Ski Cape Smokey


Ski Cape Smokey is a ski hill located in the Cape Breton Highlands of Nova Scotia. Ski Cape Smokey offers 16 alpine runs, 2 lifts, hill grooming and snow making. Facilities include a lodge at the base and top of the mountain. The base lodge feature a restaurant, bar, ski school and hill offices.
Ski Cape Smokey is known for being Nova Scotia's highest elevation ski mountain at over a 320 m, 305 m of it skiable, and for its ocean views. The mountain receives an average of 381 cm of snowfall annually. However weather is often unpredictable and above freezing.
Since 2002 the ski resort has had continuing financial problems. This issue continues and affects the operation of the area. It suffers from a low population base in the local area and remoteness from major population areas. Sydney is 90 minutes away and Halifax 4.5 hours away. In 2006, the ski hill closed. Many years following that, volunteers from the Ski Cape Smokey Society, a non-profit care taker group, attempted to re-open the resort. After many unsuccessful attempts, Ski Cape Smokey was finally opened February 2011, with very limited parts of the mountain for local skiers using the lower mountain poma lift. Without snow making it cannot operate in the profitable Christmas/New Year holiday period.
Facilities at the hill area are in need of much repair and deteriorating very quickly. The quad chair which has not been run or inspected in many years may require substantial repair at a high cost. The same is true in the neglect of the snow making system which may not be functional and have to be replaced.
Many prospective buyers have done due diligence and inspected the hill, but none are willing to make a commitment to long term operation of the ski center. A search for a permanent solution continues. Permanent closure of the ski hill and sales of the assets is a possibility in the future.

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