Skiers and snowboarders will be happy to know that Mount Baldy ski resort is reopening in January after sitting idle for some time due to financial difficulties. The hill will be open on a limited basis with discounted passes.
Richard McGuire photos
The Mount Baldy ski resort opens this weekend to the general public for the first time since 2013.
The hill had a limited run on Sunday for village residents only.
Fred Johnston, president of Baldy Capital Corporation, said the main impediment preventing an earlier opening was the need to have provincial lift permits in place.
“The insurance, which was one of our key concerns, is now in place,” Johnston said in an interview last week, adding that the lift permits were ready to be issued and it was just a matter of when the company would receive them.
With the lift permits now in place, the hill opens to the general public on Friday, Jan. 16 at 9:30 a.m. and will be open over the weekend.
The company is still waiting on a liquor license as well as a food permit from Interior Health, but these won’t delay the opening, he said. He expects the food permit to be issued shortly, while the timing of the liquor permit is less certain.
With recent snowfalls, snow conditions were very good last week, Johnston said.
“We’ve had the groomers out and the runs are ready,” he said last week. “The lifts are ready and technically we’re ready, so it’s just a case of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on the permits.”
Since the agreement allowing the resort to reopen, response has been very positive, Johnston said.
“I received a lot of emails,” he said. “Out of all the emails, I only received one negative email, so that’s pretty good.”
The ski resort was closed for the entire 2013-14 season after its American owners ran into financial difficulties.
In July, G-Force Group of Vancouver received court approval to try to find an arrangement to reopen the hill. Its goal was to have the hill in operation by December.
Johnston said that although the season at Baldy is getting a late start, other resorts have been dealing with challenges of not a lot of snow this year.
“So we’re not really as far behind as we thought,” he said.
The initial plan is to open Mount Baldy only on Friday to Sunday each week and only the Sugarlump quad chair and Magic Carpet will be open.
Based on the limited opening, passes are being offered at discounted prices of $29 for an adult day pass, $249 for an adult season pass and $449 for a family pass allowing any number of children.
An additional 25 per cent discount will be offered to holders of passes at other ski areas.
Baldy passes have been available at the ticket office since Saturday.
Johnston believes problems in the past occurred because too much focus was put on real estate and not enough on the day-to-day operation of the ski hill.
“We’re basically going to give it the attention that it needs to make sure it’s got the funding that it needs to run well and give people a good reason for coming out,” he said.
The agreement announced in December is an interim management agreement with G-Force acting as the receiver.
The agreement allows the hill to operate while the receivership process and court approval of an asset purchase agreement can be completed over the next few months.
Baldy Capital Corporation, based in Calgary, has entered into a memorandum of understanding to purchase Mount Baldy Ski Resort. Johnston’s company has arranged interim financing.
