Update – January 10th
The Kimberley RCMP shared today that they believe the fire in the top lift control station of the Northstar Quad Chair in the early morning hours of December 18th, which made the lift inoperable, to be arson and deliberately set.
This will be a difficult and painful fact to comprehend and process for Kimberley Alpine Resort skiers and riders, for others in our community, for our resort team, and for skiers and riders throughout the ski industry.
We appreciate the work that the RCMP and other agencies have been doing on this fire and we will continue to assist them in any way we can. If you have any tips that may help in this investigation please contact our local RCMP.
Once again, our hearts and thoughts go out to all of the children, families, seniors, and all the keen skiers and riders whose ski season has been disrupted by this fire. Also, we can’t help but think of the impact this is having on the businesses, and the employees of those businesses, including ours, who depend on tourism and the operation of the ski resort, and who are suffering because of this fire.
Despite this major setback we have seen so many examples over the last few weeks of the strength and resiliency of our community and those who come to ski and ride in Kimberley. It is already becoming clear that an act like this will only work to bring us closer together and will in the end make us stronger as a community.
Please know that our main focus will be to continue to operate the resort and to provide access to the mountain by way of our other four working lifts and the snowcat shuttles (thank you again to Revelstoke and Kicking Horse Mountain Resorts!). The snow has been falling almost continuously since the fire and the quality of skiing and riding is proving to be well worth a hike to the backside chairlifts.
In addition to the ongoing skiing and riding product, there are so many additional reasons for guests to come to holiday in Kimberley this winter, including Nordic skiing, fat biking, snowshoeing, up-tracking, visiting the great restaurants and other businesses in town, including live music and après ski in the Stemwinder Bar & Grill, and access to all the great accommodation, hot tubs, etc. at the resort and in town. Please do your best to support local businesses whenever you can.
Our other main focus at this time is of course on getting the Northstar Quad Chair up and running as soon as we can. After a huge effort by KAR and RCR technical staff and our industry partners it is becoming clear that due to the extent of the damage and the worldwide availability of parts and components that the Quad chair will not be running again this winter.
There will be information coming out this week for anybody looking to defer their pass to next year or to request a refund. There will be no fee for asking for a deferral or refund, but please remember that any uses on your pass will be deducted from the value of your pass at the day ticket price of the days you used the pass.
We look forward to seeing you up at the resort soon!
Ted Funston and the KAR & RCR Team
