Calgary & Alberta Economy

[lemongrab]

I've always thought Fortress could use a gondola to access the base like Sunshine. It would cut 18kms off the drive, half of which is slow and windy (wine-dee). Would need to expand the Lillian Lakes parking lot quite a bit.

Fortress scenery is quite good even at the base.

There's also really good opportunity to build a MUP along HWY 40; there's already a utility ROW cut through. Bike from the village to gondola, ride down the access road and back to village would be a pretty awesome circuit, but probably a little too long for the average tourist.

 

[Mountain Man]

Castle has on hill accommodation already and Nakiska is close enough to the Village.

 

[Chowda7]

Capital Power to pursue U.S. acquisitions, negotiate Alberta data centre deal

Capital Power Corp. has announced agreements to pursue U.S. natural gas power acquisitions and to supply electricity to a data centre developer in Alberta.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca

 

[blue12]

Nakiska could make it work with the Kananaskis Village right there, capture some of the tourists who want to take a chairlift to see the view, Louise and Sunshine currently do this in the summer. Kananaskis Village is a little underwhelming, they should try to improve that area to take some of the crowds from Banff. Castle area is already busy in the summer, not sure if taking one of their sketchy chairlifts would appeal to people. They have the old Angel Chair from Sunshine in their former cat ski area, haven't been there to see what it's like, definitely on my list this winter. Castle is also the only one that actually has MTB on the books, just need a few million to go in there and start building trails.


For Fortress I'd have to disagree, that's the one mountain where you could take the chair to access some very good climbing zones (The Fortress Itself). Nakiska pretty much goes to the top, not sure if there is anything on the ridge that's worth climbing past the top of the gold chair. Same with Castle, you already go very close to the top there.

Is there provincial money going to this? saying we want it is all well and good, but someone needs to put up some funds to make it happen.

The Fortress itself is good for climbing, but climbing ≠ mountaineering. I've done The Fortress numerous times, it's just a scramble. That's why I feel like they just threw in "mountaineering" as filler.

 

[DougB]

https://www.rmoutlook.com/kananaskis-country/fortress-mountain-proposing-all-season-resort-for-kananaskis-country-11368826

 

[lemongrab]

The Fortress itself is good for climbing, but climbing ≠ mountaineering. I've done The Fortress numerous times, it's just a scramble. That's why I feel like they just threw in "mountaineering" as filler.

Anyone know of any good literature out there that quantifies the tourism dollars derived from various recreational pursuits? I'm thinking skiing and hiking (and golf for that matter) would be on the higher side because they appeal to a broad base including rich older folks, whereas climbing/mountaineering/mountain biking are a younger man's game and have a much higher proportion of bums (I'm using that term affectionately).

 

[blue12]

Anyone know of any good literature out there that quantifies the tourism dollars derived from various recreational pursuits? I'm thinking skiing and hiking (and golf for that matter) would be on the higher side because they appeal to a broad base including rich older folks, whereas climbing/mountaineering/mountain biking are a younger man's game and have a much higher proportion of bums (I'm using that term affectionately).

I've never seen any exact reports or statistics before on that for Alberta, but I'd be interested in seeing it as well if it's public (or has even been researched heavily before).
I'd also assume skiing and golf would have the highest economic impact/would generate the most revenue as you require infrastructure to do so, compared to hiking, climbing, or mountain biking where all you need is a parks pass, if anything. Hikers are also more likely to stay in a campground whereas someone who's skiing or golfing is probably in a hotel, eating at restaurants, etc which does also generate a lot of revenue comparatively.

 

[Mountain Man]

The Fortress itself is good for climbing, but climbing ≠ mountaineering. I've done The Fortress numerous times, it's just a scramble. That's why I feel like they just threw in "mountaineering" as filler.

Is there a section they could put a via ferrata or something? The Fortress looks like a gnarly mountain, but I'm no climber, I prefer taking a chairlift up then riding down on a snowboard or bike lol.

I think mountain biking would be somewhere between golf / snowboarding and hiking in terms of generated revenue. The biking I'm talking about is lift access mountain biking like they do at all the BC hills, those would be hotel / chalet stays and would contribute to the nightlife. If whatever hill does this landed a world cup spot (or some other high profile event) that would put it very close to the same level as winter operations.

 

[blue12]

Is there a section they could put a via ferrata or something? The Fortress looks like a gnarly mountain, but I'm no climber, I prefer taking a chairlift up then riding down on a snowboard or bike lol.

I'm sure they could make something work on the north side of the mountain. It looks like there's already a route which goes from the cat skiing lodge to Fortress Lake on the NW boundary of the ski area, they could do a via ferrata up/along the cirque of The Fortress/Gusty Peak there.... however it's just barely outside of the ski area so it's probably not going to be considered by the province. The Fortress Southern Outlier is a little to the south and is on the boundary of the ski area, they could do a via ferrata on the NE-facing side there which is probably a little more realistic.

Would be great to see anything get put in there but my gut says this is just another announcement to get people excited and that the actual outcome will probably just be getting the lifts running again and maybe some downhill biking infrastructure for summers. But I hope I'm wrong.

 

[MichaelS]

I want a mountain coaster!

 

[darwink]

Is it April Fool's Day?

'This is just the beginning': Alberta to build all-season resorts in Castle, Fortress and Nakiska

A year after the province announced plans to build all-season resorts to boost Alberta tourism, a plan is underway to kickstart the venture.

calgaryherald.com

Everything old is news again again

 

[Mountain Man]

I want a mountain coaster!

Have you tried the one in Revy or Golden? curious how they are, kinda seems like fun but again, I'd rather be on my bike.

 

[MichaelS]

Have you tried the one in Revy or Golden? curious how they are, kinda seems like fun but again, I'd rather be on my bike.

I have done both. They are fun, but somewhat questionable value in some instances. Golden, it can be part of the whole Skybridge package and you can ride it multiple times I think (it was summer 2024 so a while ago and my memory of the logistics of the day are a bit fuzzy). I remember we rode it 2-3 times when there. One downside is children would need to ride with an adult, so my son had to sit with either me or my wife. It was still fun, the track was pretty decent but relatively short. As part of a day at the Skybridge, it was pretty cool and seemed to be reasonable value.

We did Revelstoke this past summer. There are 2 tracks, and we only did one of them. The track is definitely longer and way more intense than Golden. But, it was definitely more expensive, and they don't do reserved times. We were able to go on the Monday late afternoon of the August long weekend, when most people would be headed back home, and still had about a 40 minute wait to ride. Throughout the weekend when I would call, I would regularly be told that the wait was pushing 1.5-2 hours. So, at about $45 per ride, that place was a money printing machine for the mountain. You ride the gondola up, and then get a good ride down for sure, but that is a long wait and a lot of money (especially when buying 3 tickets). But, it was a lot of fun. I don't think I would stand in line for 2 hours to do it, but the 40 minutes wasn't terrible. Bonus is my son was old/big enough to ride on his own. Glad we did it, but not so sure I would pay that money again to do it anytime soon, especially if you have to do a long wait for it.