THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, Ontario, Dec. 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The scene was quite different from the first opening day at Blue Mountain in 1941. At the top of the festively decorated Blue Mountain Village, all eyes were on one of Blue Mountain's five high-speed six-person chair lifts. At the base of the Silver Bullet, a crowd of skiers and snowboarders anxiously waited for the chairs to start turning and to be one of the first hit the trails at Blue during its 75th anniversary season. Guests were greeted with complimentary hot chocolate and opening day remarks from Dan Skelton, President and COO of Blue Mountain Resort.
"We have 15 cm of snow coming down and cold temperatures for the next week and it feels like it's going to be a really great start to the season," said Skelton, standing next to George Weider whose father founded Blue Mountain Resort in 1941. "This is our 75th anniversary… and we have been reflecting on our past and where we came from," Skelton continued. "I think Jozo would be very impressed and proud of what we have built here [at Blue]."
Eager winter-lovers were able to get out on four of Blue Mountain's groomed trails yesterday and can look forward to more trails opening up as the cold temperatures and natural snowfall continue throughout the week. As the season continues, guests can enjoy a number of 75th anniversary celebrations and events including historical memorabilia, a series of online featurettes and photo opportunities around the resort.
Blue Mountain's official anniversary celebration will be held on the weekend of January 21 and 22 with Celebrate 75, a winter festival with live music, entertainment and family-friendly activities. The weekend will also host a special life auction of retired ski lift chairs which have been modified into outdoor benches featuring one-of-a-kind artwork by local artists. The auction will be a fundraiser for Blue Mountain's anniversary charity of choice, the Blue Mountain Special Olympic Alpine team.
More information about Blue Mountain and its anniversary can be found at www.bluemountain/75.
-30-
About Blue Mountain Resort
Blue Mountain, Ontario's largest mountain resort is nestled on the shores of Georgian Bay, located 90 minutes north of Toronto. Blue Mountain has become the four-season destination of the North, visited by more than 1.5 million guests a year. Winter at the resort boasts 42 ski and snowboard trails enhanced by a world-class snowmaking system. Summer months offer the largest downhill mountain biking facility in Ontario, Monterra Golf course, Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster, Cascade Putting Course, Timber Challenge Ropes Course, Wind Rider Triple Zips and a private beach property among other seasonal attractions. Year-round the resort attracts visitors to more than 1,000 luxury accommodation units and 45 unique concept restaurants, bars and retail stores in our pedestrian Village. 53,000 square feet of state-of-the-art conference space caters year-round to corporate meeting groups. Blue Mountain is owned by Intrawest ULC. Visit www.bluemountain.ca for more information.
About Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc.
Intrawest is a North American mountain resort and adventure company, delivering distinctive vacation and travel experiences to its customers for over three decades. The Company wholly owns six four-season mountain resorts with approximately 8,000 skiable acres and over 1,130 acres of land available for real estate development. Intrawest's mountain resorts are geographically diversified across most of North America's major ski regions, including the Eastern United States, the Rocky Mountains, and Canada. The Company also operates an adventure travel business, the cornerstone of which is Canadian Mountain Holidays, a leading heli-skiing adventure company in North America. Additionally, the Company operates a comprehensive real estate business through which it manages, markets and sells vacation club properties; manages condominium hotel properties; and sells and markets residential real estate. Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SNOW). For more information, visit www.intrawest.com.
About Blue Mountain Village
The Blue Mountain Village is located between Collingwood and Thornbury in the Town of The Blue Mountains, at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment along the shores of Georgian Bay. Pedestrian streets framed with turn of the century Ontario architecture are full of life and decoration. With a wide variety of family activities including the Mountain Roller Coaster, New high and low ropes courses, 18 hole putting course, climbing wall plus for shopping, dining and world class accommodations, the Village is an exciting four-season destination.
There's ALWAYS something to do at BLUE. For full event information and calendar, please visit www.bluemountainvillage.ca.
Photos accompanying this release are available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41985
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41986
CONTACT:Tara Lovell, PR Manager
Blue Mountain Resort
Tel: 705-445-0231 ext: 6052
Email: tlovell@bluemountain.ca
www.bluemountain.ca
