Skiers and snowboarders got an extra weekend to wrap up the 2022-23 season at Canyon Ski Resort.
The ski hill, located just east of the City of Red Deer, closed for the season Sunday, which was one weekend later than expected.
“Our typical guaranteed go-to weekend is the third weekend of March, but this year’s been unique. We launched a bonus weekend because it (didn’t) quite feel like we’re done with winter yet,” said David Martel, Canyon Ski Resort general manager.
The season for Canyon began on time this past November.
“It was a consistently cold winter, but it wasn’t terribly cold. We just had a few days the resort was cold due to extreme cold,” said Martel.
“We had a great Christmas season – there were mild temperatures over Christmas. As a resort operator, that’s what everyone hopes for. We haven’t had a Christmas season like that for a long time.”
This summer will mark the first full season of the Canyon Coaster, which opened in August of last year. The targeted opening of the alpine coaster, which is the first of its kind in Alberta, is the May long weekend.
READ MORE: Canyon Ski Resort’s new alpine coaster opens
The Canyon Coaster is more than 1,300 metres in length and features a total vertical drop of 440 feet. Using their own brake, riders control their own speed, with the ability to safely reach 40 kilometres per hour.
A new attraction that will be launching this year is the summer tube slide.
“It’s an artificial sliding surface that gets put in. It will be going where our current snow tube park is. It will be similar to snow tubing, but you can wear your shorts and enjoy a summer’s day while doing it,” Martel explained.
The targeted opening of the summer tube slide is June.
Canyon has a full slate of weddings this upcoming summer as well.
“Last year I believe was a record number of weddings that we’ve done at the resort just because with the pandemic, we weren’t able to host them for a couple of years. So we’ve kind of had to get caught up on some bookings,” Martel added.
Additionally, there will also be various projects and upgrades being done at the resort over the course of the summer.
“Maintenance mode is what we get into in the summertime,” he said.
“We’re always looking forward to next winter as well.”
For more information on Canyon Ski Resort, visit www.canyonski.ca.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter