Castle Mountain seeing ‘top notch conditions’ after rough start to 2023-24 season

Castle Mountain Resort is seen on March 12, 2024.

Officials with Castle Mountain Resort say they are confident they'll end the season strong despite a rocky beginning.

The Alberta mountain saw little snowfall and record warmth in December 2023, followed by extreme cold in January, both of which negatively impacted visitation.  

Despite this, marketing manager Cole Fawcett says February marked a positive change.

"We were fortunate to get a lot of support from mother nature and we ended up with about 200 centimeters (of snow) within that 30 day stretch from Feb. 6 to March 6," Fawcett said.

"Conditions right now are top notch; the best they've been all season."

Fawcett says being a seasonal attraction means that every day counts for sales.

"If you lose one of those key holiday periods – like Christmas wasn't ideal for us, we didn't see the numbers we would normal expect through that period – and if you lose one of those holiday weeks, it's going to be a tough slough the rest of the season."

Castle Mountain invested $3.5 million into snow-making equipment over the past five years, something that Fawcett says is paying off.

"We were in a position at times where we were literally shoveling snow onto trails to keep them in shape to be operational, so without investments in snow making back in 2019 and in 2021, this season could've looked a lot different."

Those on the slopes say this year has been a "mixed bag," but conditions now are what they’ve been waiting for.

"Last month has been phenomenal," said skier Steven Young. "I'm really excited for the hill and for all of us in the area to get great snow."

"So far so good," chuckled Tyler Runquist. "We're actually up with the school, so we have a bunch of our students here learning to ski, and some already know how to ski, but it's really nice and no there’s no wind."

With less than a month to go until the end of the season, skiers and boarders are making up for lost time.

"It isn’t over yet," Fawcett said.

"There may not be any snow on the Prairies at this point in time, but we should be at least a few weeks away from golf courses opening, hopefully - fingers crossed.

"We can keep our attention focused on the fact that there is lots of great snow here in the mountains."

Castle Mountain has a closing date set for April 7.