Comox Valley (BC), Canada – If you made a trip up Vancouver Island to Mount Washington Alpine Resort in the last few months, you probably noticed an array of heavy machinery moving earth and recontouring the ski slopes beside the Alpine Lodge. The mountain’s learning terrain is going through a major redevelopment in advance of the fast-approaching winter.
“Our goal is to make the learning experience for beginner skiers and snowboarders one of the best in North America,” says Don Sharpe, Director of Business Operations at the resort. “We removed all of the old lifts in our Green Zone, replaced them with state of the art Magic Carpets and rebranded the area as Easy Acres.”
Mount Washington first identified the learning area as a top priority for redevelopment a number of years ago. The total project, which includes extensive slope recontouring and the installation of four new Magic Carpets, has a budget of CAN $3 million.
Dubbed by resort officials as “one of the easiest places to learn to ski and snowboard in North America,” Easy Acres is off to a great start with the introduction of the four Magic Carpet conveyor lifts. Magic Carpets are just like moveable walkways you would see at an airport and are widely recognized as one of the best methods for moving beginner skiers and snowboarders up the slopes. Mount Washington’s carpets will be located on the mountain’s new runs, Easy Street and The Big Easy. Easy Street will be home to three of the carpets: lower (165 meters), middle (177 meters), and upper (198 meters). The Big Easy will be the home of Mount Washington’s teaching carpet, 91 meters long.
“Our network of Magic Carpets will be one of the largest in North America and feature covered canopies to protect riders from the elements on their way up the mountain,” adds Sharpe.
The project, which was delayed at the beginning of the summer due to snow on the slopes, is back on track for completion in November. All of Mount Washington’s new Magic Carpet lifts will be operating daily at the start of winter operations, scheduled for Friday, December 9, 2011.