80-foot-deep hole opens on Montana ski slope
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- Created on Sunday, 23 January 2011 22:21
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
Whoa! This could put a real crimp in your ski day.
Apparently, part of an old mine caved in at the Great Divide Ski Area in Montana.
Owner Kevin Taylor told the Missoulian newspaper that a ski patroller Monday discovered a "yawning opening" that stretched about 10 feet across the fall line and was 80 to 100 feet deep.
"The ski patrol was on regular routine patrol when all of a sudden he says, ‘Wow,' " Taylor said. "All of a sudden the snow surface was gone."
It's in an area with mainly double-black runs.
The opening was fenced off.
The hole is one of many stopes left more than 100 years ago by miners, who would dig their way into a mountainside searching for gold, then tunnel upward chasing veins. They sometimes broke through the surface, but other times only came close, leaving a dangerously thin layer of soil.
Officials said the opening likely would be filled with foam, which acts as a plug, in spring.
Some believe a 3.7 earthquake last weekend may have caused the hole to open after all these years.
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