Dump of fresh snow early Christmas gift for South Okanagan ski resorts
The so-called “atmospheric river” that has been dumping snow on mountain passes and disrupting plans for motorists driving to or from the coast over the past couple of days is bad timing for those trying to get home for the holidays but a blessing for the Okanagan’s southernmost ski resorts.
The snow is coming at a crucial time as the two resorts in the South Okanagan gear up for the all-important Christmas season.
Baldy Mountain Resort, located around 40 kilometres east of Oliver, was scheduled to open this weekend but operators were anxiously scanning the skies for snow as the weekend approached. The hill was in dire need of snow.
Not any more, according to Andrew Zwicker, the marketing manager at Baldy Mountain as the resort held a soft opening today, Dec. 20, with the lodge and cafeteria opening.
“There was 18 cm that had fallen by this morning when I came in, probably 20 by now and still coming down hard,” Zwicker says.
The dump gives the resort ample snow to open up for skiing tomorrow, right on time for the promised opening day.
“We needed this snow to get the depth to safely open the mountain,” he says.
The Sugar Lump, chair will be open to service the Fair-weather and Beaver Trails and maybe more if it keeps snowing, he says.
Lift tickets sell tomorrow for $25 for anyone over six, $5 six and under.
The resort is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. through to Jan. 6, when it will return to the regular winter schedule of Thursday to Monday.
On the west side of the valley, about 45 km west of Penticton, Apex Mountain Resort is open but was also looking for more snow before opening all its terrain.
Apex reported on social media it had received 16 cm of new snow overnight with more snow coming down today.
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