Kelowna Mountain is unlike its competitors in pretty much every way. To start, we need to wind back to 2003, when the Okanagan Mountain Park Forest Fire ripped through the mountains directly southwest of the city of Kelowna. The fire threatened the Upper Mission neighborhood and unfortunately quite a few homes were lost to the blaze.

In 2007, a local developer named Mark Coniglio came into the picture. Coniglio purchased 640 acres of burnt mountain land that sat directly south of the Upper Mission neighborhood. Coniglio had grand plans that spanned far beyond the ski resort. He envisioned not only a ski hill, but a golf course, four suspension bridges, multiple vineyards, a wine cave, a welcome center, and 55 single family residential units. The project was undoubtedly huge, and the ski area was offered more as an amenity rather than as an attraction of its own.

To finance this enormous project, Coniglio brought in many investors, some international but many local Kelowna residents. Investors either paid Coniglio $40,000 or $150,000. By 2009 Coniglio was well underway with construction. Roads were built, ponds were created, boardwalks were laid, a sundial was built, a cave was dug, ski runs were graded, and a welcome center at the top was constructed.

The triple chairlift was installed around 2011 to 2012. This was a used Hall triple chair that came from Sunshine Village in Alberta, where it operated as the Strawberry chair. To modernize the lift, Leitner-Poma was brought in to construct a new bottom terminal and provide lifting frames for the chair. By the time the first closure hit Kelowna Mountain, the lift was mostly complete and it was even used in January of 2012 for Coniglio and his friends in the night.

However, things were about to change. While Coniglio had been pushing the development full steam ahead, things were not looking good in the background. Coniglio had never actually changed the zoning the property sat on from its prior state. This meant that while he was allowed to construct his vision, he could not actually open it to the public. Coniglio was expecting to build it now and gain the zonings at a later time when the community was more warmed up to the idea.

The problem was the South Slopes Official Community Plan. According to gov.bc.ca, an official community plan describes the long-term vision of a community during development. While local governments don't have to adopt an official community plan, if they choose to, all bylaws enacted and work must be consistent with the plan. The Regional District of Central Okanagan wasn't exactly keen on Kelowna Mountain, so they drafted an official community plan that would have severely limited any developments in the mountains above Upper Mission. Specifically mentioned was that Kelowna Mountain would be put under intense environmental reviews that could lead to the company being forced to remove all assets from the mountain.

To become official, the official community plan needed to gain approval from City Hall. On May 15th, 2012, around 200 pro-Kelowna Mountain supporters flooded the public hearings. Regardless, the city council adopted the OCP by a vote of 10 to 2. One day later, Kelowna Mountain laid off all its workers and remained closed to the public.

In 2013, the Securities Commission became involved in the development, demanding that Coniglio pay back millions to the investors who had paid him either $40,000 or $150,000. A ceased trade order was placed against Kelowna Mountain, which halted any further share sales. Despite the setback, Coniglio vowed to move on with the development, claiming that it would be completed sometime soon.

By 2014, things were looking up for Coniglio as the BC Securities Commission removed the ceased trade order. Subsequently the mountain announced that it would open to the public. However, the good news did not last long, as in 2014 Kelowna Mountain was sued for $8 million over a mortgage dispute. Additionally, a suspension bridge and the welcome center were both heavily vandalized at this time.

In 2016, Kelowna Mountain was placed in foreclosure. Coniglio appealed the decision, placing the mountain again in legal limbo. Despite this, he actually opened the mountain in 2016, installing barbed wire and hiring security to keep out trespassers and vandals. Though Coniglio appealed the foreclosure order, in 2017 a higher court affirmed it, ruling against Kelowna Mountain. Coniglio was forced to put part of the mountain up for sale. Nonetheless, Coniglio somehow managed to retain ownership of the property through paying back debtors, reportedly financed through another development of his.

Since then the project has remained in a half-constructed state. When visited in 2019, the welcome center was operational but nothing else was. Since then the mountain has been completely closed off due to renovations, though seemingly the development will go nowhere anytime soon.