An era ends: Weather issues, insurance woes force closure of Drayton Valley ski hill
Land and equipment to be auctioned off, with proceeds going to other non-profits
After almost 60 years in operation, the ski hill in Drayton Valley, Alta., is shutting down.
A post on the ski hill's Facebook page earlier this week blamed the closure on weather and insurance-related issues.
Randy Beckett, president of the Drayton Valley Brazeau Snow Club, the non-profit volunteer organization operating the ski hill just northeast of the town of Drayton Valley, said inconsistent winter weather conditions in recent years were the main factor in the closure. The town of 7,700 residents is 150 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
He said the ski hill has only been able to open three of the last seven years because of a lack of snow.
"The first thing that hit us is no snow. Mother Nature does not give us snow anymore."
The ski hill's land and equipment will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will be donated to other non-profit organizations in the Drayton Valley area, Beckett said.
The club also said in its announcement that it was closing because it "can no longer obtain and sustain insurance."
Beckett said the ski hill insurance situation changed drastically after the club lost a favourable insurance policy with Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), which offers an insurance program that negotiates more affordable rates for community organizations.
Beckett said he was notified by the RMA in 2022 that the ski hill's more affordable $14,000 insurance premium would not be renewed.
"Due to past ski hill losses within our program and across Canada, insurers were reluctant to insure these specific risks, and ski hills were positioned outside of the risk profile of our partnered program," RMA president Kara Westerlund said in a statement to CBC.
Beckett said the change forced the club to quickly reach out to the few insurance companies "in the whole world that will touch a ski hill."
"We talked to three different insurance companies, and we took the lowest rate at $24,000, but there were $40,000 and $30,000 [quotes]," he said. "It just went crazy."
Beckett said this new rate pushed the boundaries of what his small organization could afford.
He said the most revenue the ski hill has generated in a year was $30,000, and in 2023, the organization had to pay that much for equipment inspections even though it couldn't open due to poor weather conditions.
Beckett said a recent conversation with the ski hill's new insurer over increasing the premium for the chalet building made him reconsider the viability of keeping the ski hill open.
Another factor included a requirement to implement new liability policies that Beckett said would be very difficult for the ski hill to apply.
"I said [to the insurance company], 'Any little thing is going to shut us down because we can't stay afloat with these costs. Last year cost us $30,000 and we were not open. I've been president for seven years and we have only been open three times. How long do you think we can hang on?'"
Following his meeting with the new insurer, Beckett decided to cancel the ski hill's insurance policy.
He said his organization's growing insurance-related challenges were the "final straw" in the decision to close the hill.
LISTEN | Drayton Valley losing its ski club:
Christopher Nicolson, president of the Canada West Ski Areas Association, said "multiple" ski hills in Alberta had their insurance cancelled by the RMA in 2022.
Rising insurance premiums are one of the biggest challenges for small ski hills, Nicolson said.
He said it's important for local governments to help community recreational assets like the Drayton Valley Brazeau Snow Club deal with rising insurance costs.
"One of the challenges is figuring out ways to help these community [ski] areas with premiums and insurance levels because they continue to be a big cost."
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