Edmonton ski hills eager to welcome snow enthusiasts back to the slopes

While many Albertans enjoyed a long, balmy fall — cooler temperatures and a blast of winter weather is welcome news for ski hills in the Edmonton region.

“Our staff have been working literally around the clock, 24-hours a day since last Saturday,” said Edmonton Ski Club general manager Greg Suess.

Snow-making efforts are in full swing at the ski hill in Gallagher Park and the process is about halfway done.

“Obviously, lots of natural snow supports all this snow that we will be making here in the next little while,” Suess explained.

Snow in the Edmonton area Thursday night into Friday morning was a welcome sight.

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“We’ve been sitting around waiting and watching and waiting and watching, and it finally happened,” Suess said.

For ski hills though, the skiff of snow the city received overnight is a drop in the bucket.

“We could use 10 straight days of that, and then the conditions would be perfect,” Suess said.

There’s no official opening date for the Edmonton Ski Club yet, but Suess said it should be sometime next week.

At Snow Valley Ski Club in southwest Edmonton, it’s a similar scene with snow-making well underway.

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Staff there are also thankful for a little assist from Mother Nature.

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“That’s the greatest advertisement we could have,” said Tim Dea, marketing and communications manager for the Snow Valley Ski Club.

“We’ve been making snow 24/7 for the past week and a half. We’ll probably continue making it all week.”

Snow Valley is opening to the public on Friday, Dec. 5 at 9 a.m.

Both carpet lifts and the quad chairlift will be open with limited terrain available.

“You’re always like, ‘it can’t come fast enough.’ Well, now it’s here, and we’re all pretty pumped and trying to get out there as fast as we can,” Dea said.

As for Edmonton’s other hills – Rabbit Hill Snow Resort is now open and Sunridge Ski Area plans to kick their season off this weekend.

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