A gleeful crowd fired off coloured powder cannons at the base of Baldy Mountain Ski Area last Friday as part of the resort’s grand reopening celebration. (Dan Walton photo)
The experience of rediscovery was felt by hundreds of skiers and boarders last weekend, as the Mount Baldy Ski Area kicked off its first full season for the first time in four years.
“We’re really excited to be here this weekend,” said skier Astrid Kihl from Grand Forks, who was at Mount Baldy with her two teenage sons last Friday.
“The snow is really great and I was surprised at how much snow there actually was – even up in the trees it was really nice,” she said. “The staff and everyone here seems to be really happy and helpful.”
One of Kihl’s sons will soon begin a ski instructor course, “and he wanted to make sure he got out on the snow before the course started.”
Also spending the day at the resort was Tyler Woykin from Midway, who came to Mount Baldy almost every weekend before its struggle began.
“Everyone’s gotta come out here and enjoy the powder,” he said. Baldy’s always been a good hill. Friendly staff, small community and they’ve got some awesome runs.”
After a full day, Boykin said operations were running smoothly and “it was nice to see the whole hill up and running again. And it’s great that they’re employing some locals. I know a lot of the employees and it’s nice to see that.”
Bob and Iris Stubbs, who have owned a cabin near the resort for 12 years, said it’s “fantastic” to see Mount Baldy up and running again.
“Joey (O’Brien, managing director of Baldy) has done a great job,” said Iris. “He’s the life of the party.”
“The fact that they’re getting it going again after nearly two years of no operation is great,” Bob said.
While it’s easy for locals to appreciate Mount Baldy, there are still untapped markets.
Marketing director Stephanie O’Brien, Joey’s daughter, said the ski hill’s small scale makes it attractive for Lower Mainland audiences who have become tired of big crowds and long lineups that are obligatory at massive resorts.
“We try and keep it small. Not keep it small, but keep a small feeling so it feels like a family resort,” she said. “I have skied all over the world and I have never seen early season conditions like this. The team that did the early season brush clearing removed all those hidden dragons and little snags.”
Stephanie said because the hill is so large it’s never hard to find fresh terrain that hasn’t been spoiled by other riders.
“The mountain is so undiscovered you can always move over to another pocket.”
To ensure that a day at the resort will leave a lasting impression, Mount Baldy’s marketing team is measuring guest experience, aiming for visitors to report their satisfaction at a minimum 80 per cent.
After their first batch of surveys, Joey O’Brien said 10-out-of-10 was the only result he saw on the scorecards.
Since bringing the resort back to life, Mount Baldy’s Facebook page has made over 200,000 impressions. Stephanie said such a vast reach was driven by content marketing, which is when enthusiastic customers share and publicize the resort’s pictures, videos and updates.
For all the latest news from the hill, skiers and snowboarders are invited to subscribe to Mount Baldy’s newsletter through skibaldy.com.
Through their website riders can also access the snow report, and webcams from the hill will be live in the coming weeks.
The facility is now open seven days a week.
DAN WALTON
Regional Reporter
