Canadian Ski Resort Announces It Won’t Open Next Winter Due To Drought

With several ski areas in Argentina unable to open this winter as there’s no snow, a small ski area in the Canadian province of Manitoba has announced it won’t be able to open next winter due to “unprecedented drought conditions.”

Holiday Mountain Ski Resort’s General manager Bernice Later told Canadian media it was the first time in the resort’s 60-year history that it has had to cancel a season due to lack of precipitation. The centre no longer has the reliable natural snow cover it once did and needs reliable snowmaking water sources which it doesn’t have due to the drought.

Bernice Later said a dry spell that’s plagued much of Manitoba this summer has significantly reduced water in the Pembina River, the source of the centre’s snowmaking.  She said she did not think it was possible for river levels to rise in the autumn and so would not be starting to sell season passes as they normally would at this time of year. 

She said it would be irresponsible to sell passes when it looked highly unlikely that there could be a ski season.  However without the income from pass sales it would equally not be sensible to invest in the off-season preparation work required in order to be able to open.

“The best thing we could do is just be honest with our customers and our staff and plan for next year,” Later said adding that she hopes the ski resort will be back up and running in December 2022.