Castle Mountain ski resort delays opening by a week due to lack of snowfall

Staff at Castle Mountain resort say the opening date has been pushed to Dec. 10.

Skiers in southwestern Alberta will need to wait a little bit longer to play in their backyard because there just isn't enough snow.

Officials at Castle Mountain Ski Resort made the announcement they would be adjusting the opening date for the facility to Dec. 10.

It was supposed to open Friday, but with no snow and warm weather hampering their ability to create any, operators said it was better to wait another week.

It is not what they were looking forward to, especially after investing more than $1.5 million into upgrades over the summer, but staff say they are still optimistic for the season.

"We live for this and we can't wait to get the door open at Castle for this season coming up," said Cole Fawcett, the resort's sales and marketing manager.

He adds there are a lot of excited skiers aching to visit too.

"We're sold out of unrestricted season passes, we're sold out of our loyalty cards, so there is no question that there is an abundance of interest in getting out on snow again this season."

There will also be a cap on lift tickets, so those will be sold on a first come-first serve basis.

Castle Mountain is also adopting the province's Restrictions Exemption Program, so that means visitors will need to provide proof of vaccination or a privately paid for negative test result to access certain areas.

Further details can be found online.