Canyon Ski Resort is already preparing for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
The resort, just east of the city, will host all freestyle ski and snowboard events for the Games, which means new hills need to be constructed.
On the snowboard side, slopestyle, boardercross and parallel giant slalom runs are being constructed. Mogul, slopestyle and big air runs are being constructed for the freestyle skiing.
David Martel, resort general manager, said a lot of planning has gone into the construction.
“There’s been different variations of where courses will go, and we’ve finally did determine what’s going to work best. We’re super happy with how everything turned out,” said Martel.
Planning initially began when the City of Red Deer put its bid in to host the Games.
When it was announced Red Deer would host the Canada Winter Games, planning “ramped up” and construction began earlier this year.
Martel said they are doing the construction now so they can test out the hills this winter. This would leave plenty of time to make adjustments before the Games begin in February 2019.
“We’ve been working hand-in-hand with Red Deer to get things prepared and to see what we needed to do in order to have these Games,” he said.
Martel said he’s particularly excited about the mogul track.
“It’s completely revamped and is going to be a world-class mogul site when it’s done. We couldn’t ask for a better location. It’s spectator friendly – you can see it right from the lodge,” he said.
A pathway was cut through the trees for the boardercross track on the north side of the resort. It was important they added terrain, rather than remove terrain for skiers and snowboarders, Martel said.
“We wanted to find a way to build these events that won’t impact the public’s skiing and snowboarding,” he said.
The new tracks will be opened year-round and not just for the Canada Winter Games events, he added.
“It’s a good feeling to see where all of our hard work and time went into,” he said.
Martel said the resort is aiming to be open to the public by Nov. 11.