Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park saw its earliest ever soft opening this weekend. The slopes opened on Saturday, November 18th, more than a week earlier than in 2016.
Grande Prairie had seen more than 20 centimetres of snow in the week prior, and Nitehawk Assistant General Manager Johnathan Clarkson says Mother Nature gave them a helping hand. However, they don’t rely on her alone.
“Our snow making crews have been out making snow non-stop on the hill. We’ve got the Aquatera Tube Zone, the terrain park, Will-o-way, Bob’s Bump all ready to go this weekend for our soft opening.”
Last year marked the addition of a lower chalet and an expansion to the rental shop, and this year the ski hill plans to build an ice rink by the tube zone. Clarkson says they’re also opening a new deck, thanks to the $83,000 raised at this year’s Doug Marshall Charity Classic and a $75,000 matching grant from the provincial government.
“So that went towards a brand new 3,000 square foot deck off the front of the chalet, which we’re really excited for. Even more exciting is in the spring, we’re going to be putting a big overhead door into the front of the lounge and a man door for our servers to go in and out of.”
An outdoor lounge area has been added to the new deck. Nitehawk’s skiing and snowboarding season should run until the end of March or early April.