Castle Mountain Opens Stagecoach Express, Expands Haig Bowl Access

Castle Mountain has officially opened the Stagecoach Express, the area’s first high-speed chairlift, marking a significant infrastructure milestone as the independent Alberta ski hill celebrates its 60th season.

The lift — formerly the Angel Express at Sunshine Village in Banff — arrived at Castle in the summer of 2024 and has since undergone a full retrofit and commissioning. Now operational, it provides lift access into the Haig Bowl zone, terrain that was previously reserved primarily for Castle’s cat skiing program.

The new quad stretches 1,423 metres in length, climbs 558 vertical metres, and operates at up to five metres per second — roughly double the speed of the resort’s fixed-grip chairs. Resort officials say the expansion increases lift-accessed skiable acreage by approximately 25 percent and brings the trail count from 94 to more than 115.

Chuck Lee, a longtime Castle skier who had the chance to ride the lift ahead of its public opening, described the early laps as a glimpse into what’s ahead. “I was lucky to get a sneak day on the new — well, new to us — Stagecoach Express at Castle Mountain Resort,” Lee said. “The SE is the old Angel high-speed quad from Sunshine Village in Banff. This chair accesses the Haig Bowl and adds another 35 percent to the ski hill’s terrain. Some great new skiing. Very excited when we get new snow.”

The Stagecoach Express is the largest infrastructure project in Castle’s history and is expected to improve uphill capacity and skier distribution across the mountain. Resort management has indicated that increased visitation tied to the terrain expansion will help support phased modernization of other lifts over time.

For Castle, the upgrade represents measured growth — expanded terrain and faster access without altering the character that has defined the mountain for six decades.

More information is available at skicastle.ca.

Images: Chuck Lee