An exciting opportunity is coming to Eastlink Park, among updates at recent Councilpresentation

This year marks the ninth operational year for the Whitecourt Woodlands Winter Rec Park
Society (WWWRPS), which runs Eastlink Park. During a recent Woodlands County Council
meeting, two members of the WWWRPS presented how the last year went and provided
context on what it is like to run the hill.
Woodlands County contributes to the hill, providing $25,000 each year as part of a sponsorship
agreement they signed with the society in March 2021. Next year, both parties will discuss a
new contract to start the following year.
Society chair Dale Rock joined member Dawn Garrett for the presentation. They began by
speaking about last year and the funky weather that wreaked havoc for ski hills province wide.
“Thankfully, last year, we were probably one of the best ski hills in Alberta because we got really
lucky with how the weather fell and how much snow we made. A lot of the hills were not able to
open. They could not get snow because the weather was too warm. We did well that
way,” he explained.
One of the most successful ventures last year was business sponsorship nights. “We have done
them in the past, one or two a year, but last year we expanded and had a lot of interest from the
business community.” Rock explained that sponsorship nights let people enjoy the hill for free.
“(Businesses) sponsor the hill, and they can do skiing and tubing or just tubing, and usually we
bring in hot dogs and hot chocolate. It’s a way to get people that aren’t normally able to afford or
aren’t able to come to the hill, to get them out and get them to experience it.”
Those without equipment who wanted to ski for free could rent equipment from the chalet. “One
night, we did $3,000 in just rentals. It was very, very successful, and you couldn’t park anywhere
near there. It was awesome,” he explained. “It’s something we are very proud of, and we thank
our business community greatly. They stepped up in a big way.”
With other ski hills unable to produce snow, Whitecourt’s Eastlink Park got attention. “We get
people from Sherwood Park, Slave Lake, Swan Hills. They skip the little city hills and come to
us, and we are the same size on a map, 40 acres, as Rabbit Hill. We are the same size as
Sunridge in the city where you have to wait for a longer lineup or prebook to get in, so they
come to us,” explained Garrett.
She added that lots of the season pass holders are Woodlands County residents. “Goose Lake,
Fort Assiniboine. We have six vehicles from Fort Assiniboine that come as a family together
every weekend, and they love it. We are just trying to keep it so they can bring their kids out
there. We’re trying to make it the go-to place,” she said.
This year, one of the new features at the park will be a payment system that allows people to
pay for a visit over a few installments. More details will come as the season approaches, but
Garrett hopes it helps. “We’re hoping maybe that will make it more affordable for families as it’s
not a big lump sum.”
Fees at the ski hill are not increasing this year, even though costs have. Garrett said this is the
third year with the current pricing model. Rock explained that maintaining the affordability of

their service is important. “We’re very thankful that we have the business sponsorships that we
do, but even more important is the municipal sponsorships, the Town of Whitecourt, Woodlands
County. Without that, I don’t know if we would be open because our prices would have to be
high enough to cover the other costs.”
One of the largest increases they’ve faced is due to a change in insurance. Rock said a
judgment against a Canadian ski hill affected a lot of other ski hills and how they pay for liability
insurance. “Our insurance provider dropped us on our liability insurance. They dropped
everybody that they were insuring. They no longer wanted to cover liability insurance. That
came back to us. Instead of $7,000 a year, it was $17,000 a year.”
Add in increased costs for everything else over the last four years, and running the hill can often
be a challenge. One example is that running the carpet lift for one hour is about $400. “We have
to be choosey on when we operate because we have to make the best use of the funds that we
have. I would love to be open seven days a week, but we could never afford that. We’ve had a
couple of seventeen, eighteen-thousand-dollar power bills and it hurts.”
Challenges or not, the WWWRPS is very excited about this coming season. “We have lots of
activities planned and lots of booking requests around school groups. That’s probably one of our
strengths, is our ability to entertain the local area,” said Rock. He said the hill is more
manageable for those learning to ski. “Our email is filling up with requests, so we anticipate
being oversubscribed again,” he said.
A new and exciting addition this year is an alpine ski team. A family from the Cold Lake region,
who relocated to Whitecourt, brought along their knowledge and connection to the provincial
alpine ski community. “He’s the president, and she’s the secretary/treasurer for a club. They are
both high-level instructors for racing. They can teach our kids’ stuff to a level we’ve never had
before. They’ve expressed great interest and have come to our board meetings. We’re going to
develop starting grids so they can simulate starts and slaloms,” said Rock, with a big smile.
“You know, you think that Whitecourt’s not a very big hill, but it’s what most of these
competitions are on. You don’t have to go to Jasper for competitions. They hold these
competitions on hills just like ours all the time. We are very excited about that. It will be two days
a week, and we’re getting quite a bit of interest.” Rock invited Woodlands County Council
members to receive a tour of the facility.