Mountain Spirit Resort & Spa

At the Canadian Rockies International Airport on June 15th, Integra Air’s first flight on the new scheduled service from Edmonton arrived. The flight from Edmonton takes just one hour and five minutes. Passengers on the inaugural flight included a guest bound for Mountain Spirit Resort. This is no surprise and the first of many, as Mountain Spirit Resort is located just 20 minutes from the airport.

Brent Gateman (left), President of Integra Air, and Dave Macfarlane, Director, are pictured in the cockpit of Integra’s Jetstream 31, at the Canadian Rockies International Airport Tuesday. Integra’s regular air service launched out of Cranbrook on June 15.

Integra comes across as a fun airline offering Wine Wednesdays and Beer and Pizza Fridays on board. The guys at Integra also know how to provide excellent service, distinguishing themselves from other larger airlines. Free parking is available to Integra’s passengers at the Canadian Rockies International Airport, as well as at Edmonton International. Unsecured boarding (meaning passengers won’t have to go through security), is also offered – for the convenience of passengers who are flying into Northern Alberta for work.

Flights are scheduled to run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays leaving Edmonton in the late morning and arriving in Cranbrook in the early afternoon. The second flight of the day will leave Cranbrook at about 3 p.m. arriving in Edmonton at about 4:20 p.m.

Integra Air will provide commuter services to northern Alberta tourists and workers to the East Kootenay region via Edmonton and on to Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie in Phase II of the project planned for the fall of 2011. This schedule has been designed to provide optimal connections to key connecting flights to locations such as Fort McMurray and Grand Prairie. Prospective purchasers of real estate at Mountain Spirit Resort are scheduling visits from both Edmonton and Fort McMurray following the launch of this new service.

Click here to visit IntegraAir.com and click here to read more on the DailyTownsman.com

Click on this link to check out an amazing short skiing video from Kimberley…

Skiing Kimberley Alpine Resort on a Powder Day, January 13th, 2011.

If there’s a job to be done the spirit does like to do it well. That includes keeping you posted on the conditions for skiing and boarding at Kimberley Alpine Resort. The official opening day for 2010/2011 was held two days ago, on Friday 17th December. I made sure to be there to snap some shots of the conditions. Knowing some folks who work in ski patrol and others in outdoor ops at Kimberley Alpine Resort, I had already heard that the Tamarack Chair was going to be opened on Friday. On preview weekend the Main quad chair and the Easter chair were both open, and not all the runs off the Easter were open. With all the lifts open… this would mean runs would be open that haven’t been skied on yet by the paying visitor (only by the patrol on their safety checks). As I realised this, I thought I should really have made it up the hill earlier. The pace I was on, I’d be getting to the lift line up at about 8:43am.

The clock at Kimberley Alpine Resort was not wrong.

We arrive at the ski hill and there are only two rows of cars in the main parking area…. interesting! I head up the steps past the new conference centre and towards the North Star Quad lift. There’s nobody there yet. Can this be true? Opening day for Kimberley Alpine Resort and I’m getting the first chair again? This should make for a good morning.  My ski-fanatic husband was working today and unfortunately a blog is not part of his work so I stood alone waiting.

Some people start arriving. First is Dan “the Tan Man”, well known in local ski circles. Dan is the reason why Cominco Gardens look so good all summer. Ryan Peterson is next, a local skier who is regularly at the head of the line up any day the conditions are good. Ryan had booked off opening day months ago to ensure he didn’t miss out! As more people trickle in, I see Liana, the latest addition to our team at Mountain Spirit Resort. We’re both working in the office from 12pm and clearly had the same intentions – to enjoy the best part of opening day first!

The "Main" looking pretty nice.

9am rolls around and there’s maybe 40 people waiting in line. Pretty different to opening day at Fernie, when apparently some chap actually slept overnight in a tent in order to bag “first chair” rights!

W’re off. The conditions look amazing. We’ve had 20-30cm of fresh snow in the past 5 days since preview weekend. Usually I feel in a rush to get first tracks on the first runs but today is a little different. It feels like the ski hill has been hired out for my friends and my exclusive pleasure. There is no question about which direction to head in after getting off the quad. We all head over to the Tamarack. “Wahoo!” it’s first tracks for everyone all the way down the “tammy”.

The Tamarack run from the Tamarack Chair.

Second run – let’s do the same one, it was so good. By this stage I’m in a group of half a dozen local skiers and boarders including my mate Dave who works at Kelsey’s. That’s him enjoying the view from the bench at the top of the Tamarack.

Third run, let’s take Upshot. It’s the run skiers left of the tammy and has been totally brush cut over the summer. Last year I rode it there were plenty of alders but this year it’s a different story. The bottom half was total dreamy floaty movie style skiing and boarding for all. Thankfully only Ruth, the British liftie at the Tamarack chair, saw me fall when I transitioned from the deep floaty stuff onto the groomed flat track to the lift (don’t tell anyone)!

At the top of the Tamarack chair, our path crosses with Dan and Ryan. “How’s the back side?” I ask them. “Awesome and there’s nobody there” they reply. Sounds familiar. I should point out at this stage that RCR had originally planned the official opening day for 18th December and then changed it, bringing the opening forward by one day to Friday 17th. This happened about a week or two ago so for people visiting from outside Kimberley, it might have been hard to change schedules and work plans in order to arrive on a Friday. For locals living in Kimberley who knew about the change and could get out and ski on Friday, it was much appreciated – thanks!

Anton's run, formerly called the Easter, from the Easter Chair.

After meeting Ryan and Dan I suggest we head over to the Easter chair and hit up the untouched runs past Vortex. I nip over onto Runt and take it down to the Easter. Our “posse” meets up and we ride together across the Ridgeway towards Geneva. We’ve been told the only run not open is Notre Dame so that means 5 untouched runs between it and Vortex.

The Ridgeway can sometimes be slow for snowboarders. I had made sure to have my board waxed with the correct was for the temperatures, down at ski repair in the Rental Shop. I made it the whole way along the Ridgeway without having to unstrap my board, which is nice. There’s still about 6 of us at the top of our chosen run – the Tramway. I drop over the edge and this snow is even better than the snow on the tammy! And it looks like only 6 people have been here before us. Fresh tracks for everyone AGAIN! Yeehaw!

I don’t even need to turn. It is effortless. I look behind part way down and I only see Liana. Our buddies took the right hand option one third of the way down and are now enjoying their fresh tracks on Tramway. Liana and I meet at the bottom of the Easter Chair where we see our buddies again and a couple of other people. We don’t even need to ask how everyone is as the answer is the same, “FANTASTIC!”.

Let’s head back to the front, it’s time to go to work!

This article appears on the RealEstateChannel.com

http://www.realestatechannel.com/featured-columnists/real-estate-news-grupo-del-sol-isla-saboga-gva-associates-mountain-spirit-resort-spa-kimberley-alpine-resort-1657.php

New Kimberley Conference Centre Buoys Owners’
Mountain Spirit Resort Condo Investments

(KIMBERLEY, BRITISH
COLUMBIA) — The recent ground-breaking ceremony for the new $6-million
Conference Centre and Paralympic Training Centre being built here at Kimberley
Alpine Resort is proof that thorough market research is critical prior to
investing in resort properties.

At least that’s how owners at Mountain
Spirit Resort and Spa, a resort development located  next to the Conference
Centre site, are feeling right now. Now that the Conference Centre officially
opened Oct. 30, Mountain Spirit condo owners are optimistic that the influx of
sports and corporate travel to the Conference Centre will increase the
popularity of the resort’s optional rental pool.

Mountain Spirit <http://www.realestatechannel.com/news-assets/Mountain-Spirit.jpg>

“The owners who participate in the rental pool are very excited about the
progress being made on the centre,” said Allyson Blake, Mountain Spirit’s
director of real estate marketing. “They did their research before deciding to
buy in a four-season destination that had plans for a centre of this
caliber.”

The year-round, $6-million dollar facility is designed with
both disabled and able-bodied athletes in mind. It will include meeting rooms,
an audio-visual department and a conference space to hold 500
people.

Funding for the centre is coming from the City of Kimberley,
federal and provincial infrastructure grants, a $300,000 grant from the Columbia
Basin Trust and $150,000 from the Southern Interior Development Trust. The
center is being built by New Dawn Developments (same builders of Mountain Spirit
Resort and Spa) and is expected to be completed by October 2010.

The
conference and training center is expected to become a key economic driver for
Kimberley. Leisure travelers and tourists have long contributed to the local
economy, but business travelers have not. Conference delegates often fill hotel
rooms during the shoulder season and mid-week travel when leisure travel is
traditionally low. Conferences are also booked in advance, providing a secure
source of income regardless of economic fluctuations.

Research compiled
by Vann Struth Consulting for the City of Kimberly pegs the daily spending of
conference delegates at approximately $125 per day on top of the accommodation
costs. The same research expects the conference center to boost spending in
Kimberley by more than $5 million per year – more than double the current
level.

“The development of the Paralympic Training and Conference Centre
opens up new options to increase our shoulder season business by targeting a
growing meetings market that that would not otherwise be attracted to
Kimberley,” said Cathy Robinson, operations manager for Bellstar Hotels and
Resorts , the rental manager for Mountain Spirit Resort & Spa. “The
combination of Mountain Spirit’s ski-in, ski-out location, along with the
upcoming 6,000 square foot spa and slope-side restaurant – all right across the
street from the new centre – should ensure we are a top choice for conference
delegates.”

Mountain Spirit Resort and Spa features a true ski-in,
ski-out location in the serene Purcell Mountains at the base of Kimberley Alpine
Resort. In addition to the planned spa, the resort features fine dining,
year-round outdoor heated pool and hot tub and fully furnished suites.
Membership in the exclusive Resort to Resort vacation exchange program is
included with every purchase.

Activity is ramping up at Kimberley Alpine
Resort in preparation for another outstanding ski season. Last season KAR
received the Visitor’s Choice Award being voted the Overall Favorite Resort in
the Pacific North West from onthesnow.com and the 2009 Best of Business Award
for Ski Area in the East Kootenay Region. The mountain is set to open on
December 19 with a preview weekend set for December 12.

Special prices
are available on selected suites until December 19, according to the developer’s
representative. For example, one studio, two 1-bedroom and eight 2-bedroom
suites are included in this offering with pre-season savings of up to $94,000
for whole ownership and up to $16,000 on quarter ownership purchases. Until Dec.
19, 1-bedroom suites start at $398,900, 2-bedroom units at $458,900 and quarter
ownerships on a 1-bedroom suite go for $98,900.

“These incentives are a
great opportunity for those who know what a fantastic ski destination Kimberley
is,” Blake says.  “With our ski-in, ski-out location, ski season is our peak
sales season. But if buyers wait until the lifts start up, they’ll be too late
for these special prices.”