Mount Agassiz Ski Resort was a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

located in

Riding Mountain National Park Riding Mountain National Park is a national park in Manitoba, Canada. The park is located within Treaty 2 Territory and sits atop the Manitoba Escarpment. Consisting of a protected area , the forested parkland stands in sharp contrast to the sur ...

near

McCreary, Manitoba McCreary is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of McCreary, Manitoba, Canada. Settled as early as the 19th century, it was incorporated in 1964 as a village—a status it would lose upon amalgamating with the Municipality o ...

, that operated from 1961 to 2000. With a vertical drop of over , it was in its time considered to offer some of the best skiing between the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Can ...

and

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

.http://www.skiresorts.org/canada/manitoba/417.asp

History

Mount Agassiz was first developed in the late 1950s when around 142 hectares was leased to a private operator for the development of a ski resort. In 1961, the Mount Agassiz ski area officially opened with a rope tow, a handful of ski runs, and a new base lodge. In 1979 a new Skyway double chairlift was purchased and installed on the north side; this expansion included expert runs. The ski resort operated for many successful years and provided many economic benefits to the nearby town of McCreary. However, starting in the 1990s, there was a downturn in the number of skier visits. The owner filed for bankruptcy two times: once in 1995, and once in 2000. The ski area has not operated since 2000, despite a strong interest in rehabilitating it.

Parks Canada Redevelopment

In 2007,

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

introduced a new strategic goal for the Mount Agassiz Ski Resort, which precluded the possibility of reopening the ski resort. Although this motion was tabled, it still developed a negative reaction in the community. In January 2011, Parks Canada introduced a feasibility study for the future of the ski resort. It was estimated that it would cost over twenty million dollars to rehabilitate the ski resort. Only one party made a bid on the ski resort, which was denied by Parks Canada, citing it didn't meet all requirements. In 2014, Parks Canada made the decision to redevelop the former ski resort back into its natural state. Demolition of the lodge and ski lifts was completed by September 2015.

References

External links

* https://winnipegsun.com/2015/02/19/a-molehill-out-of-a-mountain/wcm/493ad689-ccf4-472b-bbbb-78292979eeaa * http://parkscanadahistory.com/publications/riding/mount-agassiz-feasibility-study-summary-e-2012.pdf * https://winnipegsun.com/2015/02/19/a-molehill-out-of-a-mountain/wcm/493ad689-ccf4-472b-bbbb-78292979eeaa {{Ski areas and resorts in Manitoba Defunct ski areas and resorts Riding Mountain National Park Parkland Region, Manitoba