RED announces quad for Grey
By Arlen MacLaine
It is official. There will be a fixed-grip quad chair up Grey Mountain next season. Howard Katkov, CEO of Red Mountain Resort, made the official announcement at Rafters on Thursday, which was followed by a groundbreaking ceremony. The expansion adds 997 acres of terrain to the resort, bringing the total to 2,787. This ranks Red Mountain Resort as the 8th largest ski area in Canada, and 18th largest in the US. Needless to say, everyone involved in the project was very excited about the announcement.
“We started this project 3 years ago,” said Katkov. “After owning this resort for a number of years, and understanding this community, we felt that it was necessary to do something even bigger, outside of real estate, to bring in more destination visitors, for the sustainability of this community and the ski resort.”
The SE group, a mountain resort planning firm, was hired to research the effects of terrain expansion. In the majority of cases, the resorts had significant increase in destination visits. This was the basis of the strategy for expansion.
“It’s an experiment,” said Katkov. “There was a theory, it was validated by a third party consultant, and now we’re in it. What we’ve seen so far looks good. Last year was the best year the resort has seen in 65 years.”
Last year, with the news of accessible and affordable cat skiing on Grey Mountain, the resort saw a 29% increase in day ticket sales. “Our bookings, compared to this time last year are up over 132%,” said Katkov. “This is about sustainability for the community, the resort, and the region. It trickles down the hill. Everyone benefits from this.”
As for the location of the base of the lift, and whether or not it will be accessible via the Silverlode chair, the answer is, not yet.
Don Thompson, VP of operations and development, explained: “When we looked at the bottom terminal location, we wanted to put it in a place that provided a reasonable ride time, with it being a fixed-grip chair.” Trying to balance accessibility, while still providing a reasonable ride time proved to be impossible with a single chair. “What we’re exploring now is a form of connector, a 300 metre handle tow, accessed off Silverlode, that would build all the redundancies into the whole operating system.”
Katkov also pointed out that the area below the new lift will be developed into cross-country and snowshoe trails.
Keeping the classic, old school feel of Red Mountain, while growing the business model can be a thin line to walk. Katkov pointed out the recently renovated lodge, which was modernized, but kept the lockers downstairs and Rafters bar upstairs virtually untouched, as an example. “We’re trying to protect the history, but still have a successful economic model. It’s a balance.”
The groundbreaking ceremony had its own unique touch, as it was held inside Rafters. Earth was poured on the floor and dug with shovels, to keep with tradition. Don Thompson noted that the earth from the ceremony would go into the foundation of the base terminal for the new Grey lift.
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