Marmot Basin opens new Knob Chair for 2024

“You ain’t in Kansas any more when you’re up there, this is big terrain, above treeline in the Canadian Rockies,” says Brian Rode, VP Marketing at Marmot Basin. “You’re not just skiing a manicured, cut run through the trees.”

We’re talking steep, high alpine bowls and chutes, punctuated by rock bands and regularly pocketed with untouched snow. Added to Tres Hombres, Eagle East, Upper Basin, Charlie’s Bowl and Cornice, the newly opened Marmot Cirque seriously ups the challenge for advanced skiers and boarders.

Being up on Marmot 2 that day in spring 2023, having traversed across the saddle, booted up around the remaining avalanche closure in the centre of the saddle, skied across the ridge line and up the final section to the peak, it felt momentous.

Dropping in, to steep, straight fall line skiing for several hundred metres down into the basin, felt even better. And that’s nothing compared to the elation of Marmot’s safety team, who have been working for years to open the terrain. 

“Felt pretty damn good,” deadpanned Kerry MacDonald. For Marmot’s longtime director of safety operations, and before that a patroller and avalanche technician, it was the culmination of nearly two decades for him. 

“Looking at that terrain for over 20 years, where I would go and ski it, to finally getting up there and picking different lines because there are so many great lines to ski. Standing atop Marmot 2 centre fall line, looking all the way to the chalet, it’s just such a great view between your ski tips.”

Chronicling the history of this project in its entirety is one for the history books, but MacDonald sums it up.

“Peter Amann and his team first proposed it in 2003-04. The first step was getting Cornice open in 2005 and then a hut on the peak. We attempted to open M1 left in 2005 and again in 2007 but at the time it didn’t work out so we shifted gears.

“Once the Paradise opened, Tres made the most sense, so we stepped back from the cirque. After opening Tres in 2017, we looked back at the cirque again. 

“For the last five years, we worked to develop our avalanche control strategy, manage the terrain, and start opening from M3 centre over, and then M1 left, the high traverse and the cat roads.”

And that’s the short version of what MacDonald describes as a three-phase plan that involved teams of avalanche technicians working on ski cutting, explosive and control work, and developing safety plans for terrain access and accident management, among other things.

But from a layperson’s perspective, what this all means is, new fun black diamond terrain to ski. So what can skiers and snowboarders expect?

“Really good fall line skiing from 200 - 500 metres long, open alpine, rocky terrain so lots of things to jump off, explore,” MacDonald describes. 

As with other high alpine terrain in the Rockies, snow conditions will play a big role in how frequently the terrain is open and accessible, but now that it’s open, it is within the safety team’s mandate to manage the terrain.

“Just like the rest of our terrain, whether Tres or Knob, Cornice, Eagle’s East, Thunder Bowl, we have an assessment every morning, so terrain opens and closes based on ability, weather and conditions, and everything else.”

For the immediate future, that leaves one simple step. If you’re an advanced skier or snowboarder and you haven't checked out the new terrain, you’ll want to go soon. Rope fencing and clearly marked gates make it clear where you’re able to safely access the terrain, so be sure to follow ski area direction. 

Lastly, with all such terrain conditions can change quickly and the season is getting shorter by the day, so the time to get there is now.