mt. Sima ski hill in Whitehorse open.

It will close Tuesday, July 2. The decision was made at a lunchtime board meeting Wednesday.

The non-profit society says it will accept the City of Whitehorses offer to buy the chairlift, which was made by resolution at Monday nights city council meeting. The decision comes just two days after city councilrejected the societys latest business plan.

The society wants to ensure its unsecured creditors are paid. Other than that, the board says it cannot afford to continue to operate the facility.

"The hill will remain open for Wild Play for this weekend and hopefully people can make the most of it and enjoy the facility and great Monkido assets," said Lee Vincent, the societys treasurer.

"But we do need to stop incurring expenses, certainly getting back to protecting our community and supporters of this. So we will be closing everything as of July 2."

The decision means eight students will lose summer jobs. Two people will be kept on to protect the assets until it can be decided what to do with them.

This is not necessarily the end of the Sima story. The society passed a resolution to accept the city's offer to buy the chairlift, but it wants to ensure it does not get stuck with the unsecured debts.

That means some negotiation will take place. Board members did not want to discuss what happens next if those talks fail.