The future appears so bright for ‘Snowy’ Joey O’Brien and the Mount Baldy ski resort that skiers and snowboarders are going to have to wear shades.
After years of financial doom and gloom and never knowing when and if the ski and snowboard facility would be open, there is finally a well-deserved atmosphere of optimism surrounding the Mount Baldy resort.
And the optimism is justified.
O’Brien and his Chinese business partners from the Lower Mainland took over ownership and operations of Mount Baldy back in the middle of June.
Since that time, they have poured a significant amount of money – as well as time and effort – to bring the facility up to code and have completed a very long laundry list of upgrades needed to return Mount Baldy to a functioning ski and snowboard facility.
O’Brien estimates close to $1 million has been invested in the property since June.
Some of the upgrades include a complete renovation of the day lodge, fixing and upgrading the ski lifts, purchasing a huge inventory of quality rental equipment, cleaning up more than 500 acres of adjacent land that hadn’t been touched in more than two years, installing snow fencing and selling more season passes than at any time in Mount Baldy history.
Not only will Mount Baldy now function as a top-notch ski and snowboard facility, but O’Brien points out there will be six kilometres of groomed cross-country ski trails and a new emphasis placed on opportunities for those who love snowshoeing.
There are sure to be hundreds of smiling faces on Thursday when the facility opens to the public for the first time in more than two years.
Thursday will be opening day, but the official grand opening ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.
O’Brien will be on hand to greet customers and talk about everything that has taken place over the past five months. Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie and Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson will also be on hand to give speeches and talk about how important it is to have Mount Baldy back in operation and offering a quality outdoor experience for residents spread across the south Okanagan and Boundary regions.
The residents of Osoyoos and Oliver should consider themselves very lucky that a successful entrepreneur like O’Brien is involved and has committed to turning the Mount Baldy resort into something truly special and a facility that is going to be financially viable and successful for years to come.
O’Brien has spent many years turning struggling ski hill facilities around and we have every confident he’s going to achieve all of his goals at Mount Baldy.
Only an endlessly enthusiastic guy like O’Brien would set a target of 5,000 season passes at a relatively small facility like Mount Baldy, but he’s more than halfway there before opening day.
