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The City of Calgary's Olympic overtures notwithstanding, WinSport has opted to decommission two of its iconic ski jumps. The decision follows the conclusion of the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, and although the international sporting event is still on the minds of Calgarians eyeing a bid in 2026, the legacy facilities from 1988 have been deemed too expensive to maintain.
Come October, the two jumps straddling the main 90-metre tower will be closed. The main tower, which hasn't seen skiing action since 1990, will continue to stand. It is currently being used by Canada Olympic Park for zip lining.
The Canadian Olympic Foundation committed $225,000 to facility operations three years ago in order to keep the jumps running through the 2018 games. But with those funds now expired, the $500,000 annual cost of upkeep attached to the two jump structures has become too much for WinSport to handle. The 30-year-old structures require significant upgrades, the money for which just hasn't materialized. Despite the difficult decision, officials say a successful 2026 bid and corresponding funding could spark a rebuild of the facilities.
The closure would leave Whistler's ski jump complex, constructed for the 2010 Winter Olympics, as the only one in Canada. Previous complexes in Thunder Bay, Ontario and Revelstoke, British Columbia similarly closed due to a lack of funding and have since fallen into disrepair.
