(OSV News) ─ Skiers at Mount Shasta Ski Park in Northern California have a new protector.
No, it is not a revamped ski patrol or new lifts; rather, it is a massive statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary sitting atop one of the park's three mountains.
The 20-foot-tall Our Lady of Mount Shasta was unveiled this past December to much fanfare and applause at the ski park.
Located six miles from Northern California's 14,179-foot volcano, Mount Shasta, the ski area has 425 acres of skiable terrain serviced by six lifts.
In 2017, Ray and Robin Merlo purchased the ski park from the Young and Aguilera families. At the time, the Merlos also owned the family's vineyard and had a stake in a variety of other real estate holdings.
With the new property came new dreams and aspirations, including placing a large statue of the blessed Virgin Mary atop one of the resort's three buttes.
The idea to place a statue atop the mountain derived from Ray Merlo's passion and love for his Catholic faith. Merlo, a wealthy Californian, and his wife Robin purchased Mount Shasta ski resort in 2017.
Upon purchasing the property, Merlo outlined an ambitious five-year plan to help the once-struggling ski park become a major player again.
When Merlo purchased the ski resort, he had two goals: build a new chairlift to Gray Butte, the park's highest point, and install a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Jim Mullins, the park's general manager, has worked at Mount Shasta since 2006. In an interview with OSV News, he shared that Merlo's ambitious plans brought life to a ski park that had shut down for two years due to a lack of snow.
"When the Merlos purchased the resort, they wanted to build a lift on Gray Butte, which everybody in the community has wanted for many, many, many years," Mullins said. "But then he wanted to build a statue of Mother Mary on the top of Douglas Butte because Ray loved his Catholic faith."
Tragically, Merlo died in 2020 after struggling with terminal brain cancer for over a year.
Upon Ray's passing, his wife, Robin, assumed control and ownership of Mount Shasta.
When Robin began leading the resort, her one priority was to fulfill her late husband's desire to build a new chairlift and construct the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"When Ray passed away, Robin wanted to fulfill his wishes," Mullins said. "She finished the Gray Butte lift, which is a major addition for our ski resorts. And then she did the statue as a tribute for her late husband."
Robin declined OSV New's request for an interview.
Prior to installing the large statue, the Merlos had placed smaller sacred statues around the property. However, the Blessed Virgin Mary statue is the new focal point.
"It is the first large statue they've installed," Mullins said. "They have put some smaller ones that have been gifts from the local Catholic churches out front over the years, but this one is to honor her husband, who wished that he had completed the project, and she fulfilled it."
Building the statue, however, presented a variety of challenges.
From minute supply issues to struggles with contractors, the project faced a variety of logistical issues.
The greatest hurdle, however, came from a cohort of dissatisfied individuals, angered that a religious statue would adorn one of the park's three hilltops.
After the park announced the project, controversy ensued when a number of people launched and signed a petition demanding that the park halt construction of the statue.
"The biggest problem we had was we had some people come out and start a change.org petition protesting the construction of the statue," Mullins said. "The petition picked up national steam and a lot of people across the country began signing it, angry that we were placing a religious statue on the property."
The Dec. 10, 2023, Change.org petition argued that the statue "threatens to alienate members of our diverse community who do not share the same religious beliefs."
To date, the petition has garnered 3,328 signatures. It argued that the statue was "intrusive" and that patrons enjoyed the "natural beauty" and "spirituality" of the park and the statue would distract from that.
Mullins shared that the controversy stemmed from misinformation being spread about the project. Protesters believed that the statue was being constructed on land owned by the U.S. Forest Service that was being leased out to the ski park.
However, the entire property is owned by the Merlo family, so it is considered as private property.
"People didn't understand that this is private property," Mullins said. "Robin owns everything. It's not leased through a Forest Service permit. So people started asking how they could build a religious statue on Forest Service property. People just did not know the facts."
After a plethora of bad press, Mullins began searching for ways to correct the narrative. So, he contacted Fox News, who agreed to do a story.
"I went on national news, and Fox News Business did a big story about the controversy," Mullins said. "The two hosts, Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy, are both devout Catholics, so they loved that they were in favor of the statue and gave us a very favorable report."
After the segment, the ski park received positive feedback from both local residents and national supporters.
"There were so many positive comments coming in after the Fox News piece," Mullins said. "I had to show Robin the comments because she was hurt a little bit by the petition and all of the anger coming from it. But after the Fox News piece, we probably had 400-500 very positive messages towards her and very few negatives."
So, the construction continued.
This past December, the park unveiled Our Lady of Mount Shasta. The 20-foot bronze statue depicts the Blessed Mother holding out the Christ Child. Positioned on top of Douglas Butte, visitors ski in front of it and can stop and walk around the statue on the heated walkways.
"This all came together wonderfully; the statue looks fantastic," Mullins said. "We hired people from the local community to do all of the work. Everybody just worked together to pull this off."
The statue is intended to reflect and complement the area's beauty and help visitors to think about the faith.
"She symbolizes a deep connection to the area's beauty and tranquility, encouraging all to embrace faith, kindness, love, and peace on earth," Robin said in a press release.
At the center of the statue stands a plaque explaining the statue's significance and the story. At the bottom lies a tribute to Ray Merlo, forever immortalizing this man's vision for the ski park: "Dedicated to my Love, Ray Merlo," it reads. "A Promise Fulfilled."
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Jack Figge writes for OSV News from Kansas.
