The Near Bankruptcy of Mt. Norquay in 1995

In the early morning hours of December 8, 1995, Mt. Norquay's 5-year-old ski lodge was completely destroyed by a blaze. It likely started with a boiler unit sparking. Crews from Banff worked through temperatures of -25C to tackle the blaze. They were able to save the rental shop and ski patrol buildings.

This blaze came as the final gut punch for Mt. Norquay, which was already on the brink of closure. Mt. Norquay was the oldest ski area in Banff; it's original single chair was built in the mid 1940's. Norquay experienced significant popularity throughout the 1940's to the 1960's. However, as other ski areas around it were developed or expanded, Norquay began to lose it's place in the market. It's reputation declined. Norquay was viewed as very good for beginners or advanced skiers, but it completely lacked any intermediate terrain.

In the late 1980's, Brewster Transportation purchased the struggling resort, and submitted extensive expansion plans to Parks Canada. These plans, while removing historic summer operations, seeked to expand the ski area onto the adjacent Skyline Ridge, opening up much needed intermediate terrain.

Unlike other expansions, such as Sunshine's Goat's Eye, Norquay's Skyline Ridge expansion faced little pushback. It was entirely below tree line, and viewed as less environmentally catastrophic than the others.

The revamped Mt. Norquay opened in 1990 with two new chairlifts, over 10 new ski runs and a new base area. Brewster Transportation projected skier visits of over 130,000. To break even, the ski hill needed at least 115,000. Brewster Transportation spent $7.5 million in total.

The mountain did experience a surge in it's low skier visitation numbers (85,000), but they were ultimately unable to come close to the break-even threshold. By the summer of 1995, the ski area was extremely close to bankruptcy. That summer, Peter White and Kika Grandi agreed to purchase the ski hill from Brewster, and convinced ATB to write off an undisclosed portion of the ski area's $3 million dollar debt.

The 1995 lodge blaze was devastating for the mountain. The building cost $2.7 million dollars to build in 1990, and was only five years old. Norquay was still able to open later that week, and used the historic base lodge that year. The current building was constructed in 1996.