After Kelly Canyon Ski Resort saw its earliest ski season ending in the last 80 years, the owners knew it was time for a change.
Kelly Canyon is introducing a new five-year plan to map out everything the resort hopes to accomplish in the near future.
In collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, the ski resort aims to become a year-round resort that can host a variety of activities and events for people from all around.
“If there’s any concerns about ‘How does this affect my winter skiing?’, or ‘How does this affect the Kelly Canyon I have now?’, everything you love about Kelly Canyon is just being expanded,” says Sam Whitlock, Director of Revenue at Kelly Canyon. “Your summer use opportunities will go up as will your winter use [opportunities]. The goal is to make it a better experience no matter what.”
Whitlock says the resort is breaking down the five-year plan into three sections, consisting of projects that will be completed this summer, over the next one to two years and finally the next three to five years.
This summer, Kelly Canyon will finish building 11 new Airbnb-style white domes on top of its Gold Rush lift for people to ski in and out of and stay in.
It is also constructing a cabin on private property, remodeling the main lodge building and redoing the parking lot to help reduce flooding and fix how muddy it tends to be.
Kelly Canyon will host two main events this summer. The first is the 'Kelly Canyon Wild 24' which is a 24-hour ultra marathon where individuals or teams of 10 will race to complete as many 3.7-mile laps as possible. The marathon will be held May 15-16.
The second event is the Rockman Games in July, which features a big archery shoot and different courses where prizes like a Can-Am side by side will be available.
If you think that's a big prize, wait until you hear about the 'million dollar shot.'
"They'll go place one target up on the hill and whoever wants to gets to shoot an arrow at it and if you hit it, you win one million dollars," said Whitlock. "It's much easier said than done. So far, no one's hit it, but maybe this year is the year."
Starting Memorial Day, Kelly Canyon will also offer guided UTV tours around the mountains.
As for the next one to two years, Whitlock says he hopes for the mountain biking lift service to return by 2027. They will also build treehouses for rent and an amphitheater for outdoor summer concerts.
Finally, for the next three to five years, Kelly Canyon will work to install a new lift which will start at the bottom of Crystal Cruise and go to the cell tower.
They will also install an alpine slide and a hotel.
"Kelly Canyon is and always will be a local resort," Whitlock said. "It's locally-owned and it's run by locals. Everything there is done with love and everything that we've decided to do is something that we want to see done to our local, hometown resort. The time is now to have a full-time, year-round resort at Kelly Canyon. The demand is there. We have the right people in place. It's the perfect mix. It's time for it to happen."
For more information, visit Kelly Canyon’s website.