Thread: Fortress Mountain Closes

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Never been there... how was it?

It's a decent little mtn on good snow days, but did tend to be a little icy and windy. I learned how to ski there when I was five and thought it was amazing. Usually good for some decent powder days following big spring dumps and the occasional winter storm. Worthy of being saved if someone with a more interest in the hill and a little less interest in maintaining large profit margins could be found.

"Great early season snow and a new adventure skiing area that expanded the resort's terrain by 35 per cent seemed to provide a promising start to the past season. But the unusually deep snow bogged down grooming machines and the resort opened a week late, Dec. 19."

Oh no! Too much snow at a ski hill. RCR seems to be screwed up in general.

Had a pass there for two seasons. Windy, shit yes, the farside chair on a really windy day was like being in a wind tunnel.

But the unusually deep snow bogged down grooming machines

is actually meant to say

But we couldn't get our shit together, even with an off season of 6 months, to get the lifts running on time so we'll use the excuse of too much snow so we at RCR don't look like an even bigger bunch of assholes then we already are.

Originally posted by powslut
But the unusually deep snow bogged down grooming machines

is actually meant to say

But we couldn't get our shit together, even with an off season of 6 months, to get the lifts running on time so we'll use the excuse of too much snow so we at RCR don't look like an even bigger bunch of assholes then we already are.

Bingo!

Sadly, just another episode in the ever worsening RCR soap opera. Good resorts being run by lousy people. Not a very successful combination.

Double Bingo- i was going to post something like that but was too lazy. Even when they did open I heard that the farside chair wasn't running as they didn't have all of the chairs put back on.

Think of the people who bought those conds. WTF is going to happen to them. The road may not even be maintained.

Question- next year if the road is not maintained would people be allowed to to access the area by sleds? or is that a problem in the park?

Yea I was thinking of those poor folk who bought condos but I'm not sure anyone actually did. May have all been used by staff. That's the provincial park and they have a much different approach to useage then the feds. Might be some interesting ideas/possibilities come out of it.

Those condos , pretty big 3 bedroom, were all privately owned. I think they paid $150K for them which is not a lot considering the size but now they're fuked.

In my opinion Fortress is a victim of a number of factors. Changing weather patterns which has decreased the amount of snow for all our areas, but seems to have hit Fortress harder, perhaps because it isn't as deep into the mountains, changed expectations of skiers who value high speed quads more than a cheap lift ticket, and a constant parade of changing ownership whose primary concern seemed to be milking the hill for what they could get out of while spending the least amount of money possible.

Unfortunately Fortress while possessing some excellent terrain, didn't have the vertical to capture the attention of tourists, or even locals, I personally would rather drive to Castle and ride their slow lifts for 2000+ vertical than go to Fortress for 1100ft. The opportunity to keep Fortress a viable destination passed by 10 years ago when it still had a dedicated following and was able to compete with the other areas.

It's to bad to see it go, but I have to admit that I've only skiied there twice in the last three years so it closing is going do have no affect on my personal skiing, or apparently on many others.

ee

Hey Bro, welcome to the board!

I'm sure your presence will greatly add to the level of discourse in here as well as greatly confuse people who will now get the two of us mixed up.

Anyways, shame about Fortress closing. But here's hoping they plow the road now and then during the winter so that we can drive up there and hike for turns. (Any one know how to hot wire a lift?)

So, wait, the Castle is better than the Fortress? Or is it the other way around?

Naw, you're the eldo who can take pictures and write, I'm the one who can ski and board. d&r

So, wait, the Castle is better than the Fortress? Or is it the other way around?

Depends which has the ninjas and which has the pirates on any given day.

Originally posted by iceman
So, wait, the Castle is better than the Fortress? Or is it the other way around?

castle is wwaaaayyyy better then fortress. there's no tears being shed here for that hill closing. the only endearing memory i have of that hill is one of a 100cm+ spring storm a few years ago. quite a good time, but would have been an even better time had there been a pitch on that mountain on which you could actually link more then two turns down in snow that deep.

Castle and Fortress are very similiar, excellent terrain, with lot's of gullys, trees and chutes, can be VERY windy at the top of the hill. Antiqued, slow chairlifts, minimal on hill services, cheap lift tickets. The difference is Castle has around 1300' more vertical, and (now) seems to get more snow. Fortress is 1+ from Calgary, Castle 2+ depending on what side of town you are starting from.

For the extra drive Castle offers a lot more total terrain. And the hill is owned by the community (Pincher Creek locals) so they plow any thing they make back into the hill.

ee

Originally posted by powslut
castle is wwaaaayyyy better then fortress. there's no tears being shed here for that hill closing. the only endearing memory i have of that hill is one of a 100cm+ spring storm a few years ago. quite a good time, but would have been an even better time had there been a pitch on that mountain on which you could actually link more then two turns down in snow that deep.

Uh, I was just trying to make a joke.

Originally posted by iceman
Uh, I was just trying to make a joke.

I laughed.

Originally posted by Aldo
I laughed.

Well, thanks.

And playharder got it too, so I reached two people today.

Huzzah.

Damn was I ever choked when I heard the news. I thought last year they were gonna close but they opened some new terrian and changed the operating schedule to see how much money they can rake in. Turns out they made jack sh*t. fuk. Pretty much every weekend this year I skied fortress just because the terrian you could access and the pro patrol being soo chillin. But I guess after 37 years of operation it was time to close it down.

Honestly if they wanted to risk the costs they should replace the front, back, and farside lift with quads and get rid of the t-bars, condos and terrian parks. Then they should put a chair down to fortress lake. This would never happen but if a chair ever went to fortress lake it would easily offer better terrian than any ski hill in alberta. Enough with the dreaming, guess I have to find another hill to buy a seasons pass from.

The good times. (A day in the Bandit Chutes) New terrian this year.
http://www.powerskier.com/incoming/fortress/neil1.jpg

http://www.powerskier.com/incoming/fortress/jd1.jpg

http://www.powerskier.com/incoming/fortress/neil4.jpg

http://www.powerskier.com/incoming/fortress/jd4.jpg

Fortress is going to mean more to people from Calgary as it was the only locals hill , no resort just a cheap dirt bag place with $50 rooms and pretty cheap food. A maintenance guy who shaved/had hair cut once a year at the end of the season.

Also was a training area for heli guides. Due to the turnover and all the avie terrain lots of young pro patrollers got a lot of experience fast.

You could always find some powder 3 days after a storm if you looked or wanted to take a hike. Though it wasn't much in the way of vertical. And on a good snow day the lift lines on the farside could take you 15 minutes.

If the road is cleared in the winter I'd certainly go there to tour on the farside.

R.I.P. Fortress, Wintergreen, Snow Ridge, Pigeon Mountain, Shag, Happy Valley...

Oh, and the Castle/Fortress joke went right over my head too.

Not sure why there was hype about the Bandit chutes as 'new Area' as its be skied for years. This year the new thing that there was gate that would close as opposed to before there was only a sign.

Never skied the first chute too much as it would be skied out and gave me the willies looking up to the hour glass. Skied OB2 and the trees below. Also took out an edge on the roocks in the center pic when there was just enough snow to cover them.

Originally posted by Snow Dog
"Great early season snow and a new adventure skiing area that expanded the resort's terrain by 35 per cent seemed to provide a promising start to the past season. But the unusually deep snow bogged down grooming machines and the resort opened a week late, Dec. 19."

Oh no! Too much snow at a ski hill. RCR seems to be screwed up in general.

Damn just trun on the lifts and throw some bombs why the hell do you need to groom at alp they didn't groom untill like this year

http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...rmal_seven.jpg