The clock is ticking and as Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History know all too well, another winter like this past one could mean the end of the few historic mine buildings still standing.
Two projects still on the list include the stabilization of both the Silver King headframe at the base of the Bonanza chairlift at Park City Mountain and the Thaynes headframe at the base of the Thaynes chairlift.
The friends’ group, supported by Vail Resorts Epic Promise funding, hosted the brunch and mine tour. As the organization’s Mining Structures Project Manager Brian Buck noted, it’s a lot cheaper to stabilize an old mine before the mine shaft collapses and damages the headframe and buildings.
A headframe is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft that enables the hoisting of machinery, personnel, or materials.
It’s estimated to cost $1.6 million to complete the Silver King project consisting of the headframe, hoist house and other buildings. The Silver King mine was one of the most profitable of all of Park City’s mines.
It will cost almost $1.3 million to complete the Thaynes project including the headframe and hoist house complex built in 1937.
Two brothers who attended Sunday’s fundraiser, Blaine and Thad Welch, share a deep history with Park City’s mining past. Blaine says their mother’s parents were Albert and Mable Sundstrom. Albert worked as a mine engineer and later helped build one of the first snowmaking machines.
“So having kind of the sweat and the grind of that mining history, but that also led to the start of Park City and skiing as we know it today,” Blaine said. You know, it's in our blood.”
Their grandmother Mable Sundstrom was one of Park City’s oldest residents who lived to be 103 until her passing in 2018.
They never met their paternal grandfather, Clarence Welch, who was buried in the collapse of the Jupiter mine tunnel in 1955. Blaine says their dad was just 16 when he lost his father and the lesson he learned that day was later passed on to his sons.
“There was a rule that my father always had was if anybody in the family got into an argument, we had to make sure that nobody left the house and got into a car under any kind of temperament or anger situation,” Blaine said. “When my father was 16, he and his father had gotten into an argument and then my grandfather went to work. And later that day, that Jupiter mine fell in on my grandfather.”
The opening to the mine shaft has since been closed. For the first time, this past winter Blaine and his brother skied to where they thought the mine might have been, but there was so much snow they couldn’t find it. On Sunday, Blaine and his wife hiked up and found the spot.
“It's something where the older I get I'm realizing the roots that we have here and how much is changing,” Blaine said. “And I feel like I have to do something about it. And we're seeing how much Park City is changing. And we're grateful for the influence for those who are able to donate. My brother and I feel like there's something we need to do to ensure that it doesn't change more than it has.”
And Thad said they both hope to help preserve Park City’s history – their history – to the extent they can.
“I think the drive comes from just maturity, and you realize your heritage,” Thad said. “Start looking at who your grandparents were and who your grandparents’ grandparents were and their interests in life. So yeah, like Blaine said, deep roots here in Park City, so that there is a drive to help preserve it and preserve that rich history that's fun to learn about.”
The friends hope to get started on the Silver King mine structure renovation next summer.
