After 57 years of family history, Holiday Mountain Resort in La Rivière is under new ownership.
Bernice Later told CTV News the resort has been purchased by Locke Stock & Barrel Company Ltd., the same owners of Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
“I’m second-generation, so there is a lot of nostalgia involved,” said Bernice Later, who has been running the resort for the last 12 years. “It’s just the right time. The ski industry is changing. We are so weather-dependent,” Later said in a phone call Saturday.
Later said the last couple of years have been difficult financially. The new owners will be able to offer expertise, experience and financing.
“It’s been a struggle, and I think it’s going to keep the resort open for another 57 years,” she said.
Later said she will stay on working at the resort and with the new owners.
Lake Louise Ski Resort spokesperson Dan Markham confirmed the deal. Markham said the Alberta resort is one of the last family-run ski hills in Western Canada, and it looks forward to operating in Manitoba.
Markham couldn’t confirm if ticket prices would change as a result of the deal, or if any new upgrades would be made to the resort.
Later said the Holiday Mountain Resort was first opened in by her father, Noel Later, in 1959, and said the resort has grown significantly over the years.
In the 1970s, she said the resort hosted ski jumping competitions and in the 1990s, it added snowboarding. The resort has 11 runs.
