The newly improved Canyon Ski Resort has become a “world-class” facility and an upgraded training ground for new generations of athletes, says 2019 Winter Games Committee chair Lyn Radford.
An announcement was made Thursday, exactly three months before the Games begin Feb. 15, about the last venue needed for the sports spectacle.
Resort general manager David Martel said some ski runs were widened and graded, equipment was upgraded to produce snow at twice the speed as before, and the Canyon Ski Chalet was made more accessible with a new elevator.
These improvements were needed to make the venue suitable for the Winter Games ski and snowboard events.
“The Canyon Ski Resort has been excited to work with the city of Red Deer and the Canada Winter Games Committee over the past five years to bring the Games to Red Deer, and more specifically, (to bring) alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding to Canyon,” Martel added.
He believes the upgrades have allowed the resort to have Western Canada’s best mogul site, based on feedback from a competition held there last year. Martel feels it will be a national-level training ground for young athletes.
Upgraded ski-cross and border-cross facilities have also won praise as potentially putting Canyon on the map for North American-level competitions, said Martel.
He noted the new snow-making equipment works so well, Canyon was the first ski resort to open in Western Canada this year.
Radford said all of these improvements will remain as legacies for the greater community once the Games are over, enabling Canyon to host provincial and national events, and to give young Central Albertans more opportunities for training.
With 80 acres of ski-able terrain, 22 runs and six lifts, Canyon Ski Resort is Alberta’s largest non-mountain family ski area. The facility has received $1.6 million of upgrades since 2016 to meet the requirements of the Winter Games.
Radford said it’s exciting to be welcoming “tens of thousands” of Canadians to our city in a short time.
https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/red-deers-canyon-ski-resort-is-ready-for-the-2019-canada-winter-games/