Independently owned Castle Mountain Resort in the southern Canadian Rockies leans into what makes it unique: incredible terrain, deep powder, wide-open runs without the crowds and a genuinely friendly vibe.
Words :: Steve Tersmette // photos :: Lizzy Reimer
Northern Exposure
The Butterfly Effect is a pillar of Chaos Theory, a philosophy modernized by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz, that asks: “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wing in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” Off Japan’s east coast, the northbound Kuroshio Current meets the frigid waters of the Oyashio Current and together they begin their long journey eastward. On Gravenstafel Ridge in the Southern Canadian Rockies, a solitary snowflake touches down while a dormant chairlift sways above. On one hand, Lorenz could characterize those two individual events as chaotic, while the actual cause and effect is much simpler. As the two ocean systems join to become the North Pacific Current, they travel toward Canada transporting moisture-laden air in its wake. As the current diverges off the coast of British Columbia, that moist air continues inland, forced upward by the mountain ranges that define the western Canadian landscape. It meets the freezing arctic air parked high above the Rocky Mountains, and lo and behold: snow!
It is this cold, dry snow that first attracted Paul Klaas, a group of skiers with a D-9 bulldozer and a small consortium of investors to a remote valley in the Southern Rockies in 1960.
Castle Mountain Resort’s relatively obscure history is rooted largely on hardship and turmoil dating back to its opening in 1965. The original West Castle Ski Hill featured a classic, Swiss-style chalet and four T-bars, one of which had to be sold just a few years later to pay down debt. The winter of 1975 saw West Castle host the Alberta Winter Games, a competition plagued by heavy snow and even heavier winds. That weather event resulted in an in-bounds avalanche, forcing the hill to close for two days. In January of 1977, the original day lodge burned to the ground—which was the last straw for the original owners. At that point, the Municipal District of Pincher Creek assumed ownership of the ski hill and operated it until 1996 when a group of nearby residents and skiers took over and developed West Castle into what it is today.
Buckaroo Carpet
Bruised Knees, Big Feelings
My own first taste of Castle came during a snowy stretch of weather over the Christmas holidays in the winter of 1996. I left my skis at home, rented a snowboard and signed up for lessons. While the memories of that week have been relegated to a less useful part of my brain, three things still stand out to this day. The first is how purple and bruised my knees were from the beating they took as I failed to grasp the finer points of snowboarding. The second is how friendly my instructor was and how adept he was at keeping a gang of cocky, wanna-be snowboarders in check. And the third was my deep regret for not bringing the planks to take in three days of blower powder.
Being There
Ski Racer Turned Resort Lifer
Dean Parkinson is the general manager at Castle Mountain Resort. Prior to his current post, he served as the resort’s director of finance. And before that, the president of the racing club. Dean has dedicated most of his adult life to the ski industry and to Castle going back to the early 1980s. He first experienced Castle during the 1982 Alberta Winter Games, competing in downhill skiing and quickly forming friendships with many of the local skiers. Over the next 18 years, he visited the hill only occasionally, but in 2000 and in his own words, he “took his first true sip of the Kool-Aid.” He discovered Castle Mountain was a place where he could ski with his children and enjoy the deep, deep powder in a place where everyone knows your name.
Castle Mountain Resort has undergone significant changes including the opening of new runs and, most recently, the acquisition of the original Angel Express high-speed quad lift from Sunshine Village under Dean’s direction. From the outside looking in, the recent upgrades and expansion may seem to fly in the face of their humble operation, but there is a broad awareness that the business is as important as the people who have supported it for decades.
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For Castle, creating a memorable experience means leaning into what makes them unique: incredible terrain, deep powder, wide-open runs without the crowds and a genuinely friendly vibe.
Sixty years later and counting, Castle Mountain Resort has almost 100 runs on two mountains. Six lifts access 3,500 skiable acres with an annual snowfall of 8.5 metres. An in-bounds cat skiing program also operates on the hill. However, their winter operations only scratch the surface of what Castle is all about.
Stage/Coach Zone
Homegrown and Armpit Deep
In Western Canada, where many ski hills are often an asset contained within a financial portfolio owned by national or multinational corporations, Castle Mountain is continually doubling down on its commitment to its roots. Cole Fawcett is the sales and marketing manager at the resort, a position that not only requires a foot on the gas pedal year round, but also a keen awareness of its loyal, local base. He’s deeply connected to the pulse of the ski industry, helping Castle thrive as an independently owned resort that attracts skiers while staying true to its community.
The snow falls reliably at Castle and the resort has nationwide bragging rights for average accumulation, which certainly makes Cole’s job easier, but weather is a double-edged sword here and presents a litany of operational challenges. For starters: the wind. As Cole says, “If it ain’t snowin’, it’s blowin’.” Southern Alberta is notorious for high winds and Castle Mountain Resort is firmly in the crosshairs. The steep terrain, coupled with avalanche start zones and wind-loading of slopes creates a quagmire of avalanche management conditions to deal with.
He credits the team for always managing the challenge safely and creating an operational policy to work with Mother Nature, rather than fight against her. To that point, the wind isn’t all bad. The wind direction is constantly providing a refresh of snow, even if it’s not actually snowing. This is an anomaly the locals have dubbed “wind-sift,” where snow that has simply been blown around the mountain fills in yesterday’s tracks and still yields fresh turns.
In addition to the weather constantly keeping resort staff on their toes, they also have challenges with aging equipment. The capital cost of replacing machinery, cats and buildings is daunting to any ski resort, let alone an independent one. It’s part of the reason why their existing ski lifts and the new-to-them Stagecoach Express have all been obtained from other resorts and refurbished.
The wind direction is constantly providing a refresh of snow, even if it’s not actually snowing. This is an anomaly the locals have dubbed “wind-sift”…
At the end of the day, though, while Castle’s business model absolutely must be sustainable, they are not driven by profit. Cole proudly states that every penny made is ultimately returned into the visitor experience. This policy applies to everything from improving snowmaking and grooming, right down to ticketing—anything to make their guests’ days better.
“I’m continually drawn in, not only by the love and support of our incredible community and the great skiing, but by having the privilege to work under and alongside some incredibly smart, talented and hard-working individuals,” says Cole. “What we do here is cherished and what we have here is something truly special.”
Drifter
On Chasing Snow and Finding Home
Every year when the lifts at Castle Mountain start turning, Tim Luke locks the door to his home in Muskoka, Ontario, and hops a flight to Calgary. When most snowbirds are looking south to warmer weather and greener pastures, Tim is literally looking for snow. In March of 1987, he got his first taste of Rockies powder at West Castle and has been making the trip to southern Alberta ever since. In 2017, he bought a mobile home on one of the 134 full-time leases near the hill along with a share in Castle Mountain Resort and now serves as the president of the Castle Mountain Community Association.
The reason for his initial Castle excursion was simple: a bluebird day, spring skiing and a welcome distraction from a business trip. The reason for coming back, and ultimately for staying, wasn’t so much the skiing as it was the people. Tim Luke truly loves Castle Mountain. His excitement builds as he talks about the community events his association puts on. But it doesn’t start, or end, with that.
“I love the hiking trails. I love the mountains and the nearby wetlands,” he says. “I am passionate about this place.” For Tim, there’s so much more than skiing. It’s the friendly faces and staff at the hill. It is generations of families that have grown up on that mountain, skiing with their kids and now their grandkids. Some of those bright-eyed children from Tim’s early trips to Castle have grown up, bought their own shares at the resort and now have their own cabins and homes on the hill. Some have become employees at the resort, even working into management roles. And some can be found volunteering alongside Tim on the Community Association.
Huckleberry Chair
From Ditching School to Shaping Community
Judy Clark’s long relationship with Castle sounds suspiciously like Tim Luke’s. While she isn’t necessarily racking up the frequent flyer miles that Tim has over the years, her story draws a number of parallels. Her first memory of West Castle was skipping school in the early 1980s to go skiing—an effort that was rewarded by making turns on a rainy day. And that first visit spurred many, many more. She and a small group of friends frequented the ski hill, creating lifelong memories filled with laughter and tired legs. Within a few years, she was living in a travel trailer on the hill. In 1996, when funds were being raised to take over the ski hill from the Municipal District of Pincher Creek, Judy became one of the original shareholders. She also took out a 20-year lease on a parcel where her cabin sits today.
For 40 years Judy has lived and breathed Castle Mountain Resort. She’s been there through multiple ownership changes and the growth and expansion of the resort as well as the lean years where the dry Southern Alberta snow refused to fall. Through it all, the support of her community has never wavered. She’s watched as families, guests and staff return year after year, most notably a friendly ticket checker whose reputation reaches far and wide. “You’ve heard of Huggy Lady, right?” she asks. “She’ll check your ticket and give you a big hug. If she really likes you, she’ll give you one of her pins.”
For Judy Clark, everything that is good about Castle is personified by the hugging ticket lady. Judy’s metaphorical embrace for her home hill is downright contagious and, although some days she’d like to keep it the best kept secret around, she also knows that an experience like this is meant to be shared—an experience 60 years in the making, that started with the flap of butterfly wings half a world away.
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