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By the time this weekend rolls around, it is well and truly going to feel like spring has arrived in Alberta.
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With forecasts calling for temperatures reaching as high as 16 C on Sunday, we’re talking about legitimate T-shirt-wearing weather in the mountains.
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For some people, that means it’s time to get out the golf clubs.
But for a lot of us, it means it’s the best time of the year for skiing and snowboarding.
That’s certainly the case at Castle Mountain.
“Our season is winding down, we close a little earlier than the others and April 7 is our closing day,” said Cole Fawcett, sales and marketing manager at Castle Mountain. “Things have changed quickly from low tide to high tide in terms of conditions and now’s the time. It’s literally now or never. I think people should have a significant amount of (fear of missing out) right now because the skiing’s damn good and the weather’s going to be amazing.”
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Fawcett brings up a couple interesting points in that quote.
First of all, there’s the conditions.
While it might be getting warmer in a hurry over the next couple of days, Castle is in a bit of a unique situation. The temperatures are going to be rising, but they’ve been getting some absolutely incredible snow recently.
Despite a slow start, the Southern Alberta mountain has been seeing consistent snowfall since the beginning of February and is now close to the same amount it received by this time last year.
So there’s a lot of powder all over the mountain.
“Even heading into Family Day long weekend, the week or two before that, things were ramping up,” Fawcett said. “It’s really been since the third, fourth or fifth of February that the taps have turned on.”
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Warmer temperatures and deep snow? That’s sort of the spring skiing dream.
And while it’s possible that the unseasonable weather will interfere with the plans of other resorts in the region that stay open through to the end of April and into May, Castle is closing after the first week of April and there should be snow right up until the final day. Temperatures are going to come back down by the end of next week, according to the app on my phone.
And with that in mind, anyone who thinks they might be interested in getting in a couple days on the slopes before the season’s ending should definitely be looking into Castle’s Spring Pass.
The passes were introduced a couple years ago and get skiers and riders unlimited turns on the mountain from March 11 until the end of the year. And at $249 for adults, they’re affordably priced, too.
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That’s less than the cost of a single lift ticket at some resorts in other parts of the continent and, again, Castle’s Spring Pass gets guests as many days as they can handle until April 7.
And, of course, there’s a lot more to the spring season in the mountains than skiing or riding. The longer days and warmer temperatures mean there’s more time to linger at the bottom of the hill with friends, family and strangers, too.
With that in mind, Castle hosts its Beats in the Base Series, with live music every Saturday and Sunday, until the end of the season.
The concert series goes from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. every weekend and there’s an outdoor bar, too.
“This weekend, it’s going to be warm. Almost shockingly warm,” Fawcett said. “It’ll be an amazing weekend for T-shirt skiing and live music and beer-drinking down in the base area.”
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