Fortress Mountain originally opened in 1967, but it wasn’t known as Fortress back then. At that time it was called Snowridge Ski Resort in the kananaSKIs valley. In those days, visitors had to navigate the poorly maintained and rarely-plowed Kananaskis-Coleman Forestry Road, which was a precursor to the modern-day Highway 40. Snowridge permanently closed its doors at the end of the 1971 season after a brief foray into heli-skiing. The resort remained closed until the fall of 1974 when it reopened as the newly christened Fortress Mountain. The photos in this collection are from the ’74 re-opening of the resort, however, the Fortress story doesn’t end there. Fortress Mountain’s history is filled, quite literally, with peaks and valleys, including three notable closures (1971-74, 2004-05, & 2006-11), two bankruptcies, multiple ownership changes, and an array of revenue streams (from Hollywood movies to glacier water). All of this, and more, has kept the resort in the news on a semi-regular basis.
The future of Fortress Mountain as a winter resort is unclear. Their website proclaims, “re-development plans are well on their way to re-open the iconic area not only as a winter ski resort, but as a destination four-season mountain resort.” Today Fortress is home to K-Pow Cat Skiing, guided hiking and snowshoeing tours with White Mountain Adventures, guided fishing excursions with Canmore Fishing Adventures, and a Hollywood hot spot for blockbuster movies, TV shows, and commercials. Fortress was even spotted in the trailer for the highly anticipated second season of The Last of Us.
The Friends of Kananaskis Country have a detailed timeline of Fortress Mountain’s history. There’s also a fabulous YouTube video called Ghost Ski Resorts | Fortress created by Black Crows Skis that is worth watching. While we patiently wait to see what the future of Fortress looks like, we can reminisce about their last grand re-opening in the winter of ’74!
For related stories please see my previous posts including, Vintage Photographs of Skiing from Across Alberta, Vintage Photographs of Mount Norquay in Banff, Vintage Photos of Banff’s Sunshine Village, and a Curated Collection of Historical Photos from Marmot Basin.
The photos above were collected from the Provincial Archives of Alberta and Archives Canada. If you’re interested, additional information can be found for each photograph on their websites. Stay tuned for additional posts featuring historical photos from across Alberta and Western Canada. We’d love to know what you think in the comment section below.
