Tag: Snowridge Ski Resort

Building a Fortress: Part IIBuilding a Fortress: Part II

July 22, 2025 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

When Lynn and Dave Mathews and Hugh Smythe arrived at Snowridge in September 1974, the Albertan ski area was not in the best shape (find out more about how they ended up there here). The lifts had stopped operating following the 1970/71 ski season and the lodge building was described as “just a total disaster.” The three were there to reopen the ski area and make it saleable, which meant that they had until the beginning of the ski season in December to turn it into a going concern.

There was a lot to get done in a short amount of time and in an oral history interview Hugh looked back at this time as “drinking from a fire hose, to say the least.” The trio were taking on all of the operations of the ski area, including the lifts, ski school, retail, hotel, restaurant, and more. According to Hugh, this experience was where he got his “MBA in ski management by trial by fire.”

The 7th Heaven T-bar installed on Blackcomb Mountain in 1985 was originally a lift from Fortress Mountain. Greg Griffith Collection.

The cable of the chairlift at Snowridge had been blown off the tower and chairs were lying on the ground. Doppelmayr took on the refurbishment of the lift and Snowridge’s two T-bars (they were, after all, Doppelmayr lifts), marking the beginning of a long relationship between Doppelmayr and Hugh.

Birds had been searching for larva in the wooden siding of the lodge and other animals had been making themselves at home inside. Designed by Calgary architect Joseph K. English, guest services, retail and rental space, hotel accommodations, and food services were all included in one unique building. According to Lynn, it featured a “big copper fireplace going up three floors” and had a confusing layout. She recalled at one point seeing Hugh on the second floor and asking, “How did you get there?” His reply was, “I don’t know.” Though Dave referred to the building as a “Monument to Insanity,” they soon learned their way around.

In 2023, someone filmed their walk-through of the abandoned lodge and included some historical images of it in its heyday. The lodge is no longer accessible and is reportedly slated for demolition.

In order to open a ski area in three months, Lynn, Dave and Hugh did not come along and some familiar faces from Whistler Mountain came to work with them at Snowridge. Little Mary, who had been known for her cinnamon buns at Whistler, joined them in the cafeteria. Roger and Jan Systad, who had both worked at the Cheakamus Inn, came as well, Roger as the restaurant’s chef and Jan to run some of the hotel operations. Rich Miller was their electrician and John Garrity was in charge of maintenance. Munro Pickering, who had been a lift operator for the Green Chair, was in charge of the lift crew. Though not from the Whistler area, Hugh’s high school friend Garry Davies was also hired to create the new trail signs.

Like many of those who went to Fortress, Rich Miller returned to Whistler in the 1970s. (L-R) Drew Meredith, Jack Greenwood and Rich Miller pose in the midst of official Chamber of Commerce business. Whistler Question Collection

With a lot of work and long days, the ski area was ready to open by December 1974. They renamed the operation Fortress Mountain and branded themselves as “Alberta’s Friendly Mountain.” To that end, they hired high school kids to work on the weekends who they bused in and would have stay at Fortress Friday and Saturday nights. Fortress also employed over 40 full-time staff who lived at the ski area. As the managers, one of Dave, Lynn or Hugh was always on duty. Looking back, Lynn recalled going to bed at 4 am and then getting back up to work at 11am, remembering “I have never worked so hard in my life.”

Fortress had turned around by the spring of 1975 and was operating successfully. All that was left for HUMAT Management and Consultants Ltd. was to sell the ski resort for the Federal Business Development Bank.

Building a Fortress: Part IBuilding a Fortress: Part I

July 15, 2025 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

In 1974, a closed ski hill in Alberta developed a surprising number of connections to the Whistler area.

Snowridge Ski Resort opened in Kananaskis County in 1968 as a family ski area. A daylodge designed by Joseph K. English had been constructed the previous summer and included hotel rooms, a restaurant, and a cafeteria that could seat up to 300. Two t-bars and a chairlift had also been installed and Snowridge advertised “acres of exotic powder and undulating packed runs.” Located along the gravel and rarely-plowed Kananaskis-Coleman Forestry Road, it wasn’t the easiest to access, but it was close enough to Calgary to attract skiers, many of whom would come for the day.

Snowridge closed at the end of the 1970/71 ski season and didn’t reopen. In 1973, the bank foreclosed on its mortgages and Snowridge declared bankruptcy and was put up for judicial sale by the Federal Business Development Bank (FBDB; then called the Industrial Development Bank. That same year, construction began on Highway 40, which would have provided more consistent access to the ski hill. By 1974, Snowridge was still for sale.

Patrol at the top of the Red Chair in 1967, years before Hugh Smythe moved to Snowridge. Photo courtesy of Cliff Jennings

Over in British Columbia, Hugh Smythe took the summer of 1974 off from Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. and took a trip to Alberta. On his trip, he stopped at Fairmont Hot Springs and visited with the owners, the Wilder family. The Wilders were interested in purchasing Snowridge and Hugh decided to go take a look. According to an oral history interview with Hugh, he thought, “Maybe this is something that could be intriguing” and he was still thinking about Snowridge when he returned to work at Whistler Mountain in August.

Dave Mathews was operations manager for Whistler Mountain at the time and so was Hugh’s boss. Not wanting to take on “a derelict ski area” alone, Hugh talked to Dave about his interest in Snowridge and they and Dave’s wife Lynn formed HUMAT Management and Consultants Ltd. They didn’t have the financing to purchase Snowridge, so Hugh and Dave approached the FBDB. Though they didn’t really expect that their pitch would go anywhere, they were contracted to get the ski area up and running and turn it into a saleable prospect. That September, Hugh, Lynn and Dave left their jobs at the lift company and moved to Snowridge, along with the Mathews’ two small children.

As Lynn was the editor of the Garibaldi’s Whistler News during her time at Garibaldi Lifts Ltd., the Mathews children sometimes featured in promotional photos such as this one. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

According to Lynn, she and Dave had sold some properties in Whistler and had a bit of money put by and so were open to taking on something new. Hugh was interested in learning more about the operation of a ski area. Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. is often described as being “in the uphill transportation business.” They ran the lifts on Whistler Mountain and looked after the grooming and patrolling while the food operations, ski school and ski shop were contracted out. At Snowridge, they had the opportunity to “do all of it,” from running the lifts to running a hotel, restaurant, bar, ski school, and rental and retail shop. As Hugh recalled, “I felt that’s something that I really wanted to get involved with, was all of the aspects of running a resort.”

Upon arrival, Hugh and the Mathews were confronted with a chairlift whose cable had been blown off the towers and whose chairs were lying on the ground and a hotel that was “just a total disaster.” It was already snowing in the first week of September and the area needed to be operational by December. Keep reading next week for tales of their efforts and some more familiar faces from Whistler Mountain.