Abandoned Skiing Canada

Review of Valley Ridge Golf Club

This review is not for the golf course, it is for ...

This review is not for the golf course, it is for the original ski resort and pool complex that used to be on this spot. In 1959, a businessman bought up much of the area that is now Valley Ridge, and, intending to turn it into an amusement park of sorts, created just that. Happy valley included a campground, trail rides, a 50-meter indoor swimming pool, go-carts, trampolines, and a par 3 golf course. In 1962, Happy Valley became a winter sports destination with the instalment of a platter lift. This platter lift serviced four ski runs, and could lift 800 people per hour. In 1967, it was sold to an American investment group. This group invested very little into the complex, and it fell into disrepair. They tried selling it to the city, but the city rejected it, citing it was to far away from the city limits. In 1974, it was sold to a different US group, before Calgarian Bob Allen bought in in 1976. He ran the complex for a few years, before adding the 18 hole golf course. He later sold it to a Los Angeles group, that planned to create a Hollywood-North complex, but that plan never came to fruition. The pool, campground, and ski hill were demolished, and replaced with the Valley Ridge neighbourhood, while the golf course remains to this day in operation.