Banner season for area ski resorts

While most people are miserably shovelling out from under piles of snow, some ski resorts along the Rocky Mountains are enjoying excellent ski conditions.

Castle Mountain Resort has had lots of snow and good-sized crowds this year.

“It’s been going good,” said Jason Crawford, sales and marketing manager at Castle. “We’re getting lots of snow. This is a big year.”

Crawford said Castle has received close to eight metres of snow this season.

“We can probably count on one hand since the New Year for the number of days it hasn’t snowed. That’s obviously brought in lots of skiers.”

Crawford said without being hit directly by any massive storms, their avalanche team has been able to stay on top of their avalanche control routes. These are done every day to ensure safety and due to the nonstop snow.

As for numbers, while they may have started slow in terms of skiers showing up, Crawford said they have surpassed what they were expecting up to this point in the season.

Castle is expected to close April 8, but until that time, Crawford says there is still plenty of time to get in on the action.

“Conditions are great, and we have lots of activities — not just skiing and snowboarding,” he said.

Riley Polumbus, a public relations manager at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana, said this year’s snowfall is fast approaching the 10year average.

“Snow-wise, we’re doing extremely well,” she said.

“Right now, we’re at 273 inches (6.93 metres). Our 10-year average is 305 inches (7.75 metres). That’s for total-season snowfall.”

Also, our settled base is 137 inches (3.48 metres), which is just really good at this point in the season. That’s the most snow depth we’ve had on this date in a while — if ever.”

She said while it is too soon to tell if this year might see a record for snow, the resort is in very good shape.

“It seems like these storms just keep taking aim at our resort,” she said.

As far as the number of skiers heading to Whitefish, Polumbus said they are pacing ahead of last year, which was a record for the resort.

“If things keep up, and people keep showing an interest in coming here, that’s definitely continues to bode well for us,” she said.

Fernie Ski Resort is also enjoying a tremendous snow season with a 311 centimetre base while Kimberley is enjoying a 126-cm base. At Pass Powderkeg, the hill is enjoying an average base depth of 88 cm.

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