Shames Mountain has earliest opening in years

Ski bums will be rejoicing with the news that Shames Mountain in Terrace opened for the season yesterday.

After last year’s disastrous season for snow and the late, late opening of the mountain, a pre Christmas opening this year is like winning the lottery for the operators of the ski hill just west of Terrace.

The Daily News provided the details on the base and the prospects for this ski season on the front page of Wednesday’s paper.

BIG SNOW AND AN EARLY START FOR SHAMES
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Pages one and three

Residents of Prince Rupert may have been complaining about the unusually cold weather that dominated the North Coast through most of November, but snow enthusiasts — including skiers and snowboarders alike — were in a celebratory mood, because the cold snap meant the ski season would come early.

For employees of Shames Mountain, that celebratory sound may have been as simple as a sigh of relief, after what transpired last year during an unusual mild winter. Last year, Shames Mountain, located just outside of Terrace, was unable to open for the Christmas holidays, and in fact, didn’t officially open for business until mid-January.

Fast forward ahead one year, and Shames Mountain is opening today, Dec. 6, for only the third time in its history. In fact, the early opening is the fifth earliest on record since the mountain opened for business 17 years ago.

“It’s definitely the earliest in the past few years,” said Carrie Grand, marketing and administration manager for Shames Mountain. “This is the trend we had in the 1990s.”
The earliest opening ever for Shames was Nov. 30, but getting the chairlifts running well before the Christmas break has helped staff forget about last year’s difficult season.

“It’s definitely important,” said Grand. “The Christmas holiday is obviously a good revenue source, and that hurt us.”

Already, Shames is enjoying a base that it didn’t see until almost February last season, at 90 centimetres at the lodge. Up at the T-bar, the snow is up to 130 cms.

On the business side of things, Shames was officially listed on the real estate market as of April 2006, is looking to develop in future years.

The listing is still there, and while it response may seem slow at first, staff at Shames are confident the interest will grow, especially with the ongoing development of the port in Prince Rupert.

An excellent ski season will also help, and Shames is gearing up for just that, said Grand.
“It’s looking real good,” she said. “We’ve got awesome snow up here.”

During the Christmas break, Shames will hold its annual McDonald’s kids camps from Dec. 27-29, and again from Jan. 3-5.

Then, the Look Deep competitions will get underway in early February, with special sporting events planned for later in the ski and snowboard season.

Shames Mountain, which enjoys an average annual snowfall of 1,200 cms, has one chairlift and one T-bar, and 28 runs. They are open daily from now until the end of the season from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

To find out how to subscribe to the Daily News (we can mail the paper anywhere), please give us a call at (250) 624-6785 or call toll free 1-800-343-0022.