Castle Mountain Ski Resort

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Castle Mountain Resort

Castle Mountain Ski Resort offers some of the best skiing Canada has to offer. The resort in uncrowded, has deep and plentiful powder, and is an all-natural skiing experience. Located just east of the Continental Divide in southwest Alberta, 2.5 hours southwest of Calgary, the resort is relatively quiet as it has not hit the mainstream destination circuit. The resort has miles of groomed runs, natural halfpipes, deep fresh powder, and excellent fall line skiing and snowboarding.

The location of the resort is a bit off the beaten path. The town of Pincher Creek, Alberta is situated thirty miles west of Castle Mountain Resort, the nearest town to the ski area. Arriving to the resort area, one begins to understand and appreciate the aptly named ski area, as the valley dead ends into a huge massif looming above. Roughly two-thirds of Castle's ski terrain exists above timberline, and all of the 2,800 vertical feet cascade down a consistently steep pitch on a convex, bald dome of a mountain covering 1,500 acres. Lift service is provided by a triple chair, a double chair, two t-bars, and a handle tow. The mountain's annual snowfall average is just over 200 inches at its base and 300 inches at the upper elevations. No snowmaking supplements nature's bounty here.

The ski hill originally opened in 1967 under the name Westcastle Ski Area with a couple of t-bars on the lower flanks of the mountain. In the late 1960s, another t-bar was erected to North Peak via the current Bandito trail, but financial hard times forced the operators to sell off that lift in 1971. After the uninsured base lodge burned to the ground in 1976, the mountain reopened in 1978, owned and managed this time by the town of Pincher Creek under the auspices of the Westcastle Development Authority (WDA). The WDA operated the mountain under a mandate to keep the ski hill viable until an investor could be located to purchase the resort, and functioned with a couple of t-bars for lifts and used construction trailers for a base lodge.

An Edmonton consortium named Vacation Alberta Corporation entered the picture in 1989 with grandiose $72 million plans, including two 18-hole golf courses and 2,500 pillows. The locals were fearful of another Whistler being built, and opposed the development plans leading to the creation of the Westcastle Supporter's Association. Four of the key members of the association decided that if they could not find a developer, they would do it themselves. Castle Mountain Resort, Inc. raised a million dollars of share capital from 140 shareholders and began operating the mountain under the name Castle Mountain in 1996, installing the Sundance Triple Chair to mid-mountain in their first season. The new corporation saw a one-year increase in skier visits from 15,000 to 36,000. Skiing above the lift-served terrain was accessed either by hiking or on a pay-per-ride snowcat basis.

In the summer of 1998, Castle Mountain undertook the biggest expansion in its history by purchasing the used Great Divide double chair from Sunshine Village and erecting it to the mountain's summit. This move instantly transformed Castle from a small, local ski hill to a true player with 1,500 acres of lift-served terrain strung over a 2,800 vertical foot frame. The season to follow drew 65,000 skiers with sales revenues increased by 75 percent. Despite this expansion, Castle Mountain has yet to enter the destination market, drawing the majority of its skiers from Calgary which is 2.5 hours away or from nearby areas in Montana. Castle revels in its position as the irreverent, independent mountain in the neighborhood.

Now is certainly the time to visit Castle Mountain, before word of its prolific snowfall and deserted terrain continues to spread. There is no argument that Castle is a steep mountain, and the wind carries a strong roar. Castle's management likes to refer to their wind as "grooming by nature". On windy days, the front side of the mountain is the best place to be. As you ski the upper mountain, runs start out completely above treeline, but quickly enter terrain lightly studded with small krumholz and conifers. On big powder days, you can enjoy fresh lines all day. Even on a weekend day, elbow room of one to two acres per skier is common. And if the wind must blow, let it be your friend as its "natural grooming" techniques fill in your tracks as soon you carve them.

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