A dump of 45 centimetres of fresh snow and an annual crowd-pleasing event have capped off the 2018-19 ski season at Mount Washington Alpine Resort.
"The snow typically at Mount Washington can come right to the very end and we had a great bit of snow these last couple of days," said the resort's Director of Sports and Guest Services Mike Manara.
The season ended on Sunday when the resort held its "Slush Cup," where entrants dressed in a variety of costumes and made their way down a specially constructed slope and into a pond of cold, slushy water.
"Conditions have been fantastic across the board and this is a great way to finish the season. Everybody has had a great time and a great season, the staff has worked hard and we certainly appreciate all of our guests coming up and enjoying right until the end," Manara says.
The event was limited to 40 participants of various ages, all of whom ended up in the water and were assisted out by volunteers from the Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue.
Team member Mike Bryan says the pond was barely above the freezing point.
"You don’t want somebody to inhale water, you don’t want them to go under and stay under," said Bryan. "They’ve got skis attached usually, they don’t always pop off so we basically pick [participants] up and take them out so they can get to their parents and get warmed up."
With the season now over staff will wait for the snow to melt and will begin focusing on their summer operations which this year will see the addition of Vancouver Island’s longest zipline, which will begin on the mountain’s summit and end up on the roof of the resort’s ski school.
