With snowfall patchy, this three-generation ski hill looks beyond winter

For more than five decades, the Daburger family has built its business around something it cannot control: the weather. Harper Mountain, their 400-acre ski hill near Kamloops, B.C., has withstood uneven winters by operating leanly, maintaining older equipment and making the most of the snow on its north-facing slopes.

But their model is under growing pressure. The effects of climate change make winters harder to plan around. Rising insurance, fuel, labour and equipment costs mean the hill is more expensive to operate.

As the second-generation owners Norm and Lisa Daburger consider passing the enterprise to their two sons, the family recognizes that Harper’s next chapter likely includes a reinvention that expands the business into the warmer months to reduce its dependence on snowfall.

“As our winters become shorter and less predictable, the transition to an all-season resort with a more diverse revenue strategy seems to be almost inevitable,” says Max Daburger, 23, the grandson and namesake of the founder.

Indeed, with little warm-weather business beyond hosting events such as weddings at Harper, Max flies floatplanes in northern British Columbia during the summer and returns to the resort each winter to assist his parents Norm, 61, and Lisa, 62, with operations and maintenance. His brother Ryan, 22, is Harper’s operations manager but takes a separate tree-planting job out of town each spring, returning in summer to prepare for ski season.

Busy winters make up for the quiet summers. The enterprise employs about 60 people during peak season but just four in the slow months, leaving much of its infrastructure underused for part of the year.

Lisa oversees the ski school, rentals, human resources and hiring. Norm manages the mountain, equipment and business strategy. Lisa estimates she works 90 hours a week during winter. “What Norm and I do is the jobs of about four people,” she says.

That lean operating model helps Harper compete on price against larger destination resorts. The family performs much of its maintenance in-house, buys used machinery and acquires compatible parts when bigger hills replace well-maintained lifts. Harper’s fees have risen more slowly than inflation, although there is no avoiding increases altogether, Norm says.

“An advantage that we have at Harper is we are small, we run efficiently and our prices are cheaper,” he explains. “There are certainly some people who don’t ski anymore because of the price, but there are also people who were skiing at a big resort and were paying a higher price, and they’re now opting to ski at a smaller resort like ours that has fewer facilities.”

Christopher Nicolson, president and CEO of the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA), says small operations such as Harper can respond quickly to changing demand and keep infrastructure costs below those of destination resorts, allowing them to offer lower fees.

Unlike bigger enterprises, community ski hills depend primarily on locals and school groups rather than travellers, he says. Many customers buy season passes and return week after week, making smaller hills a recurring gathering place rather than an occasional getaway. “In many cases, they are kind of the de facto recreation centre,” Mr. Nicolson says.

Canadian ski areas recorded 19.5 million visits during the 2024-2025 season, up 8.6 per cent from the previous winter, according to CWSAA. The Daburgers say increased visits have helped offset rising costs because many of Harper’s core expenses remain relatively constant once the hill is operating.

“You spend the same amount of money whether you have 20 people on the hill or if you have 2,000,” Lisa says. Harper records 18,000 to 22,000 skier visits yearly.

The facility opened in 1973 with a T-bar, handle tow and Bavarian-style lodge built from logs cleared from the property. The senior Max Daburger and his business partner financed its development largely through Max’s construction company. “We invested everything we had,” says Max’s widow, Elisabeth, 89.

The partner died in an accident in 1977, leaving Max to oversee the hill alone. Over the decades, the Daburgers depended on a small circle of relatives and long-term employees to operate Harper. Elisabeth managed the books and sold tickets, while the Daburgers’ five sons, including Norm, grew up helping wherever necessary.

Harper introduced night skiing in the early 1980s, welcomed snowboarders when the sport was still prohibited at some other hills and later opened its lodge to weddings and other off-season events.

Norm remained involved with Harper while building a separate career as a contractor. When Max died in 2003, his sons worked together for a year while determining the enterprise’s future. Norm’s brothers ultimately pursued careers elsewhere, while he gave up his contracting company to take over the hill.

“There are sentimental ties to Harper that I didn’t have with my other company,” Norm says. He and Lisa eventually added snowshoeing and a tube park and modernized the business’s sales systems.

Weather remains the greatest variable. The length of Harper’s ski season fluctuates from year to year, Lisa says. The enterprise minimizes the snow it needs by mowing runs in the off season, removing obstacles such as rocks and stumps, installing fencing to capture drifting snow and moving accumulated snow to high-traffic areas. It limits artificial snowmaking to strategic locations, although Norm expects its role may grow as natural precipitation becomes less consistent.

Norm and Lisa have no immediate plans to retire, though their sons are already included in all major decisions. It will ultimately be up to Max and Ryan to decide whether to expand into summer activities such as mountain biking or camping. For Ryan’s part, he’s up for taking strategic risks and trying new ideas: “I think we’re willing to be a little bolder.”

He acknowledges that preserving the business may require changing it. “We want to keep that same homey family feel. At the same time, we’d like to see growth.”