Alicia remembers snowboarding this hill many years ago. It was not a great hill, but you could spend the day at it and have a good time without driving to North Battleford or Alberta. She visited the hill a few times before it closed. Built in 1970 it was closed in 2008 and was dismantled in 2010. There were hopes to eventually re-open but it sat vacant. The chalet was burned down in 2009 and shortly after they auctioned off all remaining ski equipment and dismantled the ski hill after failed attempts to redevelop.
History
The hill was built in 1970 by the Canadian government for the 1971 Canada Winter Games at a height of 2,045 feet above sea level. The mountain is built with soil excavated from the escarpment behind the “mountain”. The theme for the Saskatoon bid for the 1971 Canada Games was “Going to build a mountain” in honor of the construction of the hill.
After the Canada Winter Games, the ski hill was turned over to a private operator. However, the hill was closed permanently in 2008 due to declining ridership. The ski lodge was destroyed by a suspicious fire in September 2009. A month later, the provincial government announced that the remaining ski equipment at the hill would be dismantled and sold.
By the end of 2012, three developers had approached the government with proposals to develop a recreation area. Requests for proposals were accepted until the spring of 2013. One developer withdrew his proposal, while the other two submissions did not include the redevelopment of the ski hill.
+ History information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstrap_Ski_Hill
