OK, there's absolutely no gore, nothing controversial or shocking so feel free to flame me for posting but I wanted to share.
I was 3 years old the first time Dad took me there in the mid 70's and I learned to ski at Fortress so it's kind of a special place for me. While it never had the flash or attention of Sunshine or Lake Louise Fortress was always a favorite for Calgarians because it was close, usually had decent snow and was cheap. However through a series of events and shitty management & ownership that lead to it closing in 2006 (although cat skiing resumed in 2011, I've skied there twice and it was AWESOME). Its located in Kananaskis, a local provincial park that I love and where I enjoy spending time spring, summer, fall & winter.
Here's a trail map from the late 70's, no real changes from then till it closed. Something unique was the the t-bar that went up opposing sides of the same mountain so as it was carrying skiers up the south face the wire rope crested the summit and would pull skiers up the north face. Was a sign of having a big set of nads if you tuck the whole length of the Canadian (#19 on the map).
Some important dates in Fortress's history:
1967: opens as Snowridge, lift tickets were $5
1971: Snowridge goes tits up and closes
1974: reopens as Fortress Mountain
1975: chairlifts were installed on the front and backsides greatly increasing the number of runs
1986 to 2006: twenty years of bumblefuckery and finally a closure
2011: reopens for cat skiing
There have been a few movies filmed there including Inception, The Bourne Legacy, The Claim, Van Helsing, Brokeback Mountain, RV, and The Revenant.
The day lodge was very cool with unique architecture. I remember staying overnight there a few times, very cool for a kid! Its a shame to see it having fallen to such poor repair
But back to video. This came out last month and made me happy! Looks like the guys running the cat operation have put together a business case to revitalize the hill and I hope they're successful! Enjoy
I was 3 years old the first time Dad took me there in the mid 70's and I learned to ski at Fortress so it's kind of a special place for me. While it never had the flash or attention of Sunshine or Lake Louise Fortress was always a favorite for Calgarians because it was close, usually had decent snow and was cheap. However through a series of events and shitty management & ownership that lead to it closing in 2006 (although cat skiing resumed in 2011, I've skied there twice and it was AWESOME). Its located in Kananaskis, a local provincial park that I love and where I enjoy spending time spring, summer, fall & winter.
Here's a trail map from the late 70's, no real changes from then till it closed. Something unique was the the t-bar that went up opposing sides of the same mountain so as it was carrying skiers up the south face the wire rope crested the summit and would pull skiers up the north face. Was a sign of having a big set of nads if you tuck the whole length of the Canadian (#19 on the map).
Some important dates in Fortress's history:
1967: opens as Snowridge, lift tickets were $5
1971: Snowridge goes tits up and closes
1974: reopens as Fortress Mountain
1975: chairlifts were installed on the front and backsides greatly increasing the number of runs
1986 to 2006: twenty years of bumblefuckery and finally a closure
2011: reopens for cat skiing
There have been a few movies filmed there including Inception, The Bourne Legacy, The Claim, Van Helsing, Brokeback Mountain, RV, and The Revenant.
The day lodge was very cool with unique architecture. I remember staying overnight there a few times, very cool for a kid! Its a shame to see it having fallen to such poor repair
But back to video. This came out last month and made me happy! Looks like the guys running the cat operation have put together a business case to revitalize the hill and I hope they're successful! Enjoy
