The Haines Borough Assembly’s Commerce Committee met Tuesday to discuss a public private partnership to build a ski lift operation in Haines.

The Ski Lift Working Group, which consists of residents interested in the idea, is gathering community sentiment about the prospect. The group will meet to discuss the idea further in the new year.

"I think it would be a great thing for Haines and a goal that would really bring the community together," said resident Thom Ely on Tuesday.

A heliski company owner also spoke in support of the idea. "We're on board," said Reggie Crist, owner and operator of Stellar Adventure Travel & Media. "There are a lot of down days due to weather and a lift would mean we could be skiing all of those days."

The concept leans toward more intermediate and advanced terrain which would provide both residential recreation and bring tourism year round. The ideal environment would need to be above 2,000 feet and receive between 400 to 600 inches of snow.

"Fortunately for Haines there is plenty of area where we could make this happen," said Haines Avalanche Center director Erik Stevens, who presented options to the committee. "There's also great potential for summer revenues," said Stevens.

Several operations from across the lower 48 were presented as successful examples of the kind of operation that could be supported in Haines. Cooperatives, borough and tribal support, grants and private community participation were all floated as ideas to fund the initiative.

With estimated costs ranging from $3 to 10 million dollars, gathering broad support is key to the endeavor.

"It would need to be low cost because resources are limited here, but we have epic snow and epic terrain and people know that worldwide because of the heli-ski industry and we could be doing a lot more to bring those people to Haines. We have major potential to support a year round economy but it has to be done right," Stevens said.