A ski hill in Saskatchewan hopes to build momentum after a late start to the season. Table Mountain Regional Park general manager Lawrence Blouin says it’s been rough and is hoping it stays cold.
“It’s not a very good season at all as far as natural snow or temperatures to be able to make snow. It’s just been way too mild,” said Blouin.
“We typically open the first Saturday in December and we didn’t open until the 19th this year.”
Usually, there are about 65,000 to 70,000 skier visits with the season concluding at the end of March. During the 2014-15 season, the hill had around 66,000 to 66,500 visits.
“Attendance has been down quite a bit … we lost two weeks so if I compare this year’s numbers to last year’s we’re way behind,” said Blouin.
“Through the Christmas season they’re picking up every day. As soon as we get a little busier, it’s been cold.”
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On Monday, Blouin said all skiing and snowboarding runs are open and in excellent condition. The only thing that’s not open yet is the tubing park.
“In that area, actually, we’re in the process of making snow right now … so a couple days after that we’ll be able to open up our tubing runs as well, but right now we have no snow in that area,” said Blouin.
He says lineups for their two chairlifts are short and the hill west of North Battleford, Sask. is a great place to learn to ski or snowboard. Blouin added that skis have become more popular these days whereas kids used to opt for snowboarding lessons more through their school program.
“People are still interested in coming out, for sure. A nice crowd here today and probably even busier tomorrow, so it’s going to keep getting busier I would think once word gets out that we’re open,” Blouin said.
“Don’t get discouraged driving up here and not seeing any snow because we do have lots of snow out here and they’ll be well rewarded if they take the take to come out and see us.”
Table Mountain is open every day until Jan. 3 with lifts running from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For the rest of January, it’s open Wednesday to Sunday and then seven days a week through February and March.
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