Granite Mountain Development Video

Transcript: 

[Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre logo on a white screen]

Patricia Stevens: Bill was the president of the ski club at the time.

[Black and white photo of a skier wearing goggles and the name “Bill Stevens” written beside it] 

We were looking at how to get more skiing out of the area and they started to look at going up Granite.

[Black and white photo of Granite Mountain in winter]

So they took people up Granite and brought them down. But you had to hike up because there was no lift.

[Black and white photo of a man and the name “George Merry” written beside it]

So Bill and George and another guy organized these trips up Granite, and they would come down sort of through all the trees and stuff to show where the runs were going to be.

Don Stevens: It was only one run they cut originally, which would be the Main Run.

Patricia Stevens: Yah. They got everybody deciding that yes we can go up there.

[Colour photo of a certificate decorated with a green border which reads, “Debenture: Red Mountain Ski Club Society]

So they sold debentures to get the money to start. They hired a guy that gridded the whole front of – of the mountain. And they hired another guy, a local fellow, that – to cut the trees where they stood.

[Black and white photo of a smiling man next to the name “John Platt]

And Bill and his friend John, who was a racer from here too and skied over in Europe too.

[Black and white photo of Granite and surrounding mountains]

They went up. They’d come home. I’d feed them and then they’d run up the mountain to see how far the guy had got on cutting the runs. And they’d say ok go this way a little bit more or this way a little bit more. And then the next day the same thing would happen. They’d run up right after they – run up to where he was and, that’s how it got cut. Then after that summer was the summer they put the lift in and it was only that one summer.

[Black and white photo of a helicopter attached to a tower of the Granite chairlift]

They had to do the concrete to hold the towers.

[Black and white photo of a helicopter lowering the bullwheel onto the top of the return terminal as a group of people watch and try to grab it].

That was professionally done by the guy they hired. Buck Buchanan was his name. And he had never put a lift in, but he said he could do it for us and he did (laughs).

[Photo of people going up the chairlift].

Don Stevens:You know, putting in the Granite chairlift was a huge change. That would have been really big.

Robin Valentine: It was pretty daunting going over the bowl. When you were, you know, the terrain went down first of all and you were still going up.

[Colour photo of the chairlift going up the mountain]

I don’t know what the actual height was over the bowl, but it was –

Sean Valentine: Was there an unload point for you at that point?

Robin Valentine: Yah, yep. 

Sean Valentine: Yah?

Robin Valentine: In the early days you could jump off at tower fifteen and you didn’t have – there was bales of hay put there.

Sean Valentine: Temporary ramp I guess to get off eh.

Robin Valentine: Well you threw your poles and then jumped sort of thing. But, it was quite the ride. I know I – it didn’t bother me so much as it bothered my wife. She had a hard time riding that chairlift. [Colour photo of the valley and surrounding mountains. A chairlift and cabin can be seen in the distance.]

It would be like once a day and that’s – that’s the extent of it.

Don Stevens:  You know, the old Granite chair used to get you up there pretty quickly actually. It’s only sixteen minutes from the bottom to the top. They just didn’t have as many chairs on the cable.

Sean Valentine.: I think I got it from my mum but it wasn’t my favourite chair that’s for sure. I definitely put a lot of miles on the Red Chair. I didn’t like going up. When it would stop, there was a lot of bouncing (Robin Valentine gestures with his hands to show how much it could bounce). A lot of bouncing. So…

Robin Valentine: Yep.

Sean Valentine: I think when we started skiing on our own it was, the Red Chair was the choice for a lot of us young guys going up there.

[Text which reads, “Supported by” followed with a blue logo for the Trail and District Arts Council]