February 2020 – Page 2 – High Park Ski Club Blog

2020-02-08

Find out why Holiday Valley is different . . .

If you have only skied locally in Ontario at Blue Mountain or Mount St. Louis, going to Holiday Valley in Western New York for the day is a much different experience.

It is not just that you ski on actual hills (vs. the Niagara Escarpment) where you can go down multiple sides into different runs and areas. Conquer ‘The Wall’, enjoy Happy Glades, cruise down Morning Star, or take in the tranquility of Mistletoe (see above photo).

But it is also the aroma’s that make Holiday Valley special – The hint of fresh waffles from The Waffle House at the foot of Cindy’s Chair. Or the smell of the meat smoker at the top of Mardi Gras or of roasting hot dogs outside the Mountain Top Warming Hut. Or the pine forest off the Tannenbaum Express.

Come experience Holiday Valley on our one-day trip during Family Day weekend on February 15th. We will have guided skiing (Step 4 and above) and boarding (intermediate and advanced). This is the only day trip for that weekend.

All the regular pick up locations (except 400/7) will be used. The last pick up is at QEW/Winston Churchill at ~7:30am.

From 5-7pm we are having a special pizza après (or you can continue skiing). The bus will leave at 7pm SHARP.

As with all cross-border trips you must have a valid passport.

Spots are filling quickly! Don’t miss out.

2020-02-072020-02-23

We turn winters into springs…

“Blossom of snow” – Social committee at crossover day promoting Apres 70th Anniversary “Snow Ball”

We had an interesting info sharing and discussions going on Facebook group about baby boomers and millennials and their impact on the declining ski industry. We are doing few things right as our clubs membership grew 20% compare to 2 years ago – after a freeze and a slow and steady decline. About 1/4 of our club are new members, it means that new generations come in while baby boomers are retiring from skiing. I did quick analysis of our new members demographics: about 40% of our new members represent generation X, 30% — millenials, generation X and we still have baby boomers joining our club – 30%. The face of our club is definitely getting younger, as French say when people look younger than their biological age: “We turn winters into springs!” We look pretty young for 70 year old club! We continue to welcome new members!

Social committee was at Scenic Caves for the crossover day and at MSLM for Members Appreciation Double Double Day. We have started the promotion of the Apres 70th Anniversary Season “Snow Ball’. The theme of the Ball is “turning the winter (snow) into the spring (cherry blossom in High Park), see the picture of Social committee with the “blossom of snow” accessories. There will be a beautiful “Snow Ball”- Waltz dance and many other traditions and surprises at the 70th celebration .

Tickets for Apres party (Awards ceremony, drink + dance) are on sale now for everyone. We are looking forward to greeting a lot of our new members at this event. We now have invited all volunteers to get discounted tickets for the formal dinner + drink + dance or Apres drink + dinner. We sincerely appreciate all volunteers contribution. Our club is a true social good miracle, managed by amazing people for amazing people. Tickets for dinner will go on sale for everyone on February 25.

Let’s keep the party going steady!

Stella, HPSC Volunteer President

2020-02-062020-02-21

Call for volunteers

Our club is managed by volunteers. We are looking for volunteers, who would be interested to grow into Directors roles for the next two years term (2020 – 2022) for the following teams:

Finance
Communications

We are happy to share that members have stepped forward to learn about both positions and to help out the club. If you are interested to join the teams please contact the current directors: https://hpsc.ca/Contact_Us Volunteer, contribute, connect…

2020-02-052020-02-05

Race season is finally underway!

Race Director Heather and her racers at Horseshoe.

We were a little delayed in getting our race season launched this year, but Race Director Heather has scheduled five fun races for February and March.

Our “races” (if one can call them that!) are simply fun group activities. We have fun cheering each other on, there’s usually some kind of fun twist, and lots of bonus points handed out for random reasons. We do prizes by draw (not by finishing time) and if you come to one race, you get an invite to our year end party in the spring. We’ve been told that Linda’s cheering squad has new loud toys!

You certainly don’t have to be fast, but you should have enough ski skills to ski a few kilometers comfortably.

Here’s the new schedule:

Feb. 8 – Frisbee Biathlon Relay Kick Off! This race is always a chaotic mess of fun.

Feb. 23 – The It’s Impossible to Get Lost on the Northwest Passage (but someone will still manage to) Freestyle at Scenic Caves.

Feb. 29 – Race Weekend! Choose Your Own Adventure Freestyle Bonus Points Extravaganza at Horseshoe. Choose Patrollers or Geunther’s…or both!

Mar. 1 – Race Weekend! Pine Trail Classic at Wasaga. A fun swing through the forest on classic skis only.

Mar. 15 – Please Let There Still Be Snow Spring Fling Freestyle Costume Race at Hardwood. We’ll wear costumes and have a fun skills challenge integrated into the course. Brush up those ski skills!