If you were anywhere near Purgatory on Monday morning, you probably heard it—the rapid thump of a helicopter thundering off the cliff faces by Highway 550 just South of Purgatory Resort. We were out there too, eyes on the sky, watching as crews carefully set new power poles atop the sheer cliffs behind Silverpick. 

Monday’s efforts saw the completion of phase 1 of an important project to upgrade and harden our electric infrastructure in that area. While poles and wires already existed there, the terrain is rugged, the weather is unpredictable, and our system needed a refresh. 

Thanks to our beautiful, if often unforgiving, landscape, we partnered with a helicopter crew from Mountain Blade Runner as well as Ward Electric, a powerline contract company, to help set eight new poles across three structures. These upgrades are about more than just replacing old hardware. They’re part of a larger effort to improve reliability, especially during wildfire season in the summer and high-winds events in the winter.

Phase 2 is scheduled for July 23, weather permitting. We’ll bring the helicopter back to string wire that will complete a loop in the system. Once in place, that loop will allow us to reroute power during outages, adding vital redundancy for the Purgatory area.

We’re proud of this work, and even prouder to bring safe, reliable power to the communities we serve—no matter how steep the climb.

Read the news release here 👉 https://lpea.coop/infrastructure-construction/helicopter-operations-scheduled-near-purgatory-ski-resort-part-lpea