Month: November 2024

Jesse Han My name is Jesse Han. I am excited to be one of your new 2024/2025 snowboard instructors at High Park Snow School. I joined the High Park Snow School because I love snowboarding and want to share my love and passion for snowboarding with others. It would bring me great joy to see others pick up the sport and thrive in their journey. I have been snowboarding for two years and have obtained my Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructor (CASI) Level 1 certification. When I am not snowboarding, I am busy training for my triathlons.

Chris Luong Hi everyone, my name is Chris. I started snowboarding later in my adult life and fell in love with it because of how much fun it is. When I first started I told myself I would never do anything dangerous like jumps and rails but somehow it ended up being my favorite things to do on the slopes. This season will be my 8th season of snowboarding with 7 of them focused on freestyle. I joined HPSC last season because I wanted to learn how to ski properly and now I want to do my part in giving back to the community and hopefully help grow the freestyle community in HPSC.

I can’t believe we are so close to the start of the season. It seems like just yesterday that we had our first SkiFit and a kick-off pub night. But this past weekend was the 12^th and final official SkiFit of the season. However, there will be an extra session on November 23–thank you to Dave Flowers for taking over this weekend!

Speaking of SkiFit, this past Saturday we had a record turnout of about 60 members. Special thank you to Astrid Petersons and George Lorenz for leading groups almost every week. Thank you to all the other volunteers who took the lead at various SkiFits. Without all of you, we could not run the program. I also want to send a special thank you to Karen Evans and John McHutchion who have led SkiFit for many, many years. Hope you have a fantastic season out west.

On the topic of thanking volunteers, we held our annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner and Awards evening a couple of weeks ago at The Hot House Café.  We handed out  14 awards, including the special Lifetime Achievement Award.  This is “Awarded to a long-time member for outstanding and long-term volunteering and leadership in the club.  A member can only receive this award once.”  This year’s recipient was Kevin Thyer. Kevin has been instrumental in the development and running of our very popular race program. Please see the article below regarding the Volunteer Awards.

As a heads up, the write-up that I mentioned in the last SnoBiz that will be in the upcoming edition of Horizon Travel & Lifestyle magazine, will be distributed in the November 30^th Toronto Star. This will go out with 50,000 print copies of the paper and to over 100,000 digitally. 

One last item.  Rocco Romeo, our very talented Director of Marketing, has designed a special club pin commemorating our 75^th Anniversary season. We received the pins late last week and began handing them out at last weekend’s SkiFit. They will be available at upcoming social events, and on day trips and long trips.

I hope that you are all as excited as I am for the upcoming season!!

Cheers!

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club

High Park Ski Club (HPSC), Canada’s most active adult travelling ski club, is celebrating our 75th Anniversary. The club was founded by a group of enthusiastic skiers at the local  ‘Y’ in 1950 in the High Park neighbourhood (which is why we are the High Park Ski Club) and initially involved word of mouth carpools to local ski hills. We are no longer associated with the ‘Y’ nor carpooling but are still fully volunteer run for the benefit of our members.

“To inspire and enable members to enjoy winter snow sports in a fun, friendly and supportive community” is our stated mission and it is achieved by providing members access to day trips, overnight and charter ski trips, free lessons, as well as social events and fitness activities throughout the year.

During our special 75th Anniversary season we have planned more than 60 day trips to local resorts, as well as 18 overnight bus and charter trips to domestic and international destinations, including Japan, Italy, France, and the United States!

Relax and enjoy!

HPSC runs deluxe coach buses four days per week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday) to local downhill resorts and on the weekend to various Ontario cross-country resorts, with convenient pick-up locations in west and central Toronto and in Vaughan. For those living in the city without a car, or who just do not want to drive all the way to the hills, our buses provide a relaxing and social way to get to the hills or trails. 

Reduce the cost of skiing

While skiing can be an expensive sport, HPSC helps to reduce those costs through the power of group discounts on lift tickets and travel for our members. As well, all members have access to free unlimited lessons with our own Canadian certified (CSIA, CASI, CANSI) instructors in downhill, boarding, and cross-country disciplines. Your membership will pay for itself after just a one or two lesson compared to the costs of lessons at a resort! We also offer guided snowshoeing.

Improve mental health by connecting with people IRL

But it is not just about saving money . . .  for those whose friends or family have stopped skiing, don’t ski, who are new to the GTA, or who want to learn to ski or board, HPSC provides the opportunity to meet and ski, board or snowshoe with others who share your interest. 

In this day and age, when social connections seem to be more and more online or virtual, HPSC offers the opportunity to connect IRL with people who share your passion and interests.

One thing we learned during the pandemic is that without having something to get us outside and active, winters in Toronto can feel very long – despite as skier, it not being long enough! The other learning from the pandemic is that for our own mental health and for the good of our society we need in-person social connections. As per Professor Robert D. Putnam groundbreaking book Bowling Alone, it is these personal connections that expand our social capital and help develop the sense of generalized reciprocity (the idea that you do things for others without the expectation of anything in return) that keeps our society running smoothly. We do not want to end up a society of people “Skiing Alone”.

We like to say that people join HPSC for the activities but return each year because of the friendships they make!

For the entire season, the rate for new members remains at only $155 (plus HST)!

Check us out or for more information.

as published in the Toronoto Ski & Snowboard Show guide

As we enter November the excitement regarding the new season is building!

For some members, skiing is just weeks away; for others of us it is still a bit further. But in either case, we are all looking forward to a far more normal season. The weather forecasts appear to indicate a better season for winter sports than we experienced last year.  

The downhill day trip schedule is now posted on the website and was emailed out last week. HPSC is the most active ski club in the country with more than 170 days of skiing scheduled including 61 downhill day trips, 24 cross-country/snowshoeing day trips, 11 charter trips and 7 overnight bus trips.

The Toronto Ski & Snow Show was a great success, with what appeared to be both more exhibitors and more attendees. The new location back on the CNE grounds was a popular change. Thank you to all who stopped by to say hello.  It was great speaking with many of you at the show. Since the show there has been a significant increase in new members signing up for the club.

Speaking of membership, overall, our current level  is similar to last year at the same time. The end of the Early Bird rate last week resulted in a surge of renewals, which are now at a higher level than last year.   

Our participation at the show also provided the opportunity to have a one-page editorial in the show guide to promote the club and our 75^th Anniversary season (3,500 print editions + 20,000 digital).  The write-up will also appear in the upcoming holiday edition of Horizon Travel & Lifestyle magazine that will be distributed to 50,000 print (via the Toronto Star) and 100,000+ digital. (See below for the write-up.) Thank you to Rocco for co-ordinating our participation at the show and all of the design work.

While advertising is helpful to attracting members, word of mouth is always the best way to attract new members. As a reminder, when referring members to the club, if they include your name as the person who told them about the club, we will send you a bus voucher. 

On a final note, we are planning more social events for the season, but require help. If you are interested in being on our club social committee, please send me a note. 

Cheers!

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club