Asessippi delays ticket sale as repairs continue

The Asessippi Ski Resort has delayed its fall season-pass sale until December.

The ski hill management decided to wait until more information is available about ongoing repairs, assistant manager Shannon Johnston told the Sun on Friday.

The Porcupine and Bear chair lifts are damaged from this summer’s flooding, but the status of repairs could be confirmed by the end of next month, she said.

A new main electrical line is scheduled to be installed in mid-December, which is necessary to restart the two chairs.

“We remain optimistic about all that happening and Manitoba Hydro coming,” Johnston said. “But if something happened and we sold all these season passes, it wouldn’t be the right thing for us. It would lose, maybe, some trust.”

The annual fall season-pass sale typically takes place during the first week of November.

The ski hill sustained roughly $2.2 million in flood damage from Lake of the Prairies and the Shell River.

Last month, Johnston said the resort is depending on disaster relief assistance to cover major costs. The provincial government has not yet given an update on whether that assistance will be provided.

The delayed sale of tickets allowed a longer period of time for potential funding from the program, Johnston said. That was a “big factor” in deciding to reschedule.

Nigel Simms, head coach of the Asessippi Ski Club, said the team trains mostly on runs serviced by the Porcupine chair.

Members would be impacted if the repairs can’t take place, he said.

“If there’s no facility for us to compete or train, like if there’s no access to runs for us to do it, that’s a washout for us,” he said.

While Simms wages the facilities will be back up and running, he said the real question is when that will take place.

“Going into the season, which is coming at us pretty quickly now, we’re really optimistic that that the hill is going to get together and overcome the challenges that they have. So, we’re hoping it’s just a delay, if anything,” he said.

“The hill is working really hard, and we’re confident that all the lifts will be operational this year at some point. I think it’s just a question of timing.”

If there is a delay in snowmaking, or a delay in repairing the Porcupine chair, the club will just delay its events, Simms said. The first event is booked for February, which allows some leeway, he said.

The membership purchased their tickets in the spring, so the delay in ticket sales has no impact on the club, he said.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com