It hasn’t exactly been the season Searchmont Resort was hoping for, but expectations are running high for next year, says a spokesperson for the ski hill just outside of Sault Ste. Marie.
The 2021-22 season did go ahead in a limited capacity after Searchmont Resort was closed for all of the previous season due to COVID, said Barb Greensted, operations manager.
“It was a difficult year because of so many things,” said Greensted of the current season, which is currently winding down. “It wasn’t ideal, but the alternative of not opening wasn’t ideal either, so we did open kind of underpowered somewhat this year.”
A new triple lift, called the Goulais Lift, was put into operation this year, as well as the existing Quad Lift.
Another new triple lift named the Buzzsaw was expected to be put into service this season.
“We had anticipated getting it operational but we ran into a lot of delays typical of everyone else during COVID — shipping delays, parts delay and whatnot,” said Greensted.
To compound the challenges faced by the resort this season, Greensted said the existing triple lift requires a complete rebuild.
“We only had the new Goulais and the quad running (this year), but next year we will have four operational,” she said.
Greensted said a lack of American tourists and lack of people travelling long distances resulted in slow sales of lift tickets.
“We had to rely on just the local market, which is great. The local community was very supportive, which we appreciate, but it definitely wasn’t a profitable year for us, by any means,” she said.
The season wasn’t all that bad for the skiers who were able to make it to the hill this year, said Greensted.
“The conditions, I have been told by many seasons skiers, were the best they have ever been. That was positive,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Greensted said the resort’s owner, Detroit-based Wisconsin Resorts Inc., has plans to invest even more in the off season. The company owns Pine Knob in Clarkston, Mich., Mt. Holly in Holly, Mich. and Bittersweet, Otsego, Mich., as well as Alpine Valley in Elkhorn, Wisc.
“They have been at this for many years. We are very fortunate they bought it when they did because I don’t think the previous association would have survived this whole COVID ordeal. It hasn’t stopped them at all and they are going to just keep continuing,” said Greensted.
Among the investments is a complete renovation of the existing 12-unit villa the resort rents out.
“Right now it’s basically gutted and we are totally redoing it and re-configuring it as well, so the units will be laid out differently than they were before,” said Greensted.
An entirely new multi-unit villa is a possibility in the future, said Greensted.
“We are looking into a 10-unit villa unit, but it’s not confirmed when we are going ahead with it,” she said.
In addition, the resort plans to continue its expansion of snow-making capabilities, with hopes of extending future seasons even further.
“The goal is to get enough snow to open in November and be open until April every season, with mother nature’s cooperation,” said Greensted.
The resort was closed for all of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19, but Greensted said it was able to qualify for some government relief.
“We did get the wage subsidy support, which was very helpful. Truthfully, if we didn’t have that subsidy we probably couldn’t have accomplished everything we did do in the off season because we weren’t open at all last year,” said Greensted. “It’s going to take us a bit to bounce back from everything COVID has left behind.”