Ski hills are closed all over British Columbia, but thanks the magic of snowmaking and a big dump of natural stuff on Saturday, the Hart Ski Hill in Prince George is still open for business.
Operated by the Hart Highlands Winter Club, the 22-acre ski and snowboard resort and terrain park is open daily from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and that’s a remarkable achievement considering how little snow we have In the region.
“We should be on track for a good season, all that fresh snow really helped out,” said Jess Koppe, Hart Ski Hill general manager. “In about a 36-hour period we ended up with 14 centimetres.”
Cold weather moved in on Feb. 3, which allowed the crews at the Hart to fire up the two snowmaking guns, and the Hart hill reopened Feb. 8. The cold nights have continued most nights ever since to allow more snow to be made.
“There’s no such thing as enough snow, so we’ll keep going,” said Koppe.
Purden Ski Village east of Prince George, Troll Ski Resort near Quesnel and Murray Ridge Ski Area near Fort St. James are all closed until they receive more snow.
Powder King Mountain Resort near Mackenzie is open Thursday-Monday and that’s good news for skiers and snowboarders who crave longer runs. The resort is reporting a base of 93 centimetres at the day lodge, 125 cm at the top of the chair and 155 at the top of the T-bar, well below the snow depth it would have in a typical winter.
Otway Nordic Centre has a 1.6 km loop where artificial snowmaking efforts have been concentrated. Last week’s snow helped cover trails that were getting quite thin but grooming has been kept to a minimum on these trails to try to preserve what has already fallen.
The Caledonia Nordic Ski Club is hosting the Para Biathlon World Championships and Para Nordic World Cup finals back-to-back at Otway from March 3-17.
