SOSH members helped ski hill before

Kelly McCarthy and Tim Robb know what needs to be done with Jack Pine Hill's lift equipment.

McCarthy and Robb, two members of the just-announced Save Our Ski Hill committee, were on the front lines helping to repair the main lift after it broke down Jan. 10 this year and left skiers stranded in their gondolas.

Long background
Robb, a heavy equipment mechanic by trade, owns Can-Blast (2001) Inc., which manufactures explosives equipment.

He told a news conference Thursday he has a "long background" in hydraulics, pneumatics and electronic controls.

McCarthy, Robb's cousin, also has experience with heavy equipment, and is the branch manager of Motion Canada's North Bay operations.

Fighting shape
They'll once again be looking after the technical end of things in SOSH's quest to run Jack Pine Hill independent of the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority.

Getting the lifts back into fighting shape is among the most critical jobs at this point, Robb said.

"There's a large job ahead of of us and a short time to do it in," Robb said.

Full steam ahead
The lift was shut down by the Technical Safety Standards Association due to a number of infractions.

"And those things need to be rectified beginning as early as next week, and we hope to be able to start on those repairs," Robb said.

"It will be full steam ahead and we're hoping the community will step up to the plate."

Better place
McCarthy plans to provide about 25 per cent more skiable area on the hill "through getting volunteers to hopefully do some work on it."

As well he plans to sell tickets at the top and the bottom of the hill and turn the lower chalet into "a better place for families and children, a family gathering place."

He was mum, though, on whether Jack Pine Hill would retain its name, declining comment.