Lively, Ontario — After a summer full of uncertainty, the Lively Ski Hill will be operating for at least one more winter.
Sudbury.com reports that Sudbury City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to fund the ski hill for the 2024-25 season. This news follows a viral Change.org petition signed by over 2600 people to keep the hill going. The Sudbury City Council decided to approve $377,400 CAD for improvements.
However, the initially planned replacement of the T-bar will have to wait. In this meeting, Sudbury City Council slashed $396,000 CAD from the proposed budget that would have been used for chalet renovations and the t-bar replacement. The plan is to replace the lift with a surface lift from the shuttered Capreol Ski Hill. The delay is because they believe there’s too little time to construct the lift and make it operational for the 2024-25 season. The Capreol lift has parts that must be replaced, as it has been vandalized since closing down. The Sudbury City Council planned to replace it this summer because, due to its age, they feared the lift might have a catastrophic breakdown. Instead, the city council decided to provide funding that will focus on maintenance projects in the upcoming months to make sure it’s safe.
First opened in 1963, the Lively Ski Hill has been a great place to learn the fundamentals and for racers to train. However, in recent years, visitation to the ski hill has dropped. Only 715 skiers visited during the 2022-23 season, a sharp decrease from over 1600 visits during the 2021-22 season. Last winter, the city only got a cost recovery of 6.7% (which is calculated by dividing incomes by expenses).
A report prepared by city staff members will be presented to the Council in June 2025. This report will analyze visitation, costs and revenues, potential for a third-party operator, and recommendations for the future of the ski hill. After that, the Council will determine whether it’s time to give operations to a third-party vendor or if they should close to the Hill for good. So if you care about this place, I’d advise going there next winter.
It should be noted that this isn’t the only ski hill that the City of Greater Sudbury operates. Adanac Ski Hill also had its capital spending funds halted earlier this year but features more modern infrastructure than Lively.
Image Credits: Lively Ski Hill (City of Greater Sudbury)