Out of all the ski resorts in North America, Nordic Valley may be having the most difficult season. After announcing a couple of weeks ago that the main base area chairlift would be out of service for an undetermined timeframe, an overnight fire severely damaged their base lodge. The response by the Weber Fire District was delayed due to the freezing temperatures, high winds, and the hydrants being buried by snow.
While the fire didn’t burn down all of the building, it did destroy a good portion of the roof. The definitive losses include the ticket office, food and beverage area, retail shop, and their Ski Patrol-themed bar. Due to the fire getting into the building, Fox 13 has reported that the building is believed to be a total loss. Luckily, the surrounding buildings, along with the lifts, didn’t sustain any damage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities don’t believe it to be suspicious.
The Barn has been a signature landmark at the mountain since its opening in 1968. The building was home to their ticket office, a cafeteria area, a retail shop, a business office, and a bar. Pascal Begin, who’s the General Manager, described to KSL News Radio how they felt about the loss of the building:
“Devastating for sure… the barn, that old main lodge, if you’ve skied here, you know it was an iconic building that’s been standing here in the Eden Valley since 1968…There was no one that was hurt, so that kind of was priority one. Everybody’s safe.”
I think the most likely move here could be a temporary tent setup. I’ve seen other ski resorts set something like this up under various circumstances, like at Cranmore Mountain Resort in New Hampshire, which added a temporary heated tent structure while they were building their new base lodge.
This isn’t the only major issue that they’re currently dealing with. The Apollo Chairlift, which services a solid portion of their terrain, along with the Nordic Express chairlift, is out of service until they can get the necessary parts to repair it. They’re bringing guests to the Nordic Express terrain pod by sleds attached to a snowmobile until they can fix the Apollo chairlift.
Nordic Valley will be closed until they can get their power back and find a new system for them to sell and validate lift tickets. We’ll keep you posted if there’s any way you can help these folks out in these challenging circumstances.
Image Credits: Weber Fire District (Featurd & Header Image), Nordic Valley Ski Resort
