Castle Mt., 2/8/08

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
As admin can also attest, the potential of Castle Mt. for a memorable powder experience is quite large. Skier density is on a par with Powder Mt. But Castle has much better fall lines, some over 2,000 vertical. The main mountain of 1,440 acres is served by just a triple and T-bar on the lower half and a double on the upper half.

I was first here in March 1999, first season of the upper double and the big vertical. There was still wind drifted powder in numerous places despite just a few inches new over the previous week. Admin was here a year later and had a similar experience.

The secret did get out, and on my next visit in 2004 there were considerable liftlines from the Calgary and southern Alberta weekenders. I'm told we may see them again tomorrow. Castle also added a new lift of 1,000 vertical in 2006 serving low intermediate and beginner runs, which were previously nearly non-existent.

But midweek it's still pretty empty, with maybe every third chair in use.

Now for the good part. They had over 40 inches of new snow in the past week, so on a Friday most of it was still there, and the prevailing winds fill it in overnight. So the result was 30,300 vertical, and the 20K of powder was second highest lifetime for lift service.

It is startling how wind can be such a detriment to snow surfaces at Sunshine and be such a benefit here. The powder was not the blower of Chatter Creek this year, but the consistent long untracked fall lines in many of Castle's bowls would easily be comparable to an average day in the cat or heli.

Morning temps were balmy at -5C or so compared to the past 8 days. It snowed lightly much of the day, there were gusty winds at the top, and sometimes I had to wait a minute or two for the whiteout to abate before skiing. My favorite terrain here is Drifter, a vast bowl SE of the upper lift that is 2000 vertical and several hundred feet wide. It contains just enough stunted trees to provide orientation where visibility is poor.

About 2PM the base area temperature plunged from -4C to -16C in just a few minutes, and the wind shifted from the usual SW to north. Adam started to chill out and called it a day just before 3PM. I persevered until about 3:40 to get my first ever 30/20 day.
 
I'm going to be in Alberta next week and plan to squeeze in a couple days of skiing with my daughter (intermediate skier). At this time I'm trying to decide between Fernie and Castle because we have not skied either one before. Both areas have received a lot of snow in the last week so I would think that conditions should be equally good. Which one would you prefer if Castle is one hour less travel time?
 
Hey Tony, looks like you had an epic day! Did you return on saturday? If yes how was the snow at the end of the day? I'm in Creston (been living there for 1 month) and don't know if i should go to Castle of Fernie sunday.....i've never been to Castle but if all the weekenders were hammering the powder today i might wait some new snow....
Cheers!
Nicolas
 
Last night and today's snow was a very cold system and Castle actually got more than Fernie (20cm vs. 10 cm).
all the weekenders were hammering the powder
is more of an issue at Fernie than Castle, if Craig Morris is to be believed http://far.redtree.com/cgmrep.html . So if powder is the sole criterion, there will be more of it at Castle.

As far as intermediate groomers are concerned, neither area is ideal. Castle has a new 1,000 vertical terrain pod to give it more balance. If the intermediate daughter is comfortable skiing that by herself while you're getting freshies on the main mountain, it would be OK. Fernie would have more options of riding lifts together while skiing different runs.

Castle's upper mountain is spectacular with the snow that is there now, but nothing is groomed up there other than catwalks.
 
I studied both trail maps closely and it does look like Fernie has more blue lines in each of their bowls than Castle does. If the trail maps are accurate I think that my daugther should be able to handle an ungroomed blue run. I think we'll give Fernie a try.
 
Everything on the main hill at Castle marked blue is red by my definition (or single black in an average ski area). Think long continuous Sun Valley type fall lines, except with powder instead of groomers and moguls.

Fernie also has unusual topography. The bowls are more intermediate while the steep fall lines are in the trees. Fernie and Red Mt. have amazing tree skiing.
 
How do the winds work at Castle to repair/fill in surfaces with its terrain exposures?
 
Prevailing wind is from the SW and primary exposure is east (vs. NW or SW on Sunshine's alpine terrain). The steep south chutes are similar to the Hobacks at Jackson Hole. The ridges between them and the traverse getting out there can be thin, but the fall lines fill in well. The unusually cold storm that started Friday afternoon came from the NE but did not have much wind.

The problem at Jackson is that the sun hammers that exposure. Castle has weaker sun, probably more cloudy days and somewhat colder temperatures.

My 1999 visit to Castle was in late March and it was all winter snow. That was a huge year, and the late March closures in a couple of recent seasons probably are a warning sign that coverage might not hold up long in low snow years. I'd recommend core of the season, mid-January to mid-March. Similar to Fernie, though higher altitude and colder temps might preserve winter snow a bit longer.

I am aware that I have seen Castle at its best and never below average.

Patrick ought to visit Castle. He doesn't mind the cold weather and he can stay on the mountain in a hostel for $25/night.
 
Tony Crocker":6jumiaz7 said:
Patrick ought to visit Castle. He doesn't mind the cold weather and he can stay on the mountain in a hostel for $25/night.
Castle is definitely extremely high on my shortlist. It almost happened last year (at that hostel), but I decided to cancelled that plan due to uncontrollable circumstances.
 
Castle was one of my favorite places on my trip a few years ago.. kinda reminded me a little of baldy (socal) in a weird way.. of course, the visibility was terrible the day I was there, but the powder was unreal.

always try to make the womens night at the Pincher Creek Curling Club. A night to be forgotten, but very fun noetheless. :lol:
 
snowave":2xdz3wcc said:
always try to make the womens night at the Pincher Creek Curling Club. A night to be forgotten, but very fun noetheless. :lol:

Oh, you can't tease like that. I've been in Pincher Creek. DO tell!
 
Pics are finally selected and scaled. I don't know how many I'll get posted today, but I figure 2/8 at Castle would have the most interest.

One of the prices of skiing the Great White North is that it's gray and not that photogenic very often. That was one very big point of luck we had with the pro photographer at Chatter Creek. All the other days were at least partly cloudy.
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Admin":192qtwfy said:
snowave":192qtwfy said:
always try to make the womens night at the Pincher Creek Curling Club. A night to be forgotten, but very fun noetheless. :lol:

Oh, you can't tease like that. I've been in Pincher Creek. DO tell!

I'll tell you in person next week.. it's better in person anyway.. :lol:
 
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