Efforts to reconnect Kirkwood Mountain Resort to electricity after the resort's generator caught fire on Friday afternoon delayed its opening during one of the busiest ski days of the year.
As of Saturday morning, the resort was still without power, and officials were not sure when electricity would be restored.
"We have been working on the power issue literally all night," Kirkwood Senior Vice President Tim Cohee said on the resort's snow recording. "We do not have a solution this morning."
The resort asked skiers to delay their trips until there was some word on when power would be restored.
The generator caught fire at about 2 p.m. New Year's Day when a filter overheated and ignited. workers in the building smelled smoke 30-40 minutes before the fire reached its height and were able to evacuate safely. About 150 workers were evacuated from nearby employee housing. No one was injured in the fire, but the blaze consumed the building where the generator was housed.
About half of the resort's guests canceled their reservations for the New Year's weekend. Another 2,000 guests stayed overnight waiting for the electricity to come back.
Moutain Utilities, which operates the resort's generator, has delivered a new generator that is capable of restoring power to the resort. But electricians ran into trouble connecting the new generator to the resort's power grid.
"They are continuing to attempt to restore power as quickly as possible, but we do not have a projected time as of now, early Saturday," officials said. "Our expectations are that we will again have power sometime today."
Officials are asking potential guest to visit www.kirkwood.com or call (877) 547-5966 (KIRKWOOD)
Annie Flanzraich of the Tahoe Daily Tribune contributed to this report
