SUMMER PROJECTS UPDATE – JUNE 25, 2019

Construction crews are working on all fronts at Castle Mountain Resort this week, now that our propane gas system has been switched off and ATCO is on-site daily.

Lone Ranger Trenching Completed –

Over the weekend, pipe and electrical work on Lone Ranger finished up with everything now in the ground within the Huckleberry terrain pod through to our water reservoir on Roundup Traverse. Even electrical pedestals and hydrants have been put in place, meaning crews have been hard at work! The picture below shows Lone Ranger in the midst of being put back together. The small mounds of dirt to the left of the excavated area are comprised of the original topsoil which will soon be put back in place to ensure that grass grows back quickly.

Work Begins on Whiskey Jack –

Next up for our contracting team is laying pipe and electrical on Whiskey Jack run, on the main mountain. Waterline for this portion of our project has already been welded and dragged up the mountain in anticipation for ditching / trenching to begin this week. You might be wondering, why Whiskey Jack?

Whiskey Jack is an important run not only for race training but also for marquee Castle events such as our annual cardboard canoe race and slush cup. Without adequate snow covering on this run, these late season events simply are not possible as it takes A LOT of snow to make a big slush pit! As well, Whiskey Jack serves as a primary (and perhaps best intermediate) route to the base area from the upper mountain when combined with Easy Street (South Road). The North Road will receive snowmaking infrastructure when subsequent phases are implemented.

Natural Gas Line Conversion Begins –

While ATCO has been working on upgrading sections of it’s natural gas line near Beaver Mines, over the past number of weeks, crews have now descended upon Castle Mountain Resort. This was marked, on Monday, by the shutdown of the resort’s current propane distribution system. Residents and Castle Mountain Resort buildings that requested temporary propane gas sources have been provided with small tanks, to help them through the outage over the next couple of weeks. For those that call the resort home year-round, it’s business as usual during the conversion period!

ATCO will purge our existing propane distribution system and prepare it for natural gas over the coming 8 – 10 days. This will include outfitting resort buildings and residences with new gas meters and, while the entire natural gas line to Beaver Mines won’t be completed until later this fall, natural gas will start flowing at Castle Mountain Resort in the vicinity of July 5. A large temporary natural gas tank will be connected into our existing gas distribution network and new meters will be installed. Residences and resort buildings that have completed conversion or replacement of appliances to accept natural gas, will begin receiving it immediately.

What’s Next?

Over the long weekend, things are likely to be relatively quiet on the construction front with snowmaking contractors, expected to take the long weekend off. Work will continue on Whiskey Jack run and then the attention will shift to our pump house and on trenching in pipe & electrical through the base area.