Skiers and snowboarders are returning to Castle Mountain now, but the local ski resort faced challenges from Mother Nature at the beginning of the season.
“The start of the season was pretty tough, morale was low,” said Tahlia Spangen, a lift operator who works for the resort in her first season, originally from Australia. “There was a lot of talk about whether the season will continue.”
The local ski resort is familiar with limited snow and battling with Mother Nature. Castle Mountain Sales and Marketing manager Cole Fawcett describes this type of year as a “one in ten.”
“Castle has traditionally been significantly affected by a lack of snowfall,” he said. “So, the resort recently invested in snow-making machines … but Castle couldn’t always use them.”
Assistant Manager of Castle’s Maintenance Department, Jeremy Hargreaves said, “It was very challenging to keep making snow, the weather was very difficult … Our snowmakers have performed very well to get us to this point.”
“It wasn’t until the last week really when we had the last meter and a half of fresh snowfall that we knew we could turn off the snow machines this year,” said Hargreaves.
“We’re actually at about 95 per cent of snowfall as last year to the same date,” Fawcett said.
As Castle Mountain heads into the final weeks of operation, there is an atmosphere of excitement and relief.
“As we head down the home stretch, we’re feeling quite good,” Fawcett said.
“It’s looking amazing, and the morale is elevated, everyone is in a positive mood,” explained Spangen. “It’s so good to be around and to see some smiling faces around castle.”
Spring passes are now on sale, with the end of the season set for Sunday, April 7.
