Snowfall warning for North Island New Zealand Issued 24 July at 10am local time. A deepening sub-tropical depression will quickly cross North Island on Saturday accompanied by a short period of gales and heavy rain. Expect easterly blizzard conditions to develop on Ruapehu as well as the ranges from the Tararuas to the Kawekas and perhaps even further north. A Cool SE flow with further bands of snow for mountains elsewhere. Many resorts have seen more than 20cm snow over the past 24hrs.

Fortress Mountain, Canada - Alberta

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Fortress Mountain remains partly open. The owner, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, says that the reduced number of skier visits and high cost of operating the aging chairlift system contribute to the threat of closure. Fortress Mountain has been popular with families and ski clubs; it's been the pre-season training site for the Canadian National Freestyle ski team. Fortress rises over two mountain sides and up a third front beyond the valley. The chairlift beyond the backside goes to most of the black diamond runs.

Resorts close to Fortress Mountain include: Nakiska (73 km), Banff Mt Norquay (104 km), Lake Louise (148 km), Sunshine Village (151 km), Panorama Mountain Village (165 km),

	Trails (Pistes): 47	Halfpipes: -
	Summit: 2369 m	Toplift: m
	Beg: 20% Int: 50% Adv: 30%	Terrain Parks: -
	Vertical Drop: 330 m	X-Country: 160 km
	Lifts: 4 (2 chair lifts, 2 surface lifts)	Snowmaking: 60%
	Gondolas / Cable Cars: -	Slopeside accom.: -
	Restaurants: 2	Acres of ski: 935
	Bars: -	Nearest Airport: Calgary
	Nearest Train: Fortress Junction	Info phone: +1/403/2454909 \| Fortress Mountain Resort Info Website

Visitor Reviews of Fortress Mountain

graeham from CANADA writes:

Fortress has re-opened in the 2006 season after several years of closure. Unfortunately, the facilities were not properly maintained during the closure and they were not fully operational once the hill reopened.
Fortress rarely has crowds. The runs are short, but sustained. There are many terrain features like gullies and roll-overs that are fun to take air off of, or just to feel the flow of going up and down.
Fortress is smaller and less visited than other resorts near Calgary, and is one of the only ones where someone without local knowledge has much of a chance of finding powder a couple days after a storm. Also, it is much closer. Fortress can be reached from Calgary by car in under an hour.
Fortress would be most enjoyed by advanced or better skiers. There is limited grooming, and the lodge facilities are not yet fully opened. It is more of an "old school" skiing experience: when skiing didn't come with spas, condos, buzzwords like "extreme-this", and fancy restaraunts. Skiing at Fortress is just all about what counts: skiing. Fortress now has cat-skiing terrain for a low charge ($5 per ride) on the Farside terrain until the farside lift can be replaced. Fortress also offers a cheaper ticket than other resorts in the area, especially for youths and students ($20 for youths, $30 for students, $40 for adults were the prices for this year if I remember correctly.)
The new ownership of the hill seems very motivated and willing to let Fortress grow into a bigger resort. There is quite a bit of potential for terrain expansions, and Fortress gets a decent amount of snow (less than Sunshine, but more than most others in the Alberta Rockies). They are also known for getting epic dumps of snow, especially in the Spring. In five years, it is possible that Fortress could be a direct competator with Sunshine and Lake Louise (and be the winner), but it has a little growing to do.

2006-05-14

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