Fortress Mountain can become a “world-class, all-season mountain resort,” according to a new detailed proposal for the ski hill’s transformation.
Under a five-phase plan, the all-season resort would include gondolas, ziplines, hotels, condos, shops, restaurants and other amenities.
Fortress would be developed into a “premier alpine ski destination,” and also feature a “robust summer recreation program” that includes activities such as hiking and mountain biking, according to the master plan. The resort is designed to accommodate a balanced mix of day visitors and overnight guests, it says.“Fortress Mountain Resort is poised to be revitalized as a thriving destination, offering authentic, nature-based experiences that reflect the spirit of Alberta,” reads the master plan, prepared by Ecosign.
The first phase focuses on opening Fortress in the summer months to day-trip visitors. The plans call for a sightseeing gondola to the mountain along with other attractions, such as a via ferrata, long zipline, a mountain coaster, suspension bridges and mini golf. During the first phase, Fortress has less for visitors to do in the winter, offering activities such as tubing, tobogganing, snowshoeing and cat skiing.
In Phase 1, the master plan estimates that Fortress could accommodate roughly 3,000 daily visitors, with the facility having about 1,100 parking stalls, bus access and an RV lot allowing for overnight parking.
Construction starts on overnight accommodations in Phase 2, when three buildings would be constructed in the resort core, according to the master plan. At full build-out, it would have a daily capacity of up to 9,650 guests, and the facility would have 1,440 day visitor parking stalls, eight aerial lifts, six surface lifts and 1,304 units for tourist stays, reads the plan. Fortress would also have more than 500 housing units and almost 700 employee housing units.
“At the heart of the resort experience will be a mixed-use hotel and condominium development, featuring pedestrian plazas, a commercial shopping street and spa facilities — creating a vibrant sense of place and a welcoming atmosphere for guests,” reads the master plan.
Fortress Mountain Resort program director Danielle Vlemmiks said Monday the preliminary plan provides “a strong foundation” for the project, outlining how Fortress can be redeveloped as an all‑season destination “in a way that balances environmental stewardship, economic opportunity and community benefit, subject to the regulator’s decision.”
“Redeveloping an existing, brownfield lease into a modern, sustainable resort is a rare opportunity, and this draft plan gives us a roadmap for how that could work in practice while honouring the landscape and responding to what Albertans want to see,” Vlemmiks said in an email.The far-side lift chair at Fortress Mountain Resort is shown west of Calgary in Kananaskis Country on Jan. 22, 2016. Fortress Mountain is shown in the background.
Fortress, formerly Snowridge Ski Area, was established in 1967. People could ski there until 2006, when it closed to the public. The existing lifts are no longer working at Fortress, where cat skiing has taken place since 2011.
In December, the Alberta government announced that development of all-season resorts at Fortress, Castle Mountain and Nakiska are slated to begin this year, following the province’s 2024 All-Seasons Resort Act, part of the province’s plan to boost tourism revenues to $25 billion by 2035.
The province estimates that converting the ski resorts to all-season ones will bring $4 billion in visitor spending to Alberta over the next decade, as well as create 24,000 new jobs and $3.6 billion in GDP.
In a statement, an Alberta Tourism and Sport spokesperson said Monday that the province targeted Fortress as an “iconic” resort to be revitalized, a move that will create jobs, drive economic growth and “ensure Albertans can enjoy their backyard for generations to come.”
The Alberta government is now seeking public feedback on the master plan. People can submit comments until Feb. 27 through this form.
The creation of all-season resorts has its critics.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has had concerns about the province’s All Seasons Resorts Act, among them how land was designated, the changing of park boundaries and creating massive developments in areas that are already overwhelmed or have high ecological value, said Katie Morrison, executive director of the society’s southern Alberta chapter.
“We see all of that playing out in Fortress,” she said Monday.
The map of Fortress in the master plan looks like one of an “amusement park,” said Morrison.
“It is absolutely packing all this commercial development into an area that we know has high ecological value and is an area that is already sort of bursting at the seams for managing recreation — and recreation not just for those ecological values but also for the experience that people go to Kananaskis for,” she said.
