Member Reviews: Castle Mountain

Castle is really an underreated resort. Maybe it's because its not as close to Calgary as The Lake or SSV, but it is deffinitley worth the 2 hour longer trip on weekends. Less crowds (although this is gradually beginning to change), better coverage (by far), and better value than anywhere close to Calgary. Downsides are that there isn't much for beginners. Mount Haig that opened fairly recently is basically it. Intermediates and Experts alike would love this place. Great fall line skiing. I would recomend it, but if you have a beginner in the family. Sunshine or Nakiska would probably be a better choice for that.

I don't use the terrain park and haven't spent a night at castle (i have heard it can be a good time, but your options are clearly limited) so those two categories were left blank. On to the review. There is nothing fancy about Castle Mountain. Most of the skiing takes place on  Gravenstafel Ridge. There are two main chair lifts that run up the center of the ridge, one gets you half way and the other to the top. From the top you have your pick of long, consistantly pitched runs to the bottom. There isn't a lof of "extreme" in bounds terrain at castle, but the runs are plenty steep. Snow tends to hold up pretty well, mostly due to low traffic. It seems to receive more snow than banff,...

Slow, old lifts keep the "resort" skiers away. Big winds keep whiners away. Big POW and windsift keep Castle a "skiers ski hill" Go somewhere else if you want a message or a capaccino.