Red Resort soon to be 8th Largest Ski Area in Canada!

It's official after months of speculation and rumour, Red Resort is installing their new fixed-grip Poma quad chair starting this week. The construction is due to be complete prior to the 2013/14 season kicking off in the late fall. This is the largest ski resort expansion in the Kootenay's since Whitewater installed their Glory Ridge chair a few years back.

Here's the facts:

- 2,831 vertical from the top of Grey Mountain (total vert is 2,919)

- 360 degrees of skiing

- 997 acres of additional skiing

- total acres of skiing now 2,787 (similar to Breckenridge or Jackson Hole)

- 8th largest ski resort in Canada

- 18th largest ski resort in the USA out of over 500 resorts

The details straight form Red Resort:

RED Now in Top 20 of All North American Resorts by Terrain ScaleRED Mountain Resort & Regional Economy Get Lift.

ROSSLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA: RED Mountain Resort is beyond proud to announce that its recent expansion to contiguous Grey Mountain now comes with a chair lift. The fixed-grip Poma quad chair is set for installation starting with a ground breaking ceremony today, Thursday, June 20th at 5:00 PM. The new lift is on schedule to be completed for this coming ski season.

In addition to the ski area’s Red and Granite peaks, skiers can now access one more stellar peak, Grey Mountain by chair lift -- with 360-degree skiing off the top! This development of Grey Mountain marks one of the single largest expansions of an existing resort in North America in four decades. It places RED Mountain Resort firmly in the scale of resorts such as Breckenridge, Colorado or Jackson Hole, Wyoming in terms of skiable acreage. Grey Mountain adds 997 acres to RED bringing the total skiable acres to 2,787. This puts the "local legend" hill in the Top 20 of all North American resorts in terms of terrain scale. 

Hardcore snow sliders will love the challenging new chutes and steeps off the north and eastern slopes of Grey. "We feel the new lift will enhance the experience for all our customers," says Katkov. "Lift-lines have never been a deterrent around here…and the new lift on Grey will spread guests out even more. Local powder fiends have nothing to worry about and new visitors have a lot to look forward to."

The Grey Mountain expansion makes RED the 8th largest ski area in Canada and, for comparison, the 18th largest in the USA out of approximately 500 resorts. Located just 5mi/8km north of the USA/CAN border, RED has long been a key component of both B.C. and Washington skiers' diets, not to mention a hot spot among the world's "powder vanguard."

With 2,919ft/884m of vertical on offer from the top of Granite and 2831ft/863m of vert off the new peak on Grey, it's no wonder The New York Times voted Rossland/RED Mountain their "Number 8 Place to Visit in 2013," citing the expansion as a true game changer: "Suddenly RED’s trail map will stretch as wide as Jackson Hole’s inbounds terrain. With a new lodge and the first on-hill accommodations added in the last few years, this local legend is ready to step out into the spotlight," writes the New York Times' Christopher Solomon.