Kelly Canyon opens for the season with new ski lift and improvements to mountain
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RIRIE — It’s time to grab your skis and snowboards and head to Kelly Canyon Ski Resort after exciting upgrades have been added for the season.
Monday marked the opening day of the season for Kelly Canyon, and several new features are available this year. There’s a brand new lift, new magic carpet lift (a ramp-style conveyor that runs along the ground), a new lodge, a new restaurant called Half Cab Cafe that has a new chef and team, and a new ticketing system to make life a little easier.
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“We got the new pass system up and running. We have been printing season passes, and we finally got our online lift tickets capability up and running so people will just be able to purchase online and scan their QR code at the kiosk at the mountain and then get on the lift,” said Doug Swanson, sales and marketing director with Kelly Canyon. “So a lot of new modern stuff that the mountain has never had before that we are super excited about.”
In addition, Swanson told EastIdahoNews.com there are all new rentals for skiing and snowboarding in the rental shop. He added that the new lift at the mountain does not have a name yet, but the capabilities are incredible compared to the lift it replaced.
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“A lot of the employees did a trial run on Friday and Saturday, and ski patrol is doing their training and test runs on it. The old lift that was there would haul 500 people at the mountain per hour. This new lift will haul 1,500 people up the mountain per hour. So three times the capability of what it replaced,” he said.
Swanson said he is expecting a lot of people to come out for opening day, and he’s excited to have them use the new upgrades at Kelly Canyon.
“We love the history of the mountain being owned since 1957 and excited to bring just some new modern stuff to an old family mountain. We don’t want to lose that family feel. We are not Targhee or Jackson Hole. We are 30 minutes away from Idaho Falls. We are a family mountain,” Swanson said. “We are excited to see everybody enjoy some new, modern things on a mountain that has great history with us.”
