Kimberley, BC - High noon, June 28th, 2003, will see the Bavarian City Mining Railway passenger train depart from downtown Kimberley, on it''s way up to the base area of Kimberley Alpine Resort. The journey up the Mark Creek Valley will take approximately 25 minutes as it meanders up the narrow valley, over the creek and gains close to 400 feet in elevation to the resort base.

The base area at Kimberley Resort will be open for travelers with the Portal Expresso serving Starbucks© coffee and a variety of lunch items. The mountain rental shop will be open from 12pm - 6:30pm with new Norco and Devinci full-suspension mountain bikes available for rent. Also new in the resort base area are mini-golf and horseback riding. MVP Guides and Outfitters will be offering pony rides and 1-hour resort tours from 9am thru 8pm. The new and improved 18-hole "championship" mini-golf course will also be open from 10am thru 8pm.

Unfortunately, the North Star Express Quad Chair will not be operating throughout the weekend as a recent maintenance inspection detected a mechanical issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Technical chairlift specialists will be arriving on Wednesday, July 2nd to do a thorough inspection of the lift.

"Our staff have been working extremely hard to prepare for this summer and we are very excited about seeing the train steam into the resort", states Resort marketing manager, Chris Elder. "The Portal Expresso is ready to go and I think people will be amazed at the difference around the base area."