172 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

New York-based Extell Development is, according to this recent WSJ article, in the midst of trying to build a $2 billion full-service ski and snowboard resort near Park City, Utah. It would be the first new resort in the United States in about four decades. These things are, clearly, difficult to get approved, and the fundamentals are, arguably, not all that great. In the early 1990s, the US had about 546 ski and snowboard resorts across the country. As of the 2018-2019 season that number had dropped to 476, according to the WSJ. People are skiing less than they used it, it would seem.

[Victoria Watcher]

is it just me or does the “marketing manager” do a great job here of making a trip to the mountain seem absolutely dismal this year?

https://www.timescol...gton-1.24245032

pit toilets
lots of outdoor lineups
use your car as your dressing room
no tents or any cover whatsoever during bad weather
a lot of areas closed off

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 November 2020 - 09:19 AM.

[max.bravo]

I’d guess a lot of Marketing Managers have been turned into Covid Compliance Managers and Customer Expectation Managers.

I bet the resort owners are glad just to be able to sell lift tickets. With very little to do this winter season, they could have a good year even with the restrictions.

[Victoria Watcher]

yes that’s probably true.

make it seem too fun and you’ll be shut down (butchart gardens).

[Victoria Watcher]

Winter enthusiasts have been enjoying powder days at Mount Washington over the holidays, where more than 60 centimetres of snow has fallen in the past week.

 

“The conditions have been incredible,” said marketing manager Kayla Stockton. “There’s pockets of powder still to be found everywhere in the morning. It’s been perfectly cold for the groomed runs, just incredible. And we’ve had some nice days of some good sunshine as well.”

 

More powder days are on the way for the mountain, with over 100 centimetres of snow forecast for Sunday alone and more than 40 cm expected on Saturday.

 

Like many businesses right now, the mountain is short-staffed, so some food menus have been reduced and visitors might wait a little longer for their meals, Stockton said. The resort is still hiring for the season.

 

Outside, however, things are in full swing, with all ski lifts running, including the Boomerang chair, which allows access to more advanced terrain on the mountain’s backside and opened earlier than usual this year on Christmas Eve. The chair typically opens when there’s enough snow around mid-January.

 

 

https://www.timescol...-island-4912092

[Victoria Watcher]

A skier has died in an inbounds avalanche at Whistler Blackcomb resort.

The 34-year-old man was swept away in a size 1 inbounds avalanche on Tuesday, April 5. The avalanche occurred in the Westridge area on Whistler mountain, an alpine bowl area accessible via the peak chair.

Avalanche Canada rates size 1 avalanches as ‘relatively harmless’.

https://www.vicnews....he-at-whistler/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 April 2022 - 10:28 AM.

[LJ]

^Unless you die of course.

[Mike K.]

This is quite the thing. Mt. Washington is opening up for Father’s Day: https://mountwashing...r-ski-soar.html

[Victoria Watcher]

Mount Cain was built by loggers—but now logging has come to the mountain

Loggers, logging and Mount Cain have happily coexisted for half a century.

Loggers played a critical role in establishing the mountain, in building and maintaining its infrastructure, and in supporting it as members of the community. Logging companies built the road up the mountain, and donated equipment to keep it clear.

Now, logging is knocking on Mount Cain’s own door, and some of the people who love the mountain feel betrayed.

It would be hard to describe Campbell Wilson as a tree-hugger. But when he saw a logging road already bulldozed into the side of a popular area for backcountry skiing next to the mountain, he wondered why the skiers hadn’t had any warning it was coming.

"It was a bit of a shock. You could see it right from the Ridge Run," Wilson says. "I just felt we should have known about it."

The feeling of being encroached on has some locals organizing to prevent the planned logging from taking place.

 

 

 

https://www.capitald...nt-cain-logging

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 August 2022 - 06:26 AM.

[Spy Black]

I skied regularly at Mt. Washington for years, but I had no idea that Mt. Cain even existed ... a second ski hill on Vancouver Island! - who knew?

 

Can't beat the lift ticket prices, although the 6 hour drive there (including chain-up, which sounds like it's pretty much always "on"), and the 6 hour drive back is a bit much ... you could ski any of Vancouvers mountains (including Whistler) in less driving time. 

[Victoria Watcher]

I skied regularly at Mt. Washington for years, but I had no idea that Mt. Cain even existed ... a second ski hill on Vancouver Island! - who knew?

 

Can't beat the lift ticket prices, although the 6 hour drive there (including chain-up, which sounds like it's pretty much always "on"), and the 6 hour drive back is a bit much ... you could ski any of Vancouvers mountains (including Whistler) in less driving time. 

 

Mt. Arrowsmith was also a ski hill.  When did it close up?

 

1999:

 

 

There's too much snow for the lifts at Mount Arrowsmith ski hill. A 30-foot measuring pole is buried beneath the snow, along with the T-bar lift.

"There's still too much snow," said hill manager Ken Bilton. "We can't see the lifts."

Mount Arrowsmith was open in December and January. But in February there were 21 days in which the mountain got more than 2 inches of snow a day. In one 30-hour period the ski area got 84 inches.

https://archive.seat...18&slug=2950099

 

 

This is the old Arrowsmith Ski hill on Mount Cokely, this ski hill was shut down in the 90s and the old lodge burned soon after, mainly access seemed to be the issue for this great ski hill to shut down, with a logging road and little maintenance as the access, perhaps a paved road or gondola from the north side could have saved this precious ski hill, allegations of inconsistent snow are believed to be false, the road is still accessible up the pass main

 

http://wikimapia.org...wsmith-Ski-Hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forbidden Plateau closed in 1999.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 August 2022 - 11:54 AM.

[Spy Black]

Ski’d both Arrowsmith and Forbidden back in the day. 
Arrowsmith was pretty hard to get to, and although Forbidden was close to the highway, it was also kind of a dump, even in its heyday. 
 

I’m pretty sure all the lift towers are still there on both sites, although they’ve been working for years to try and clean up Forbidden as part of a land claims settlement. 

[lanforod]

Arrowsmith removed towers in 2005 per an article I read earlier.

[Victoria Watcher]

As Mount Washington Alpine Resort prepares to officially open on Friday, visitors are being asked to bring their own bottled water and reduce the number of toilet flushes amid a troubling water shortage.

 

https://www.timescol...hortage-6216014

[Nparker]

Maybe they should melt some snow.

[Victoria Watcher]

Why this endangered species from B.C. is featured on a U.S. postal stamp

https://www.cbc.ca/n...gered-1.6675506

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 December 2022 - 10:24 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

Mount Washington has received its first snowfall of the season, with more than 40 centimetres blanketing the resort.

 

https://www.timescol...hington-7738494

[Victoria Watcher]

Opened yesterday.  Only 40cm of snow, just one or two runs open.

[Victoria Watcher]

13 hours ago:

 

 

https://www.facebook...CfT6QRoKbqbTmnl

 

 

 

 

Well, folks, we finally received some snow for Christmas, but unfortunately, the storm yesterday also brought warm and windy conditions. The freezing level here in the mountains rose drastically, saturating our slopes and sadly setting back our aim to open more terrain.

Our team is working hard to assess conditions and recover as much as possible. There are colder temperatures and more snow in this week's forecast, and we hope to open more lifts and terrain as soon as possible. Please stay tuned to the Daily Dispatch feed for updates, as well as the Nordic and alpine conditions pages to view what is open.

We appreciate your patience with Mother Nature's slow start to our season and for continuing your snow dances along with the rest of the Mount Washington community. Thank you for your kindness to our team members and your resilience in continuing to find awesome adventures here in Vancouver Island's coastal playground. #myMW

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 December 2023 - 09:24 PM.