Hollywood Blockbuster Filmed At Old Canadian Ski Resort

The new Hollywood movie Inception was shot at the currently closed Canadian resort of Fortress Mountain last autumn, raising hopes among locals that the popular ski centre might be able to reopen for snowsports on the back of a presumed cash injection from the film company.

Fortress, located in the Kananaskis valley about an hour west of Calgary in Alberta was formerly operated by the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies group which also runs Fernie, Kimberley, Mont Ste Anne and the nearby resort of Nakiska, but was sold to the Banff Rail Company in 2005. However it has not operated for the past few seasons due to financial problems associated with unpaid fees and taxes.

Parts of the $200m Inception film, starring Leonardo di Caprio and made by Christopher Nolan, who made the last Batman film, were shot at Fortress which local reports say involved the construction of a large set, the employment of a small army of extras and the shooting of on-snow scenes using snowmobiles.

There is no news as yet as to whether Fortress may be able to re-open in 2010-11 as a result of the film company's presence at the area. The locals may be hoping for a repeat of events 40 years ago when a then incomplete revolving-restaurant, the world's first at altitude, built above Murren in the Swiss Jungfrau, which had run out of development cash, was used in the James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service.'
Money from the film company was used to complete construction of the Piz Gloria restaurant (the name taken from Ian Fleming's original 1963 novel) after filming was completed, and it is still operational today.

Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc