Wrightwood, California – The demise of Mountain High Resort was greatly exaggerated.
Last Tuesday night, many on social media were alarmed by footage showing flames from the Bridge Fire reaching the Mountain High Resort. Many, including myself, feared the flames would destroy the ski resort.
However, people were shocked and relieved to hear that the day after that, the base area buildings and various lifts at Mountain High Resort suffered little to no damage. Workers at Mt. High turned on the snowguns, wetting the trees and protecting their buildings from the flames.
“We are grateful beyond words for the swift and courageous actions of Los Angeles County Fire Department Division 5 and all the first responders working tirelessly to protect our resort and community,” said John McColly, who’s the VP of Sales & Marketing for the California Mountain Resort Co. (which owns Mt. High) last week. “We stand in solidarity with everyone affected by the Caanf Bridge Fire and other fires burning throughout the State. We are committed to supporting our community and plan to come out of this tragedy stronger than ever.”
However, it sounds like they weren’t unscathed. As more information has emerged, it seems like they’ll have to do some cleanup. I’d assume some trees and trails may have suffered some damage, but not enough to lead to an extensive closure like Sierra-at-Tahoe faced a few years ago.
KCAL News interviewed John McColly earlier this week to get the latest update on the fire. While he admitted that the ski resort is facing some damage, it didn’t impact the lifts or base facilities.
Yesterday, the mandatory evacuations were lifted, allowing locals to return to their homes, and more Mt. High workers can come up and begin picking up the pieces.
The California ski resort has canceled all of its fall events in response to the fires. The bummer out of this was that Mt. High anticipated opening its mountain biking trail network for the first time on September 28th. However, Mountain High Resort anticipates opening for the season during Thanksgiving weekend.
Image/Video Credits: Mountain High Resort, KCAL News
