Kimberly Uses Snowcats To Replace Burned Out Northstar Express Chairlift,

As reported on SIN a fire on December 18, regarded as suspicious destroyed the control system for the Northstar Express Chairlift at Kimberley. This lift provides the omnly access to the ski hill from the resort base. Fortunately with the help of others the resort managed to find a workaround in time for the holidays.

Matt Mosteller, senior vice president for Kimberley parent RCR said “Our team connected within our own (owned) ski resort operations and garnered a grooming cat with a crew cab from Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, and we also connected with Revelstoke Mountain Resort, which graciously offered the use of one of their cats with a crew cab.”

On their website they say:

We regret to inform everyone that there has been a fire in the top station of the Northstar Quad chair which has disabled the chair. Despite our current challenges with the Northstar Express Chairlift, our goal is to still provide you with skiing and riding so we are offering the Easter Chair, Tamarack Chair, Owl T-bar and Magic Carpet.

We are pleased to be moving quite a few people up the mountain so far using snowcat shuttles.

We understand that the snowcats do not get everyone up the mountain as quickly everyone would like, and that reservations fill up quickly, but we are learning from the first week of operation and from your feedback, and are working to maximize the number of seats available, and to make access to the cats as fair and equitable as we can.

It is good for you to know that some people showing up to the snowcat staging area are getting on the cats on a stand-by basis. We keep four seats in the 12-seater cat every time for walk-on riders, and we are finding that some people are not showing up for their reservations, so we have been putting guests into their slots.

We still ask that those who are able to walk to the back side to please continue to do so. This allows guests who are not able to do the hike, such as families with young children, older skiers, and people who are less mobile, access to the backside.

Going forward we will be releasing the next day’s reservations one day at a time every day at 6 pm. We ask you to limit yourself to one ride per day. Here is the link to make your reservation: https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/kimberley-alpine-resort-39457783493

Huge thanks again to our friends at Revelstoke Mountain Resort and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, and to Rob and Susan Pukas for making this service possible!

Mosteller concluded “This is an incredible example of how the ski industry and community come together to support each other when one has experienced hardship. Thousands of notes of support have come from our local Kimberley and Cranbrook community members, businesses, and our skiing and riding guests.”