POWELL - Officials with the Sleeping Giant Ski Area in northern Wyoming say fundraising troubles and improvement delays could push back the area's opening until next year.

The nonprofit Yellowstone Recreations Foundation had hoped to open the ski area in the Shoshone National Forest by Thanksgiving.

The area, which is about five miles east of Yellowstone National Park, has been closed since 2004, when U.S. Forest Service managers determined that it required extensive repairs.

Project backers plan to operate Sleeping Giant as a community-run, nonprofit organization. They told Park County commissioners this week that the group hasn't raised money as quickly as necessary for a number of repairs and improvements.

"We've been having to play catch up with the funding," project spokeswoman Kerry Strike said.

Organizers are trying to raise about $3 million for improvements including the installation of a new chair lift in place of the old T-Bar lift system, the addition of a snow machine and an expansion of the ski slope from 47 acres to 180 acres of trails.

On Tuesday, Park County commissioners voted to support the foundation in its efforts to get a Wyoming Business Council grant. The grant could provide up to $500,000. If approved, it would put the project's total fundraising haul at about $1.8 million.

Organizers said the project to log the site by helicopter ended up costing about $400,000, which was $240,000 more than originally expected. The logging also took about a week longer than planned.

The construction of a new bridge across the Shoshone River to the ski area was completed in early summer.

Fundraising director Garrett Growney said the project will only continue with this year's construction if it has necessary financial backing. An indebted effort is "the last thing this community needs," he said. He said backers would rather delay the opening if it meant getting the project right.

The commissioners have been vocal in their support for reopening Sleeping Giant.

"I think it's one of the best thing that can truly happen in this area," Commissioner Marie Fontaine said.