A season of changing snowpacks, mechanical issues and international events came to an end Sunday April 12 at Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) as it wrapped the 2025-2026 winter season.
The season started with a delayed opening Saturday, Dec. 6 due to low snow and ended with a snowbase of over 280 centimetres still at the top of the resort even as warming conditions shuttered a chunk of the resort.
“It was an up and down, challenging winter,” Jason Kelder, RMR president said, adding that the resort wasn’t alone in navigating tricky conditions throughout the Pacific Northwest region. Mount Mackenzie’s snowpack and some key storm days potentially boosted guest numbers for the season as riders sought out any mountain with adequate snowfall in a season marked with warm temperatures and dry spells.
Now, as resort staff shift to seasonal maintenance work and preparation for a Friday, June 5 summer season opening, RMR is still exploring what it can offer as a summer destination.
“Historically, this has been a ski hill,” Kelder said. “It wasn’t that many years ago we weren’t really even active in the summer. I think that’s part of our change and our transition.”
Kelder anticipates more travel within Canada this summer as border crossing concerns with the United States remain. Even if fuel prices stay high, he thinks the Canadian Rockies, Selkirks and Monashee mountains offer a strong draw for national and international guests looking to support Canada.
Between downtown outdoor concerts, Mount Revelstoke National Park’s Strong Canada free access and RMR’s highline suspension bridge officially opening after a soft launch last year, Kelder said getting the word out about what Revelstoke offers is key for capturing summer visitors.
“If we can get people off the Trans-Canada [Highway] and see what this community is really about, people come back,” he said.
Stoke chair closure and the future of new lifts
The Stoke Chair’s mechanical closure during Natural Selection’s Revelstoke finale put a spotlight on RMR’s proposed mountain improvements plan and the timeline for future lifts.
In a 2024 information session, Kelder explained that ticket and season pass sales couldn’t be the sole revenue stream for new mountain amenities.
Real estate sales, the upcoming Cabot golf course and The Karl hotel and conference centre are all projects that could determine the timeline of future infrastructure on the mountain.
“Getting that incremental paid visitation up will help make those investment decisions around new lift infrastructure, snow making infrastructure and expanding terrain,” Keldar explained, adding that the resort is currently working with a lift company to cost out future lifts even as international supply chain and trade relations keep prices fluctuating.
The Stoke Chair’s closure and work to repair the malfunctioning gear box highlighted two key teams at the resort, Kelder said. While timelines were dependent on parts and a repair specialist traveling from overseas and from the United States, he said RMR’s maintenance team was on standby for the minute the parts reached the resort.
“We definitely looked at it and said what could we have done differently? There’s a few things, you can push the manufacturer to have more parts on the shelf, things like that. But our maintenance team got that up and running as quickly as they could,” Kelder said.
The gearbox failure came as a surprise to staff, as parts are manufactured with a lifespan of roughly 25,000 hours. Erring on the side of caution, RMR schedules replacements after 22,000 hours, but the Stoke Chair’s gearbox failed at 18,000 hours, Kelder said.
“It’s a man-made part, and sometimes it’s Murphy’s Law. Repair doesn’t happen at the best of times,” he said.
While the chair was down for multiple days, another key team at the resort was navigating a bulk of visitor frustration and questions.
“Oftentimes the heavy lifting falls to the frontline staff. People in our guest services, the people serving in the restaurants, they’re the ones that hear from our guests,” Kelder said, stressing how proud he is of the team’s work navigating the unexpected closure.
A season of growth
As work continues on the Cabot golf course and Karl hotel, and RMR focuses on expanding its real estate portfolio, new faces could be representing the resort in the coming months.
“The resort is changing. With that comes pressures and expectations on the team and how we organize ourselves just to be set up for that,” Kelder said, explaining that seasonal staff changes and senior staff looking for new opportunities are typical with any resort along with growth restructuring as new projects open.
One face that will be leaving RMR’s team is Peter Nielsen, current vice president of operations and general manager. Working at the resort for nearly 20 years, Kelder said Nielsen has been key in building RMR’s foundation.
“I just want to recognize him, his efforts and his commitment here,” he said. “To do anything for 18 years and do it well is hard.”
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