• There is a ski resort in Ontario that’s taller than Blue Mountain and big enough to host an FIS-sanctioned Giant Slalom Race: The Georgian Peaks Ski Club. With a vertical of 820 feet, Georgian Peaks is Ontario’s highest and longest hill. The catch? Membership is $30k. Looks like I won’t be hitting that hill any time soon.
• According to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain actually owned Georgian Peas for a while in the 1980s.
• Also according to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain is Canada’s third-busiest ski resort after Whistler-Blackcomb and Mont Tremblant. Having spent a fair bit of time there over the past couple of years, I can honestly say I think that hill is at full capacity. They better look at opening The Orchard soon, or re-investigating a deal with Georgian Peaks; otherwise, the hills will soon become impossible to navigate.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I made a last-minute decision to head up to Blue on a Sunday evening once again. I wanted to get another day or two of riding in before the season ended and, well, beggars can’t be choosers when you’re not the driver. So off to Blue my buddy Josh and I went.

What I forgot to factor in, I think, was the Easter holiday; ’cause when we got to Blue, it was completely empty! There was ample parking, no lift lines, empty hills and places to sit inside. These are things that are difficult to experience at Blue on a weekend.

The net result was that after about three and a half hours we were completely exhausted. With no lines and no crowds, we were bombing runs, riding up, and bombing them again. We tossed some terrain park jumping action in just for fun, too. It was a great time; in fact, it was pretty much the complete opposite of my previous trip.

Because I wasn’t hitting any glades, bowls or otherwise, I decided to forgo the helmet as well. Instead, I  picked up a neato toque from Red Devil Sports with a badass pom-pom on top; nothing says ‘badass’ like goggles and a pom-pom toque.

Flash forward a year and a bit, to March 2008. I swear it hasn’t stopped snowing here since November. Conditions have been phenomenal for weeks; the crappy holiday season area ski resorts endured last year seems like it was eons ago. Heck, Blue Mountain even reported new powder the other day!

I’m going to try to get to Moonstone this weekend. The only problem? Another snowstorm is on the way. Geeeez. I’m also trying to get to Holiday Valley this month, and maybe even an early spring trip to the west coast. We’ll see.

Although it’s considerably farther than hills like Mt. St. Louis Moonstone or Horseshoe Resort, I like going to Blue because the 700+ feet of vertical are, well, pretty much the highest you’ll get in Southern Ontario. The downside, though, is definitely the crowding. And tonight was no different. Within two hours of my arrival, I was thinking about heading home. There were simply too many crowds, long lines, and it was generally difficult to ride while having to weave in and out of people.

Nighttime, I thought, would bring smaller crowds as families headed home, but no dice. The hills and lifts remained just as crowded. After a few hours of fighting through the crowds, and with Monday morning looming, we just decided to pack it in.

One upside: with the hill so cut up from so many people, I had plenty of practice on little jumps, bumps and lips today. I’m getting much better at that. But man, those crowds are really making me reconsider Blue. It seems like every time I go,  I end up  spending more time worrying about the people around me than anything else.

They’re only half operational, though, thanks to lousy road conditions.

Rare epic Ontario powder day: ruined!

(Moonstone is reporting 60 centimetres, and appears to be entirely open. If you can ditch work, you might want to head there.)

(The ‘first time on a snowboard’ component of the news clip is actually pretty funny.)

Helmets are mandatory at the park, which has a few different items to hit, including several boxes and many rails. There’s also an indoor skate park you can hit at the same time. A day pass is about $20; a season’s pass is about $100. I might have to check this out for myself, once I stop embarrassing myself on boxes, nevermind rails.

Edit: On second thought, maybe I can learn the art of the park at Polson Pier. Turns out they also offer novice clinics - and it’s open at night. Cooool.

I think this is a great idea. Polson Pier has a lot of unused space in the winter, and this is a great way to earn a few bucks. It’s also nice to have something accessible within the city, too; if word gets out, I think this will become pretty popular.

• Once again, there is no snow in Ontario: Blue Mountain is down to a paltry six runs today thanks to a completely insane January thaw that has struck southern Ontario. It’s 12 celsius today! I’m having visions of last year, when there was no winter riding to be had during the holiday season.
• Would being charged for your rescue deter you from riding out-of-bounds? Grouse Mountain is hoping so. They’ve sent the bill for a recent rescue to a father and son duo who had to be plucked off the mountain after riding where they shouldn’t have.
• Sunday’s avalanche at Big White claimed the life of a 21 year old resort employee; he was going to go for “one more run,” apparently. I can’t express how sad I feel for him and his family.
• There’s been a raft of avalanches elsewhere as well, including Lake Louise and in Colorado.

Here’s hoping we get some good snow-related news soon.

This was the second time in three weeks I haven’t been able to ride due to inclement weather, something I’ve definitely never seen before. And it’s a far cry from the winter of last year, when the lack of snow was the big news story. With areas like Moonstone reporting 35cm of news now today, I don’t think Ontario resorts will be laying off staff during the holiday season like they were forced to do last year.

All of this makes me extremely excited for my Tremblant trip, which is this weekend. According to the Tremblant website:

“30-45cm of new snow! The best snow conditions ever seen in December! Don`t miss out, come ski the powder! The conditions are simply incredible!”

Woot! I can’t remember the last time we had a winter this snowy.

Wait, it’s not even winter yet.

Here’s a nice overview of what hills are open at night in the western United States. The article infers that night skiing is “taking off” at Amerian ski resorts but I don’t see anything in the article that references specific trends.

I’ve only been riding at night twice - once at Kissing Bridge and once at Blue Mountain - but I loved it both times. There tends to be less crowds, and riding at night gives you a different look at the same old hills. The only downside? It’s a hell of a lot harder to see bumps and dips in the terrain; especially if you don’t have clear goggle lenses for night riding.

I was concerned when, during my first run, I could feel my hamstring tweak every time I went toeside. Given I haven’t been working on my hamstring much aside from lots of stretching, I knew my hamstring could potentially be a problem. After a couple of runs, however, the noise from the hamstring disappeared entirely. From then on, I was hitting jumps and bombing runs - everything felt great. I’m still slightly concerned about the hamstring, though, so I’m going to work on that for the next few weeks.

I also have to give a shout-out to my Donjoy Defiance knee brace, which held up great and required zero adjustments all day long.

Moonstone Conditions

So, where was I today? I headed to Mount St. Louis Moonstone, which was about 70% open and pretty much devoid of people. The conditions were great, and lift lines were nonexistent. Southern Ontario has had a very cold, snowy fall, and the ski areas down here are reaping the benefits of that. The runs were pretty much in mid-season form - Ontario ice and all.

All in all, it was a great day. And so far, no pain! I’m planning to head back next weekend.