The historic building sits in Thaynes Canyon near Thaynes chairlift at Park City Mountain. It’s suffered significant snow damage to its roofs and walls in the past, and Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History has been planning to stabilize the Thaynes headframe and hoist house from further collapse.
The extent of the damage is unknown, and it will be weeks before safe inspection of the buildings can occur. The public should not enter them due to concerns over safety.
Don Roll, co-chair of the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History committee, said the collapse symbolizes the challenge the community faces in preserving what is left of our historic mining structures.
Roll said “Park City has the only two resorts in North America where you can ski by historic mining buildings, and fortifying them against the elements is a race against time to preserve these majestic structures and Park City’s rich mining history.”
This summer, Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History is embarking on a five-year project to stabilize and reinforce the Silver King and Thaynes mining complexes by 2027. It’s raised more than $500,000 for that effort so far; $2.5 million more is needed to complete both projects.
The goal, in addition to saving the structures for future generations, is to conduct guided tours of the mining buildings, which still have much of their original mining era equipment inside.
Learn more about projects and fundraising to save the Thaynes and Silver King mines at https://parkcityhistory.org/mining/.
