by Tony Crocker

Pincher Creek (AB), Canada - Prior to 1998-99, only local skiers from the southern Alberta towns of Lethbridge and Pincher Creek patronized Castle Mountain, formerly known as Westcastle Park with its 1,700 vertical feet and 400 acres. In the summer of 1998 Castle purchased a double chair from Sunshine Village and expanded the mountain upward to 2,800 vertical feet and 1,440 acres. First Tracks!! Online Editor Marc Guido and I each independently visited Castle during that 1998-99 season, and both of us came away with same reaction that it was “The Best Ski Hill You’ve Never Heard Of.”

Castle Mountain's Drifter steepens as it descends.(photo: FTO/Tony Crocker)

I was sufficiently impressed to return in 2004 and 2008, collect some snow data and observe what had changed since 1999. The most noteworthy addition was the 1,084 vertical-foot Huckleberry chair, which opened a beginner/intermediate terrain pod on Haig Ridge for 2006-07.

Snow Conditions

Castle Mountain is located directly across the Continental Divide from Fernie, with both areas located less than 50 air miles from the U.S. border. Crowsnest Pass is low and broad compared to most mountain passes, so most Pacific Northwest storms from Fernie reach Castle with only moderately decreased intensity. Ski patroller Darrel Luco describes Castle’s weather as “a constant battle between the Pacific Northwest/Fernie influence and the cold continental climate of the Alberta plains.” I observed this firsthand about 2 p.m. on a Friday in 2008, as the wind shifted abruptly from the usual southwest to northeast, accompanied by a plunge in temperatures from +20 ºF to single digits in just a few minutes. It snowed eight inches of light and dry that night, and Saturday’s temps hovered around zero, but with a much warmer inversion layer on the top quarter of the mountain.

Castle Mountain Snow Conditions at el.5,700 ft. Lift-serviced Altitude Range 4,630- 7,463 ft. Season Avg. Snowfall 299 in. Season Standard Deviation 74 Percent high months with snowfall 90" or more 9% Percent low months with snowfall less than 30" 14% Average maximum base depth N/A Direction of Exposure North: 16% East: 60% West: 0% South: 24%

Castle Mountain’s snow statistics show an average of less than 200 inches annually measured at the base, and over 400 inches near the top. Taking the upper mountain measurements must be difficult in an area with chronic wind, and Darrel told me that the low numbers at the base are only representative the lowest 500 vertical feet. Coverage at Castle has been much more wind exposure dependent than altitude dependent in the good seasons that I have visited. The blended average of 299 inches is about what one would expect vs. the 368 at Fernie, and both numbers are closely correlated to Washington State, which is the source of most storms along the western U.S./Canada border. Castle does have a key altitude advantage over Fernie, in that the base and summit are each 1,100 feet higher, and Castle has a higher proportion of terrain at its upper elevations than Fernie does. So when those Pacific Northwest snowstorms are warm and half or more of Fernie is rained upon, usually at least three-quarters of Castle Mountain will still get snow.

There is a prevailing southwesterly wind that tends to strip the snow from some exposed aspects of the terrain and accumulate 10-15 feet deep on other aspects. The top of Tamarack is situated in a sheltered location so that it can remain open on most windy days, even though a knoll just 50 feet below the summit is nearly always bare of snow. The east-facing bowls of Sheriff, Outlaw and Drifter are often replenished with wind-sifted powder overnight, as was the case when both Marc and I visited in 1999. Wind effect is not always predictable, and on my 2004 visit it had snowed five feet in the previous week but nearly all of the new snow had been buffed smooth by the wind. It still made for some enjoyable skiing, though others have reported that the wind can produce thick sastrugi on occasion.

One reason that I analyze snow statistics and contemporary reports online is to assess whether the conditions I ski are representative of a typical experience at a given ski area. My four personal days at Castle Mt. have been so outstanding that I’ve had to research the downside. The major red flag is that in low snowfall seasons such as 2000-01 and 2004-05, Castle has had delayed openings or very limited operation at Christmas, and has also closed before the end of March on a couple of occasions. This is partly due to the low snowfall near the base, and management intends to install limited snowmaking to help out the early season. The other issue is that easterly exposure, and particularly the south facing steeps may not hold up well if the spring is warm. While late March at Castle was still great in the huge 1999 season, I’ve seen the devastating effect on similar terrain/exposure at Jackson Hole. So, in general I’d advise visiting Castle during the mid-January to mid-March core of the ski season.

Terrain Type:

Click image to open a full-size Castle Mountain trail map in a new browser window.

Cruising: Most of the main mountain has a consistent upper intermediate to advanced fall line. However, only North Run, South Run and Sundown on the lower half of the mountain are consistently groomed. With the open terrain and low skier density, you can cruise at relatively high speed in ungroomed snow over expansive upper mountain bowls, such as Sheriff and Outlaw on the north side of Tamarack chair, or Drifter, a broad east-facing fall line starting a few hundred feet south of the lift.

The new Huckleberry chair on Haig Ridge has more conventional groomed runs that many intermediates and beginners will find comforting.

Moguls: Some of the steeper areas near the lower lifts, such as Shotgun and The Burn, can have good bumps. Most of the terrain does not see enough traffic to develop moguls, however.

Steeps: The steepest runs are the numerous chutes on the south side of the upper mountain. Stay high on the Skyline Traverse heading southwest (usually into the wind) to get there. While wind stripping may be evident on the traverse, once you drop in the runs will usually have plenty of blown-in snow. This entire area is reminiscent of the Hobacks/Lower Faces at Jackson Hole. The first runs, Lone Star and Desperado, have a continuous 30-degree-plus fall line for about 1,500 vertical feet. If you persist on the traverse to Murphy’s Law, Zero or Minus One the fall line reaches only about 1,000 vertical feet but the upper half inclines at about 40 degrees.

Wide Open Spaces: About 75% of Castle's terrain, including nearly everything served by the Tamarack upper chair, is mostly subalpine with occasional stunted and widely spaced trees. Huckleberry Ridge has a few more trees and will have the best upper mountain visibility in cloudy or stormy weather.

Trees: Only the lower quarter of the mountain is forested. Most of the glade skiing drops to skier's right off the North Run trail. On the upper mountain, there are more scattered trees along Huckleberry Ridge and fall lines dropping from it. The trees also extend higher at the northern edge of the ski area past North Bowl. Darrel showed us North Star, a recently cut run in this area.

Castle Mountain Terrain Difficulty Yellow: 5% Black: 33% Red: 35% Blue: 22% Green: 5%

Powder: With the wind deposits, frequent snow flurries and extremely low skier density, there is usually a powder surface somewhere if you know your way around. Snow host tours are offered at 1 p.m. midweek and three times a day on weekends. With the wide open terrain, it is not very difficult for visiting skiers to observe where the deepest snow is located after just a few runs. February 8, 2008 was a Friday when it had snowed 40 inches over the previous week. Midweek, Castle is so empty that you can still make fresh tracks on obvious runs like Sheriff within sight of the lifts all day. Moving south to the longer fall lines like Drifter and Lone Star we might have seen two or three other skiers while skiing more than 1,500 vertical feet of powder. The total 30,300 vertical feet I skied that day were comparable to some of my better heliskiing days in terms of both fall line skiing and lack of competition for the powder, and was a top-three lifetime powder day for lift serviced terrain.

Hiking and Backcountry: Skiers can traverse and hike a short distance north from Tamarack and ski nearly 3,000 vertical feet into an adjoining canyon, if you can find a local guide to navigate and arrange shuttle pickup. While skiing the south expert runs, you can observe a few steep north facing chutes (labeled Back Country X-treme on the trail map) across the intervening canyon. The ridgeline above these cliffs can now be hiked above the new Huckleberry chair. This is very technical terrain and should only be done with partner, avalanche gear, snow safety knowledge and patrol checkout.

Crowds: The main mountain of more than 1,500 acres is served by just two fixed grip chairs, plus one T-bar. Most visiting skiers will never have seen an area with skier density this low. On weekends Castle has now been discovered from two and a half hours away by day skiers from Calgary, who now comprise about 40% of the average 65,000 annual skier visits. In 2004 the upper Tamarack chair had 10-15 minute liftlines. Lines were shorter on the Saturday in 2008 because an overnight storm made the drive from Calgary tougher to navigate.

Intermediates: Castle’s main mountain has a continuous and consistent fall line similar to Sun Valley, Idaho’s. Since much less of the mountain is groomed, upper intermediates will benefit greatly from mid-fat skis to handle the variable snow conditions. Lower intermediates will be much more comfortable on the new Haig Ridge runs.

Novices: The main mountain has only a tiny bunny slope with a 165 vertical-foot chairlift, but there are now a couple of longer green runs on Haig Ridge.

Children: This is entirely dependent on their ability. My general advice to most skiers wanting to get the most out of the Castle experience is that they should be comfortable on red-rated runs and be willing to ski ungroomed snow.

Dining: There is a day lodge and rental shop at the base of the mountain. For lunch, don't miss the homemade crisp crust pizza at the Pub 'n Grub restaurant. The day lodge has recently added a steakhouse for dinner.

Castle Mountain's Red Chair. (photo: FTO/Tony Crocker)

Lodging: There were several private cabins at the base of Castle Mt. when I first visited in 1999, but most lodging for visiting skiers was in Pincher Creek, half an hour away. In 2008 we were able to stay at the mountain in Castle Mountain Ski Lodge & Hostel. Double rooms are priced at CDN $99 and the hostel is CDN $25 per night.

Development plans at Castle Mt. are modest and unlikely to change the basic character of the ski area. They project increasing skier visits to 100,000 per year, but much of that will come from the Huckleberry chair because Castle had almost no beginner/low intermediate terrain before that lift. On-site lodging will increase from the current 88 to 225 units. When Castle blows snow for four to six weeks of early season snowmaking near the base area, Christmas holiday skiing should become more consistent, and premature closures more rare.

I now believe that in the purest sense, Castle Mountain is a better ski area than its more famous neighbor across Crowsnest Pass. Castle has about three-quarters of Fernie’s usable ski acreage, but with the same vertical drop and longer continuous fall lines. Fernie’s snowfall advantage is offset by higher risk of rain and greater proportion of low altitude terrain that’s subject to variable conditions. Finally, on big powder days Fernie is more likely to be delayed in opening terrain due to avalanche risk from peaks well above the ski area. This adds to Castle’s already considerable advantage in lower skier density and less competition for first tracks.


(Story continued next page)