'We're very excited': Manitoba ski hill shuttered by drought set to reopen this winter
One of Manitoba's most popular ski hills, which had been shuttered by drought last year, is set to reopen this winter under new ownership.
The Holiday Mountain resort, located in La Rivière, has been a destination for skiers (and later snowboarders) in Manitoba since it started up in 1960. The ski hill was forced to suspend its 2021-22 season due to unprecedented drought conditions in the area which impacted the hill's ability to make snow.
Holiday Mountain was sold this year, with the final sale going through only about four weeks ago.
"We have a huge crew here working long hours, trying to get everything up to speed. We're doing some renovations, giving it a bit of a facelift, just trying to make this place as nice and functioning properly as we can," said Abe Sawatzky, the new general manager of Holiday Mountain.
"We want all the slopes to be open. We want all the lifts working. Yeah, we just want to give the community the hill back."
Sawatzky said no opening date has been set yet, given the tight timeline.
"We're trying our best to make it as soon as possible, but we have to kind of play it by ear for the next couple of days just to see how everything kind of works out."
He said the closure of Holiday Mountain was felt throughout the community, including by the resort's new owners who Sawatzky said grew up in the area and went to the hill often.
Holiday Mountain is one of only a handful of ski hills in the province.
"People that are avid skiers or snowboarders or people that want to get into it weren't able. So it's a big loss to the community," he said, adding the work is ongoing in an effort to once again have skiers and snowboards hit the slopes.
"We're really excited to bring back as many people as we can and be open at full capacity. And we're just super pumped to have kids and families back here. We're very excited."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'