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| Good News! Our Long Trips Committee managed to extend the deadline for registration for this trip to January 12, 2025, allowing members who recently joined the club or those who weren’t able to get on a previously offered trip to experience one of our best value charter trips! Enjoy 6 days of exceptional skiing in the Canadian Rockies. Your stay at the Crimson Hotel in downtown Jasper includes a daily hot breakfast, and the hotel is within walking distance to many excellent dining options. There are currently 4 spots left. In addition; one male member is looking for a roommate and one female member is looking for a roommate.Don’t wait until the last minute to sign up as the tour operator will release the airline seats and the hotel rooms soon. The ski resort and hotel were not affected by last summer’s fire, and Jasper Tourism has let us know that the restaurants and bars are open for business! They are looking forward to welcoming us back to Jasper this winter. |
Last Call for Lake Placid February 23-27 – Terrific for Downhill and Cross-Country!
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There are a few rooms left for the Lake Placid trip but we must release them by December 19! For downhill skiers and snowboarders, you will be skiing at Whiteface Mountain, the highest vertical in eastern USA (vertical 3,430ft.). For cross-country skiers and snowshoers, you will ski the extensive recreational and Olympic trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. One day, we will go to Heart Lake which is high in the mountains at the Adirondack Mountain Club to do some back country skiing and snowshoeing. Accommodation is at the newly renovated Grand Adirondack Lodge in the heart of Lake Placid, close to restaurants, shops and Olympic museums. Please sign up on the website under overnight trips under the Long Trips tab. |
XC Day Trip Full? Get on the Waitlist!
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| Since members are so excited to ski, waitlists are an important part of the registration process. If the trip is full, sign up on the waitlist. People cancel off trips and then we move people over from the waitlist. It happens often! You have 24 hours to pay after which you’ll be deleted from the trip – so if you want to ski, check your email (including junk mail). Be prepared to act! On Wednesday morning before the trip we clear the waitlist and any unpaid registrations (even if you haven’t had a full 24 hours to pay – sorry). Any remaining seats are up for grabs. This system is a balance between fair access and minimizing the work for volunteers. If there are enough people on the waitlist, we will try to run a second bus if the resort allows it. |
President’s Message – Happy Holidays!!
Looking back to last year when we were waiting for snow in order to start our season of activities, this year we have been much luckier. This past weekend we were able to run our first day trips of the season to both Mount St. Louis and Blue Mountain. Members also returned from the first charter trip to Panorama, and this coming weekend our downhill instructors are off to Mont Tremblant for their annual training weekend.
On the cross-country front, many of the resorts are already operating and our first trips are open for registrations and have filled quickly – if you would like to go please join the waitlist and if there are enough members we might be able to run a second bus.
As a reminder, we have downhill day trips scheduled for December 28 and 29 so if you want to get out over the holidays please register quickly. January trips will open soon. As a heads up, our annual Double Double day with both morning and afternoon lessons is scheduled for January 11 at Mount St. Louis.
I would also like to thank everyone who attended our First Tracks Holiday Party last Friday at the National Yacht Club. It was a fun evening catching up with so many members. We have more social events planned for the new year, including our special 75th Anniversary Gala next spring, so please keep reading all of the communication from the club.
Please take care over the holidays and stay healthy! See you in the new year!
Justin Graham
President, High Park Ski Club
Wecome to New Downhill Instructor Livia Zhang!
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| My name is Livia Zhang. I have been a member of HPSC for 6 seasons. I am excited to join the High Park Snow School and learn from experienced instructors, as well as contribute my skills to the club.I started skiing at Christmas in 2003. I fell in love with it on the first try. I feel gravity does the most work when I am skiing and I just need to control it. I like what my Trainer said – ski effortless. At the beginning, my ski pathway was not smooth due to a lack of formal training. In the 2013/2014 winter season I joined High Park Ski Club. With proper training and skiing with members with common interests, my skiing skills improved quickly. I became a certified CSIA Level 2 instructor in 2017 and I have actively taught for 7 seasons. I am a full-time Information Technology Professional. In my spare time, I am a passionate sports lover. I am very active in different sports in all seasons, either as an athlete or as a volunteer, which puts me in a very good mental and physical condition. I have finished 3 full marathons, and 4 half IRONMAN races. Now every year I still run several half marathons as a pacer and race an Olympic distance triathlon. The feeling of riding a road bike is so close to downhill skiing.I wish to continue to improve my teaching and skiing skills. I hope my ski skills and positive lifestyle can impact more people to have fun in the winter and live a healthy lifestyle. |
Clinic Spotlight: Ski the Steeps – STEPs 7-9
These classes offer tips to make skiing the steeps easy and fun. Join us, whether you enjoy the challenge here in Ontario or want to master the steeps for your weekend or charter trips. Some skills you will work on include (but not limited to) short radius turns, speed control and edging.
The emphasis is on building control and confidence in a safe and relaxing environment.
Clinic dates:
Sunday, February 2
Monday, February 10
Wednesday, February 12
Sunday, March 2
Check out the Downhill Ski School page (https://www.hpsc.ca/Downhill-Ski-School) for further information.
Only a Few Spaces Available on Long Trips!
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| Now that we’ve got some local snow, the last few spots will start to fill up on the Jasper, Alberta and Lake Placid, NY trips. Please see the last edition of SnoBiz or the HPSC website for a detailed description of these two iconic trips. We are also looking for one female to share a hotel room at the Killington Grand, and have spots remaining on our Mont Tremblant early and late season trips. The mid-season mid-week trip in February is full. Spots do open up on other trips but only if another member has to cancel. Sign up for the last few open spots on our trips now! One spot open for a male in a double room for C6 Newfoundland (XC and Downhill). Final payments are due December 3, 2024, so if you are interested register on the waitlist ASAP and you will removed from the waitlist and registered right away. Skiing and snowshoeing in Newfoundland is amazing; last year they had tons more snow than we did. Plus Newfoundlanders are the friendliest people. Come join us and get “screeched in” and become an honourary Newfoundlander! |
President’s Message –Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!
This past weekend was a very encouraging sign that this winter will be a snowy one.
This means that our first trips are very likely to run. The first downhill trips will open shortly, while the cross-country trips will open on December 16. Except for the coming weekend, we have downhill day trips scheduled for all of the remaining weekends in December, while the first cross-country and snowshoe day trip is planned for December 28.
As we head into the holiday season, I also want to mention that we are holding a Holiday Party on Friday, December 13 at the National Yacht Club. This will be a buffet dinner for a cost of $65 which includes the gratuity and tax. Because we need to provide numbers to the NYC we require that everyone register by this coming Saturday, December 7. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the event. I will also be handing out our special 75th Anniversary pins. Guests are welcome.
Speaking of social events, it is with sadness that our Director of Social Events, Jen Beatty, has made the decision to step away due to new work commitments. Jen has been a director for 4.5 years. Originally elected as the Director of Marketing in 2020, she switched portfolios in 2022 as we were starting to re-establish our social events after the pandemic. Thank you Jen for all of your hard work and dedication to the club.
Luckily, long-time member Mary Tountas has volunteered to step into the role of Social Director for the remainder of this year. Mary and a small team of volunteers have already been working on upcoming social events for the remainder of the year. If you would like to help out as part of the team, please contact Mary at social@hpsc.ca. Thank you Mary!
As a heads up, we will be holding a special 75th Anniversary Gala next spring on May 9. More details will be forthcoming in the New Year. All current and past members are invited.
Looking forward to a fabulous season!
Justin Graham
President, High Park Ski Club