Management is hoping that revamped marketing and menu revisions will draw a crowd to the hill.
As the Marble Mountain ski resort in western Newfoundland prepares for the 2022 season, the provincial government hopes that a busy year supplemented by a marketing campaign and additional dining options would attract a buyer.
According to the Tourism Department, the government-owned hill is still for sale, with a new call for offers due any day soon.
“The government should not be running ski hills,” Tourism Minister Steve Crocker said on Wednesday.
A three-year effort to privatize Marble Mountain failed in July, and the provincial administration canceled its request for offers. However, the search for a buyer has resumed.
“There are people out there who run the Marble Mountains and can make it a very successful resort and a very successful area of the West Coast,” said Crocker. “But it’s important to stay active in the coming season while we’re still operators because Marble can provide a lot to our industry on the West Coast.”
However, state spending on resorts has been reduced this year. The state has allocated a $ 1.2 million budget for ski resorts and $ 800,000 for capital investments such as the refurbishment of a new cable car for the Black Mariah chair lift and an old marble villa. The remaining $ 400,000 will be used for operating costs.
This is about 40% less than last year when the state government spent about $ 2 million to keep the resort running after a 22-day ski season due to bad weather and the outage of COVID 19.
Ski Season Blues: Marble Mountains, White Hills Forced to Postpone Opening Richard Wells, General Manager of The Marble Mountains this week, said: “I hope we can move on to the next level to prove that this place is a bit more profitable.”
Wells and his team have enormous plans to revive the resort this ski season, including massive live music festivals, a New Year’s Eve event, vendor markets, and new menus and eating outlets to entice skiers and riders to stay and spend more money after a day on the snowy slope.
