Red Lodge Mountain closed Dec. 1 within hours of opening its lifts for the season. A mountain-wide mechanical failure caused lifts to shut down leaving nearly 90 skiers and snowboarders stuck on one lift in zero temperatures for over an hour. The problem turned out to be one wire. Red Lodge was open and running again by Dec. 6. "We did the best job we could under the conditions we had. It was very unfortunate for our guests, and we're very apologetic for a disastrous opening day, but today…we have a much better scene up here," said Mountain Manager Rob Ringer. Fresh snow greeted the mountain's second opening, with lifts back running up to par.