Skiers were evacuated from the Chair 1 Big Mountain Express lift at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Friday morning after a mechanical failure, according to resort officials.

The high-speed quad lift that accesses the summit of Big Mountain stopped at about 9:55 a.m. Lift mechanics were unable to fix the issue, and the backup system didn't function, prompting a full evacuation at about 11:30 a.m. All skiers were evacuated by 1:45 p.m.

Resort officials estimate about 150-200 people were on the lift when it stopped. The temperature at the summit was 15 degrees at noon, with a wind chill of 4 degrees.

During an evacuation, ski patrollers use ropes and a harness to lower people from the chair.

Hellroaring Basin and Flower Point were closed during the evacuation so all ski patrollers could assist. 

"More than 40 employees — including patrollers, mountain ambassadors, ski instructors and staff from the terrain parks and events department — were directly involved in the evacuation process," a message posted the resort's snow report stated. "Four patrollers came in on their day off to assist."

Officials expected the lift to be running again soon.

"Our lift maintenance team has identified the issue and believes it will be quickly resolved once the evacuation is complete," resort spokesperson Chad Sokol told the Inter Lake.

People who were evacuated will receive free lift tickets for future use, Sokol said. Passholders involved were given tickets that can be used by friends or family. 

"If any guest involved did not make it to the Base Lodge today, they can still call or visit in the coming days," Sokol said.

Chair 1 is 2,084 feet long and takes skiers from the base area to the summit in about 8 minutes. The current lift was installed in 2007, replacing the former Glacier Chaser lift that is now Chair 2, according to resort information.