Castle Mountain Resort to invest more than $1.5 m in Resort improvements

Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta – Castle Mountain Resort is excited to announce that work on several major projects is underway, which will enhance the guest experience in time for the 2021-2022 season. This summer’s projects include upgrades to both indoor and outdoor spaces, headlined by another major investment on snowmaking. The most notable projects being undertaken are:

 

Snow making infrastructure, first installed in 2019, will be expanded to the main mountain (Gravenstafel Mountain). Underground electrical and water pipeline infrastructure will make its way to the corner of North Road, near the bottom of North Bowl. This nearly 1.1 KM expansion will allow for better snow coverage and earlier access to and from the main mountain than ever before. Additionally, a second snow making pump as well as additional snow making machines, will be added. This will allow the resort to more than double the amount of snow it makes at any given time, allowing more terrain to be accessible in the early season as well as providing better snow coverage throughout the season.

The resort will also make additional investments in water storage, to compliment this expansion, by way of a second water reservoir. Made in Alberta by Rugged Enterprises of Taber, Alberta, and holding the equivalent of 4 Olympic swimming pools worth of water, the new reservoir will help the resort ensure it is compliant with strict, government mandated water conservation objectives. Water will be stored in the spring, when flow rates are at their peak and conservation objectives met, then used in the late fall when snow making is most needed.

 

Nearly completed, new flooring for the upstairs portion of the day lodge will greet guests this season. Replacing aged carpet, new rubberized flooring will ensure a clean, non-slip surface which is suitable not only for winter guests, but also for guests of weddings in the summer season.

 

Resort staff and contractors have been working to replace the Tamarack (Red) Chair drive. Often touted as the “brain” of a lift, the drive is the unit which controls the motor of the lift and sends commands to start and stop, among other things. Replacement of the Red Chair drive will help to ensure the longevity of one of Castle’s most important lifts, ensuring reliable access to alpine terrain for many years to come.

 

Guests of Castle’s Powder Stagecoach Cat Skiing operation will be riding in style this season, in the comfort of a new cat skiing cabin. The new 13 passenger cabin, made in Alberta by Metal Form Industries Inc. (Innisfail, AB), will arrive in time for the 2021-2022 cat skiing season and will be paired with a repurposed snowcat formerly of Castle’s snow grooming fleet. The new cabin will feature comforts such as deluxe bucket seats, two cabin heaters, an audio/charging system, and side window defrosters, just to name a few. Castle’s Powder Stagecoach Cat Skiing operation will continue to operate 5 days / week this season, from December 28, 2021 to March 19, 2022.

“We’re proud to be reinvesting in the experience of our guests” says Director of Mountain Operations, Jason Crawford. “This summer’s projects represent a reinvestment of every single penny of profit our resort made this past season, and then some. We are proud to maintain the longstanding tradition of reinvesting to continue to improve the experience of our guests.”

Castle Mountain Resort is scheduled to open, for the 2021-2022 season, on Friday, December 3. A limited number of season passes remain available with reduced rates in effect until September 30.

 

Closer to Heaven, Down to Earth; Castle Mountain Resort is the second largest mountain resort, in Alberta, by acreage. Nestled in the southern Alberta Rockies, adjacent to the communities of Pincher Creek and the Crowsnest Pass, Castle Mountain Resort boasts 94+ runs across 3592 acres of terrain. Included in this is Castle’s Powder Stagecoach Cat-Skiing operation; one of the only resort-based cat-skiing operations in western Canada. Known for its abundant snowfall and short lift lines, Castle Mountain Resort remains one of the last affordable, down-to-earth, and authentic Rocky Mountain winter experiences.