BARRHEAD-Misty Ridge Ski hill is poised to open in time for the Christmas holidays.
Or perhaps even earlier, assuming the weather cooperates.
Unfortunately, Misty Ridge Ski Hill Society president Mathew Swan said the weather has not cooperated with little to no snow falling at the hill located 40 minutes outside of Barrhead overlooking the Athabasca River.
"We have been out there twice already making snow trying to get a good base, but to make snow you need it must be -10 Celcius and there hasn't been a lot of days like that lately, but I am confident that winter weather will come," he said.
The Barrhead Leader spoke to Swan on Dec. 8, after almost a week of above-average temperatures.
Although ski hills are always held hostage by the whims of the weather, they would especially appreciate a good start this year after several subpar seasons, mostly due to poor winter weather, i.e. lack of fresh snow combined with prolonged periods of extreme cold.
Last season it looked like they were on pace to have the best season in recent memory in terms of attendance, snow conditions and their bottom line, but a late cold snap in mid-March followed by the premature closing of the hill due to the coronavirus put a damper on the season.
"Which is really too bad because we really wanted to show off the improvements we made to the hill," he said.
Before the season, the society, upgraded the chalet's kitchen and water facilities. They also replaced its aging toe-rope on the bunny hill with a brand new T-bar style ski-lift.
The ski-lift, a more-than $100,000 expenditure funded through the combination of a $25,000 donation from the Barrhead Elks, a $25,000 Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant and a one-time $50,000 contribution from the County of Barrhead.
This year the majority of the work in the offseason was minor cosmetic work to the hill in preparation for winter, as well as the overhaul of the main ski-lift motor.
As for the impact the coronavirus will have on Misty Ridge's operations, Swan said, he did not believe it would be too onerous.
(Editor's note: On Dec. 8, the province announced several restrictions including the closure of recreation facilities, however, it was noted that skiing facilities would be allowed to continue operating.)
"We are still working on the details. A lot of it will all depend on what restrictions the province and public health have in place at the time, but I don't think it will have too much of an impact on how we operate," he said, adding the biggest change would be that they would be restricting the number of patrons that would be allowed in the chalet at a given time.
To compensate for this, Misty Ridge plans to create several outdoor warming stations.
For the most part, Swan said they are following the lead of the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA). The CWSAA is a not-for-profit trade association that represents the ski areas of Western Canada. Its primary areas of focus are safety and risk management, and government advocacy as well as attempting to foster future growth in the industry.
In the CWSAA guidance document “Ski Well, Be Well”, it recommends face coverings when indoors and when physical distancing cannot be maintained, including when outdoors. The association also suggests that ski areas enact lift and line protocols to ensure there is appropriate physical distancing and facial coverings.
Swan added that as the ski hill society is a not-for-profit it takes a lot of volunteers and that they welcome new people into the fold.
For more information about the upcoming season, refer to the Misty Ridge website or Facebook pages.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
