Iconic Alberta ski resort undergoing one of its largest upgrades in its history
An iconic ski resort in Alberta is undergoing a major facelift for its visitors, and it is set to be available very soon.
Castle Mountain Resort in southwestern Alberta is doing a major, transformative chairlift project, which is set to improve the experience for visitors with the installation of a high-speed quad chairlift into its existing cat skiing terrain, on Mt. Haig.
Castle Mountain Resort
The new lift, which has been touted as the Stagecoach Express and will be gray in colour, will give access to more terrain, alleviate base area congestion, and capitalize on a deeper snowpack.
It’s also set to give access to a mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced terrain, giving stunning views of Rainy Ridge, Mount Haig, and the West Castle Valley.
The chair will include a top and bottom terminal, top and bottom operator buildings, and 21 towers.
In between the load and unload stations, while affixed to the cable, the lift runs at up to five meters per second (about 18 km/hr). As the chair enters the loading and unloading stations, it slows to around one meter per second (about four km/hr), making for a significantly easier loading and unloading experience. The resort is anticipating a ride time of about six minutes.
Castle Mountain Resort
The Stagecoach Express will be a refurbished high-speed lift, and the resort is working to have it installed in time for the 2025/2026 season.
The resort stated that the chairlift project is its single largest on-mountain infrastructure investment in the resort’s nearly 60-year history. Additionally, the resort’s lift-serviced, skiable area will increase by more than 25 per cent, with Stagecoach Express representing the first lift installation at the resort since the 2006/07 season, when the Huckleberry Chair was unveiled.
Castle Mountain Resort
Just last month, it hit several major milestones, including installing the hold-down anchors, completing tower alignment, and wrapping up key land work along the lift line.
The resort added that the biggest highlight of October was the haul rope splice being completed, with the Stagecoach Express haul rope measuring 40.5 mm in diameter, and its two bull wheels sit approximately 1,450 metres apart, making the haul rope nearly 3,000 metres long. It was the single heaviest load of the entire project.
Castle Mountain isn’t the only ski hill in Alberta that is undergoing some changes. One prestigious resort is set to open a huge new 200-acre terrain area soon.