Penticton Western News, January 08, 2016

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NEWS NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN PENTICTON WESTERN

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www.pentictonwesternnews.com

Vol. 50 Issue 03

FRIDAY, JANuARY 8, 2016

Lakers senior girls basketball team steps up against Mt. Boucherie

‘Picture Perfect’ season Emanuel Sequeira Western News Staff

NEWS NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN PENTICTON WESTERN

Mother Nature is helping Apex Mountain Resort have its best season ever. As general manager James Shalman described it, Mother Nature opened the clouds in mid-November and dropped a huge snowfall that hasn’t stopped. “Our season has been absolutely phenomenal,” he said. “It’s not just the amount of snow that fell, it’s the quality.” The resort’s website reports an alpine base of 161 centimetres. The mountain has received 27-cm in the past week and 14 in the past 48 hours. More is expected to come. Shalman said the skiing is more like what they have at season’s end. They opened on Nov. 28, which is a week early, and broke records in December with skier visits and revenue. Last year the resort had a strong December and they topped that by 51 per cent. The resort was able to open up more terrain and typically start off with reduced lift ticket rates. This year they went straight to full rates because of the “fantastic snow conditions.” Peak visiting times for Apex is Boxing Day to Jan. 3 as well as the months of February and March. Spring break, B.C. Family Day and President’s Week are also strong for the resort. The Canadian dollar has also helped as Washington State doesn’t have skiresorts and stay. The Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA) reported that the soft dollar is having a positive impact on the ski and tourism industries. U.S. overnight tourist visits to Canada increased eight per cent over the first 10 months of 2015 (compared to 2014). Apex attracts skiers from there, as well as Oregon, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. However, most of their visitors are from the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan Valley. “Word just got out that conditions were phenomenal,” said Shalman. “Our biggest

Apex MountAin ResoRt marketing manager emily Childs hitting some perfect powder at the ski hill in mid-December. Apex is having one of its strongest seasons thanks to favourable weather conditions.

photo courtesy of James shalman

marketing tool is people that have skied here and reporting to their friends how fantastic the conditions are. That’s exactly what happened. Every single day during the Christmas break we had, we were breaking records.” The mountain had a temperature inversion with a valley cloud locked in creating a sunny top Shalman said. “Picture perfect. The top of the mountain was warmer than the bottom. Not a breath of

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snowfalls, and it keeps coming. Skier visits and revenues are up dramatically at most ski resorts across Western Canada. This is particularly great news for B.C.’s Lower Mainland ski areas and Mount Washington who took the brunt of last season’s warm weather, and are all reporting copious amounts of snow and record visitation. Kelowna’s Big White was the first to open on Nov. 13. That is the earliest since 1997.

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wind. It was just amazing weather,” he said. “A perfect recipe, if you want to call it that, of everything coming together.” Shalman said the best time to go skiing is right after Christmas. “Conditions are so good. Fresh tracks are being made,” said Shalman. “Not many people are up here. January is great.” The CWSAA reported that resorts across Western Canada are buried in record breaking

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