WAITSFIELD, Vt. (AP) – The Sugarbush resort was forced to suspend ski operations after a power outage on one of the biggest ski weekends of the season.

A failure in a substation at 12:45 p.m. Saturday cut power to much of the Mad River Valley, including the Sugarbush and Mad River Glenn ski areas.

Green Mountain Power spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said this week’s heavy snow led to a moisture buildup in the substation that caused it to fail. Power was restored by 3 p.m.

“It was a pain in the butt to have a gorgeous ski afternoon pass us by,” said Sugarbush spokesman JJ Toland. “To have something like this happen on the Saturday of Presidents Day weekend is an inconvenience for the resort, but it’s a massive inconvenience for the customer, especially right after a 49-inch snowfall.”

At Sugarbush it took about 32 minutes to clear the ski lifts using diesel-powered generators.

At Mad River Glen, the lifts were cleared in about 15 minutes, said marketing director Eric Friedman.

Mad River Glen president Jamie Wimble said his resort remained open because its main single chair lift is powered by a diesel generator.