While rumours have abounded about the work going on for the past two months on Grey Mountain adjacent to Red Resort, the cat’s finally out of the bag. The cat being the massive expansion that Red is undergoing to become one of North America’s largest in terms of skiable acres.
The expansion effectively adds 1,000 acres to Red’s almost 1,700 acres, bringing the skiable acres to 2,682.
What the expansion really does is adds a whole mountain to the resort. Grey was already on the doorstep, but the only way to access was by other means - snowshoeing, alpine touring, etc.
“The scale of this expansion is a true game-changer for Red Mountain Resort and for the community of Rossland,” said Howard Katkov, president and CEO of the resort. “The management team has spent the last eight years carefully reinforcing the company’s infrastructure, investing 50 million dollars in the facilities and completing world class slope-side accommodations. Now we’re truly ready for prime-time. We’ve consciously kept a low profile while we diligently readied ourselves for this massive expansion.”
Katkov noted that Red has been revered for its light, dry snow, world-class tree skiing and over 2,900 feet of vertical;, as well as the laid back vibe and friendly locals. The Grey Mountain expansion will open up a vast store of intermediate runs, which he says will make most “family friendly” resorts pale by comparison. And, like the other mountains, Grey will offer what we call 3-D skiing available because of the volcano-shaped mountains the resort is built on.
For the 2012-13 season, Red will be shuttling skiers, in groups of nine, to the top of Grey using a new Alpina Sherpa - an oversized snowmobile-bus. Red is planning to have the Poma Quad Chair ready for installation next summer.
Grey Mountain will have 22 ski runs, with plenty of trees and terrain variations for riders to express themselves on.
“We see the Grey expansion as an expression of our commitment to the next generation of skiers and snowboarders, as well as to our current fans,” Fran Richards, marketing vice president, explains . “We share their values when it comes to mountain recreation and feel a deep responsibility to protect the wonderful ski experience.”
Richard went as far as to call the resort an endangered species, one of the last resorts that celebrates the true skiing experience: offering wide open terrain and all the amenities one expects, without the rampant commercialism that has significantly changed the face of the ski experience throughout North America.