Asessippi celebrates successful season

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This article was published 27/04/2023 (921 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a couple of rough seasons, skiers have returned to the slopes and propelled Asessippi Ski Resort to its best season yet, resort management reports.

Thanks in part to the number of school ski trips picking up and good snow conditions that extended the season, Asessippi reports having the best season in its 24-year history.

“This year was the first, basically, big bounce-back year from COVID,” Asessippi’s marketing specialist, Baily Naherniak, said, estimating the number of skiers and snowboarders during the 2020 and 2021 seasons had fallen to about a third of pre-pandemic levels.

This year, the story was different, she said.

While overall numbers weren’t immediately available, Naherniak said more than 15,000 school kids visited during this latest season, and anecdotally the number of skiers and snowboarders was a little more than last year.

Also helping was the fact the resort was able to remain open for its longest season ever. It was open for more than four months, extending its season record by two weeks.

Good snow conditions allowed the runs to be open on Dec. 3, a week earlier than the previous year, and remain open by a week longer than all other seasons in its history. Besides skiing and snowboarding, Asessippi offered events that included live music and family-friendly activities.

Naherniak said that was an improvement over last couple of years when the snow melted earlier and the resort had to close.

In addition, due to COVID-19 restrictions putting a dent in the number of visitors, the Bear Chair wasn’t operated for the last couple of years, deterring advanced skiers. Opening the chair this year drew skiers back.

“That actually was, I would say, a factor in the success of this year, too,” Naherniak said. “Many people, especially the more advanced skiers, they really like going to the Bear Chair because it has steeper slopes on it.”

“We are thrilled to have had such an amazing season,” said general manager Richard Crosthwaite said in a press release. “We are thankful for our guests’ continued support and the hard work of our staff. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional skiing and snowboarding experiences and look forward to continuing that for years to come.”

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary for the resort.

Leading up to next year, Naherniak said, the resort will see a major upgrade to its snow-making equipment, and that construction is why it won’t be open for mountain biking this summer, the other reason being lack of staff.

“We do hope to get back to it, but no exact date set yet,” Naherniak said, bike riding along the resort trails has proven popular with about 200 to 300 riders visiting any given weekend.

Naherniak said in the past the resort has hired lots of employees from overseas for seasonal work, but they have been harder to secure lately. Locally, staff have been hard to find too, given the nationwide labour shortage.

In addition, staff are needed for other activities for this summer, including weddings and the upgrades to the snow-making equipment.

Asessippi was able to pick up a couple of workers during the ski season, allowing it to make capitalize on a good season, said Naherniak, adding Asessippi is working on staffing for next ski season.

“We definitely have very high hopes for this upcoming season. We have lots of job fairs already planned for overseas, so we hope to have a good next year with staffing.”

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