New chairlifts, terrain, milestones for Alberta, BC ski resorts for 2024-25

Sunshine Village Angel chair replacement

Sunshine is bidding farewell to their beloved Angel Express chair that was originally installed in 1988.

The new Super Angel chairlift, Canada's first six-seater bubble lift complete with heated seats, is scheduled to start spinning in November of this year. Read more right here. 

Castle Mountain acquires old Angel chair from Sunshine 

If you're sad about the retirement of Sunshine's Angel Express, you'll be happy to know that Castle Mountain Resort has acquired that chairlift. 

Details have not yet been released about the timeline for installation, where the new chairlift will be located, or whether it will replace an existing lift, but once it is operational it will be Castle's first high-speed, detachable chairlift. Here's the April 1 announcement (and no, it's not an April Fool's prank).

Sun Peaks West Bowl chair, new ski cross course

Construction is underway on a brand new, high speed detachable quad chairlift which will open for the 2024-25 winter season, bringing lift access back to the West Bowl, (previously accessed by the West Bowl T-bar which was decommissioned in 2021). Full details here. 

This new quad chair will have new top and bottom locations, and will double the length of the previous T-bar. Sun Peaks' lift count will rise to 8 chairs and 5 surface lifts once the West Bowl Chair is complete.

Sun Peaks also recently announced they are building a permanent ski and snowboard cross course on Sundance Mountain. This project is in partnership with Powder Ventures, a local excavation company. The new course is scheduled to open during the upcoming winter season. See the official announcement for more. 

Whitewater terrain expansion

Whitewater continues to expand terrain after the addition of the Raven Chair last season. First up, their inbounds terrain will feature an additional 60 acres of diverse terrain, including challenging steeps and gladed trees.

Trail maps showing the new terrain will be available later this summer. They are also adding 50 more parking spaces and expanded HOV parking, meaning getting to the hill will be easier. In a move greatly appreciated by families, their Youth and Junior Season Pass rates will remain the same for the coming season. Read more about Whitewater's plans here.

Lake Louise Upper Juniper chair

During the upcoming season, Lake Louise will open their new Upper Juniper chairlift. This lift will carry skiers and riders from the top of the Juniper chair to a point west of the upper terminal of the Top of the World chairlift.

It will provide access to the Summit lift and will allow skiers and boarders using the West Bowl egress skiway to return to the upper mountain without passing through the Whiskey Jack base area. It will reduce congestion at the base area and decrease traffic on the Top of the World lift. 

Grouse Mountain gets new gondola

Grouse Mountain's new state-of-the-art gondola is scheduled to open this winter. The new gondola will replace the aging Blue Skyride and will allow the resort to return to just above its original capacity when both the Blue and Red Skyrides were fully operational. Here's the full announcement. 

Other notable resort developments

Terrain isn't the only way resorts are enhancing the ski experience for 2024-25. Read on for some more cool initiatives underway at Alberta and BC ski areas.

Rabbit Hill 70th anniversary 

The 2024/2025 season will mark Rabbit Hill's 70th anniversary, and the ski area will be holding events and promotions throughout the season to celebrate this incredible milestone. A special 70th anniversary logo will soon be revealed along with exclusive anniversary merchandise featuring some unique designs. 

They are taking retired staff uniforms and repurposing them into new, high-quality products, including boot bags, tote bags, crossbody bags, and dog collars. Follow their socials and watch the website for additional information about these upcoming celebratory events and the merchandise release. 

Shames offers unlimited free skiing to kids 12 and under 

The 2024/2025 season will make Shames Mountain the first resort in Canada to offer unlimited free skiing to kids 12 and under. We know families will appreciate this unprecedented move. They are also shuffling their age categories slightly. More info here. 

In addition, they'll be rolling out their Climate Change Resiliency Project, which is a collaboration between MMC-Shames Mountain and a number of community partners. 

The goal is to help mitigate the impact of unstable winters, including preparing the lower mountain so it can operate on a minimum of 30 cm of snow instead of the current 80 cm. It also aims to address drainage issues to ensure the hill is better positioned to withstand major winter rain events. For more, check out the full resiliency project details here.

Big White new staff accommodations

While taking steps towards modernization and sustainability, Big White is unveiling new staff accommodations in the Black Forest subdivision for this upcoming season. 

Marmot Basin, Jasper for 2024-25

Many skiers and snowboarders watched from the edge of their seats as the Jasper Wildfire complex swept through the beloved national park in July, threatening Marmot Basin ski area and doing significant damage to the town.

Approximately 30 per cent of the town was burned, including many homes. The entire town was evacuated and as of publication, locals were still awaiting a safe return date (which the Jasper Municipal incident command announced as tentative for Aug 16.) 

Meanwhile, Marmot Basin was spared, with the fire passing just below the ski area leasehold. Operations are expected to proceed as normal for 2024-25 but the community will be in a state of rebuilding for some time. 

If you're looking to make a difference in the Alberta ski scene this winter, Doc Pow has some guidance on where to direct your Jasper support.