Blue Mountain Resort is pleased
to announce the opening of The Orchard on December 24, 2013. Beginning at
9:00am, skiers and boarders will have access to three of the six new trails
spread out over 64 acres of terrain, all of which are serviced by Blue’s fifth,
high-speed, six person chair lift, The Orchard Express.
“Since we announced The Orchard
expansion, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of interest from our guests regarding
the new trails and their expected launch date,” stated Dan Skelton, President,
Blue Mountain Resort. “Having The Orchard online today further
demonstrates Blue Mountain’s commitment to early season opens while also
providing the best possible alpine experience in Ontario.”
The Orchard represents a $7.5M
investment and is the largest, on-hill development undertaken by Blue Mountain
in the last 30 years. While The Orchard trails have been cut since 1987,
they remained undeveloped for skiing and snowboarding until recently. A
major part of the terrain expansion included chairlift construction, the
addition of night lighting to all six runs and snowmaking infrastructure added
to three of the six trails.
To celebrate the open, Blue
Mountain also plans to make one lucky skier or boarder’s dreams come true with
a money can’t buy experience in The Orchard. “The Ultimate Orchard
Experience” turns Blue’s newest terrain into one contest winner’s personal
winter wonderland with 60 minutes of private access to the trails prior to
Resort open for the winner and four friends. The group will also receive
their choice of skis or snowboards, as well as respective boots and bindings,
overnight accommodations at Blue Mountain, and exclusive access to The
Orchard’s snowmaking and grooming operations.
“We wanted to amplify The Orchard
experience for one lucky winner and their friends in a way that not only
reflects the excitement we’ve seen from our guests, but also pays tribute to
Blue Mountain’s terrain expansion in a similarly unique and celebratory way,”
stated Paul Pinchbeck, Director, Marketing.
Running from December 20th
to January 10th, weekly videos will be released at
BlueMountain.ca/Orchard. To win, entrants must correctly answer trivia questions
embedded in each video. If entrants answer each question correctly, their
name will be submitted into a random draw for the Grand Prize. The
contest culminates in a Grand Opening Ceremony forecasted to take place at the
base of The Orchard on January 17, 2014.
