The idle ski lift system at Grizzly Ridge may be on its way to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Or it may not, depending on what Slave Lake Town Council decides.
Reclamation costs for the site may be the clinching factor.
Council discussed the matter at its May 16 meeting. Most councillors expressed support for the proposed sale, which arose from a request by the people putting on the Canada Winter Games next winter in the Yukon capital. The only monkeywrench was the possibility that the Town – if it sells off the lift – might then be liable for large site reclamation costs.
The offer is for $20,000. According to a written report by Town Community Services Director Karl Hill, it’s a deal he thinks council should accept, particularly given that the Whitehorse people are willing to pay to remove the equipment. Hill estimated that the cost to the Town of removing the lift would be in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.
But the unanswered questions about site reclamation hung over the discussion.
Council did pass a motion approving the sale, provided it doesn’t trigger any unacceptable reclamation costs.
Councillor George Snider was optimistic in that regard. He said he saw no reason why the area couldn’t continue under its current recreational reserve designation.”You can still ski there and snowboard there,” he said. “There’s just no lift.”
The Canada Games people are in a hurry. The Games run next March, and they need a lift soon. “Surface lifts have become increasingly difficult to acquire,” said Whitehorse Mayor Ernie Bourassa in a letter to Town council. “Your lift happens to fit our hill profile very closely and is probably the only one that is ...available and hopefully affordable, given the time constrictions we face.”
The Grizzly Ridge lift was installed in the 1980s. The burden of running and maintaining it fell almost entirely on volunteer shoulders, and a combination of shrinking volunteer commitment and unfriendly weather conspired to shut the hill down several years ago. The instability of the hill didn’t help either. Slippage in the area of the lift towers has been a recurring – not to mention expensive – problem.
“It’s a poor place for a ski hill,” said Snider.
Snider told The Leader in a subsequent interview that he’s confident the sale will go ahead without problems. But Town Manager Betty Osmond had not been able to confirm it by press time.
Local businessman and ski enthusiast Evan Baranyk told The Leader last week it’s a tough thing to do, given all the time and effort that went into establishing Grizzly Ridge in the first place. But he agrees there’s not much point in letting it sit idle.
“My feeling is it will never be used again,” he said.
Baranyk is currently working with the provincial parks people on a proposal to relocate the cross-country ski area from Grizzly Ridge into Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park. A decision is pending.

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