Drumheller Valley - The Lost Resorts, Episode 6

*My apologies for the late upload! It has been a crazy week on my end.
Nestled in the heart of the Canadian Badlands, the Drumheller Valley ski hill was a staple of the local community in the winter for locals and tourists alike. However, its closure in 2010 left a void in the community. This video will explore the relatively short history of Drumheller Valley, it’s rise, peak and fall.
Information:
Years of Operation: 1993-2010
Ski Runs: 7
Lifts: 1 Quad Chair (Riblet), 1 Handle Tow
Vertical Drop: 508 Meters (per Google Earth)
Music by Lakey Inspired

[@permanentkick]

Thank you very much for posting this....great work....I worked there part time at the rental shop winter of 1999-2000..Its where I learned to snowboard....there was one occasional customer, 67 year old life long local named Nick Sereda...he told me when him and his buddies were in High School, late 40s or early 50s, they had downhill skis from Sears and that after school they would head to the hill (where the ski hill was eventually built years later), walk up the hill with their gear and ski about 3 runs before it got too dark...the winter I worked there it was actually quite busy, especially weekends.

[@lornetyndale7974]

Thanks for the video. I do remember Drumheller. Admittedly it never offered much challenge in terms of terrain, even its "black" runs did not seem to be anything more challenging then a "blue" run at other resorts, but was an okay community hill for the town of Drumheller. A big part of the challenge was that Drumheller only had a population of about 7500 throughout the hill's existence and not all of them skied. As a result the hill would need to pull in out of town visitors. Tourists going to Drumheller in the winter wouldn't think of going there for skiing, they'd be going there for things such as the Royal Terrell Museum. Skiing tourists heading to Alberta are going to either Banff or Jasper. Skiers from the Calgary area wanting a small local hill for a few hours skiing wouldn't drive the 90 minutes to get to Drumheller when Canada Olympic Park is right in town and Wintergreen (only 30 minutes away) offered better terrain then Drumheller. Those in Calgary wanting a full day of skiing would go to one of the bigger hills. It really was local skier enthusiasm that kept it going for years. I also always wondered about the choice they made going with a Quad. Right from the start it seemed that a double (or even a T-Bar) could have handled the capacity for the skiers they'd likely get, and I suspect that would have reduced the lift purchase and installation costs leaving less debt. Of course it is possible they bought the chair used.

[@Skier72]

Thanks for your comment! It did seem that attracting a big enough skier population was their downfall. Interestingly, this was also the same for the Aspen Heights ski hill in Hardisty (which opened around the same time), they simply couldn't get enough people to ski, paired with water usage issues. Valley ski club near Alliance really seems to thrive, though when you look at their operations, it's really small with just a T-Bar and multiple rope tows. Perhaps this is the best course of action for small Eastern AB ski hills. Perhaps the ski hill could have had a mountain bike downhill course in the summer, but the Passion Play probably wouldn't have allowed it. Maybe it would have helped the ski area stay afloat though. I'm pretty sure the quad was new. Not sure why, as it seems really overbuilt. The good news is that it's going to Zincton, who plans to install it either this year or next for their opening. So at least it will get a good second life.

[@Skier72]

@Max V. I'm pretty sure the quad is being moved this summer from Big Bam to Zincton. It probably won't be open for the ski season next year, but they'll probably start pouring the foundations this year. As to the location of the quad, (it's been a while since I've talked to the president of Zincton), I believe it will go right above the proposed base camp, labeled as the "Reitmer Chair". If you click on this link, (zincton.com/pages/proposal ), open the "full proposal" pdf file, then scroll down to page 113, it should give you an idea of where they want to build out.

[@PerkyBird]

Wanted to comment here to let you know that your videos are not part of a niche that I particularly enjoy, I don't watch any other skiing videos, but your videos are still very interesting! Yours are the only videos of this type that I watch.

[@Skier72]

Thanks a lot Jay, appreciate it!

[@misterslats]

​@@Skier72Would love to see Silver Summit. Probably the best defunct Alberta hill outside the Rockies.

[@user-pf1rc7wt1y]

The closing of this hill, is when Drumheller Valley lost its soul!!! The greedy town should have forgave the water bill!!! The hill even wanted to pipe water from the Red Deer River, but the GREEDY TOWN would not let them, as, it would cut into their revenues!!! SHAME, SHAME!!! They were getting busy too, once the school skiing tours from Sask discovered the Drumheller Hill, half the distance as Banff, so they all started coming to Drumheller!!!