Kelly Canyon opened December 13, 2021 under the new ownership of Mike VanSteenkiste. This ski resort is a local favorite, located in Ririe, Idaho, that offers rentals, full-day, half-day, and night skiing, along with great pricing. This season presents with a new restaurant, new carpet lift, new chair lift, and a redone lodge interior.

Ashlynn Lott a TRHS Junior is a regular snowboarder at Kelly Canyon. She’s been snowboarding for as long as she can remember at Kelly’s. One of her favorite additions this year is the card reading, which saves time waiting in line for the lifts. She said, “It’s so much easier to use and you don’t have to worry about having multiple paper tickets for each lift anymore.”

Lott also shared that she loves how they made all the trails easier to access with the new 3 person lift.  This new lift seats up to 3 people and goes 3 times faster than the other lift. It goes up around 600 more feet than any other lift. It allows easier access to new trails, along with original ones.

The other new addition is the Magic Carpet that’s located on the Bunny Hill. Mike VanSteenkiste’s idea was to have easier access for beginners and not have to deal with the tow rope, which caused multiple injuries.

The new additions to the lodge include new floors, ceilings, walls, decor, furniture, table, and newly installed fireplaces. VanSteenkiste made sure to add his own personal touch to Kellys. The new restaurant always has hungry skiers and snowboarders who want to have fun all day and not worry about food.

But one of the best additions to Kelly Canyon is the snowmaker; it produces about a foot of snow every week. It’s located near the Bunny Hill and has had an amazing effect on the once extremely icy hill.