Category: Day Trips

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Race weekend had a bit of everything – bonus points, a costume preview and marshmallows

Race #3 participants at Horsehose!

Race weekend – races on both days – was a huge success! Thanks to all our participants for their enthusiasm. You all make our club awesome! We had awesome conditions thanks to a 40-60cm dump of snow a few days earlier. Bring on Snowmageddon!

Feb. 29 we held our annual “Choose Your Own Adventure Freestyle Race” at Horseshoe Valley. We start and end from the same place, and there are two courses to choose from – a beginner course and a more advanced course that sends racers up Geunther’s Grind! If racers did both, they got bonus points!

Beginner Winner Jennifer!

Congrats to Graham, Sonia, and Janine, who did both courses. Graham lead the day with the fastest time. And congrats to Jennifer, our “beginner winner”, and to her three friends who did Patrolller’s Hill THREE times. Were they supposed to? Nope!

Mar. 1 at Wasaga we held our annual Pine Trail Classic, a classic only race that winds through the lovely Pine Trail. We started and ended at the fire shelter, where racers were treated to a marshmallow roast courtesy of Linda. Graham and Sonia practiced skiing in costume to prepare for the final official costume race. What a great end to an amazing day of skiing.

Congrats to Graham for his second win of the weekend, and to everyone for finishing in under 25 minutes and getting bonus points!

The podium finish – first to third (left to right)

Racers have one more chance to rack up points for the overall standings on Mar. 15 at Hardwood. It’s our Spring Fling Costume Race! Graham and Sonia are only two points apart at the top of the overall leader board and we can’t wait to see what costumes they have in store for us!

We finished off with a marshmallow roast. Fun fact: sloths like marshmallows

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Congratulations to our XC instructors

That’s Ron skate skiing in front!

This year we had three members successfully pass CANSI certification courses!

First, we welcomed Ron Duffy to the instructor ranks when he passed the CANSI Level 1 course in January. Congratulations!

Second, Charles Ma and Heather Steel successfully passed the CANSI Level 2 course in February. Congratulations!

The L2/3 course – Heather is second from the left and Charles is last on the right. Thanks to Wendy Grater and Francoise Chatenoud for the excellent instruction!

Furthermore, a few of our instructors are in the process of completing their Level 3 certifications. Hopefully we will bring news of more successes in the coming seasons!

Our instructors are dedicated to improving their skiing and teaching skills to serve our members better. Thanks to all of them for their enthusiasm and dedication to our sport and our club.

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Race weekend – with bonus points – is coming!!

Race Results

Our first race of the season, Frisbee Biathlon, was a big success! Held on the new flat open area at Highlands (Teal’s Tango), members of all levels were able to participate in the fun. While our races are all about fun, there are results. And here they are:

Race #1 – Frisbee Biathlon
David Zoratto & Trevor Leech
John Kane & Frances Zeng
Sonia Dyett & Rob Dyett
Patty McVitty & Jaques Belik
Rubina Khan & Amanda Hollingsworth
Carine Wood & Ludmilla Chubey
Jennifer Beatty & Andrew Kerr
Maria Bridgemohan & Charlene Phillips

Our second race of the season was held at Scenic Caves – You Can’t Get Lost on the Northwest Passage Freestyle! It was warm and sunny and 10 skiers, including some newbies, put their skills to the test on a 1.5km course. No one got lost! And the results…

Skate:

  1. Jeff Stainsby
  2. Andrew Mahoney
  3. Jiurong Li

Classic:

  1. Andrew Osmond (who serenaded us in Italian as he crossed the finish line, meaning bonus points for all!)
  2. Andreas Gierke
  3. Andrew Patterson

Race Weekend!

Race weekend returns after a few year’s hiatus. What is race weekend? Races on BOTH daytrips with some serious bonus points! Check it out…

Feb. 29: Our annual Choose Your Own Adventure Challenge at Horseshoe Valley. Choose between two courses – a shorter easier one that uses Patroller’s hill (suitable for more beginner skiers) and a longer, hillier route that uses Geunther’s Grind. If you do both, you get bonus points!

Mar. 1: The annual Pine Trail Classic at Wasaga is back! This is our race director’s favourite race for two reasons: 1. It’s a beautiful course that winds through the pine trees. 2. Someone ALWAYS gets lost. It’s been years and this never fails! There will be bonus points for those who finish the course in under a certain amount of time.

Our races are all about fun! Participants accumulate points through the season and we crown our overall winners at our fun year end party in April. Join us!

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HPSC discovers Sault Ste. Marie

On the family day long weekend, a full bus headed up to Sault Ste. Marie to experience some of the best cross-country skiing Northern Ontario – and indeed Canada – has to offer! We stayed in Sault Ste. Marie and skied two days at Stokely Creek and the final morning at Hiawatha Highlands. Both places delivered amazing skiing.

Konstatin is pretty tired after all that climbing!

Stokely Creek is not for the faint of heart. With over 100km of trails and some serious climbing, you are sure to get a workout! But, there are some lovely easier trails too if that’s more your style. And the snowshoeing looked lovely!

There was a huge base of snow, so no worries about bad conditions on this trip! It also snowed all day on Saturday, creating a lovely winter wonderland. Then the network was freshly groomed entirely for Sunday.

Snow all day = happy skiers!

Members had all kinds of fun. There’s 6 huts to explore throughout the network and we hit all of them at some point! Norm’s cabin even offers full tea and cookie service! The sun peaked out on Sunday and gave us views of Lake Superior. Lots of members challenged themselves to climb King Mountain. Others explored the snowshoe trails.

Four of our members – Heather, Paul, Ian, and Jean-Emile – took on the 6 Hut Challenge on Sunday. That’s all 6 huts in one day. And what a day it was. In the end, this foursome skied 40km and climbed about 1000m! You don’t get that kind of climbing in Southern Ontario. They’re waiting for their t-shirts to be mailed.

The last hut!!! Then the death march home commenced.
The Sugar Shack at Hiawatha!

The final day took us just outside Sault Ste. Marie to Hiawatha Highlands, the local nordic ski club. A smaller trail network and not nearly as challenging (thank goodness!), but also beautiful. The sun came out and everyone wished we had time to stay the whole day.

All in all, this trip was a massive success and we’ll add it to our roster of long weekend destinations! Special thanks to trip leader Monica, who always does a fantastic job.

Norm’s Cabin offers tea and cookies to weary skiers! Our members got a little comfortable…
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Downhill Bus Etiquette 101

So you finally got on a trip – yes our trips this season have been selling out regularly – FANTASTIC!  Now there are a few things we would like you to know about HPSC downhill bus etiquette to ensure that all members have a fantastic time as well. 

  1. Be at the pick-up location about 10 minutes prior to the listed departure time.  Load your gear and get on the bus as quickly as possible.  Every minute we are behind schedule is a minute we are not at the hill. 
  2. Bin 4 under the bus is for Instructors equipment.  All other members can place their equipment in any of the other bins
  3. When getting on the bus please take off your backback and carry it in front of you.  You don’t want to hit another member in the head with your bag or even worse your ski boots. 
  4. No boots in the overhead bin.  This is to make sure that when a bin is opened a boot doesn’t come crashing down and hitting a member.  You can tuck your boots under your seat. 
  5. At 400/7 all members need to be seated and bins closed before the driver can leave.  So please find a seat and stow your bags. You can get up and socialize with your friends later. 
  6. Introduce your self to your seat mate.  But remember that some members just want to sleep on the trip up.  Please respect that. 
  7. Like on an airplane, unless you have to, do not throw back your seat as far as it goes, especially if there is someone sitting behind you.  Be considerate of other members comfort as well. 
  8. If there are any issues on the bus (heating etc.) please talk to the HPSC Bus Captain.  They are the only one who should be communicating with the driver. 
  9. When we get to the resort please listen to the Bus Captain who will announce where you will be able to pick up your lift ticket.  In most cases it will be in or around the bus.  It is your responsibility to pick up your lift ticket from YOUR Bus Captain.  They will not track you down. 
  10. At the resort please let the Instructors off the bus first. They need to get ready and meet to finalize assignments for the day.
  11. In general, it is accepted that the seat you have going to the resort is the seat you have on the return trip.  If there are empty seats you can move around. However, remember that if you are in someone else’s seat, they will need to move to someone else’s seat, and so on and so on . . .
  12. Departure time is the time the bus leaves the resort, not the time to show up at the bus.  Please be in your seat with everything stored 5 minutes prior to the departure time. This allows the Bus Captain time do a final count and tell the driver if they can go or not. 
  13. On the trip home there are some accepted zones on the bus.  In general, the back is more talkative (but not on all trips) and playing music is not unheard of.  A conga line has sometimes broken out as well.  The front of the bus is usually quieter.
  14. We are an inclusive club – remember that not all members have the same sense of humor or taste in music as you and your friends.  Please be considerate. 
  15. Ask not what your ski club can do for you . . . Remember the Bus Captain is a fellow HPSC member and a volunteer.  If you think you can do a better job please volunteer – we are always looking for help.   
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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. 

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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!

Trevor takes off from the start line!

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!

No point in participating unless you give it your all!
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The ski season has finally taken off!! Sign up early and often

After a bit of an up and down early January the HPSC season has taken off with full buses to both Mount St. Louis and Blue Mountain, as well as on the Wednesday trips.  Thank you to all of the members who have signed up for trips – and a big thank you to all the new members who have jumped into the club with both feet. 

With a growing membership, trips have been filling quickly.  While the deadline for registering for weekend day trips is Thursday 6pm (Monday 6pm for Wednesday trips), with a lot of passionate new members, trips have been selling out before that point. 

To ensure we are being fiscally responsible, we initially open enough spots for one bus and if all those spots are filled, a waitlist opens immediately.  If it is decided that there is sufficient time and interest, spots for a second bus will be added.  The waitlist helps to gauge if there is sufficient numbers for a second bus, and that the trip still breaks even. 

Opening a second bus also means that we add additional pick up locations (Queen’s Quay; Liberty Village; Davenport/Yonge).   All those on the waitlist will be added to the trip and be notified of their invoice.  They will then have between 12 and 24  hours to pay their invoice (depending on how close to the registration deadline is).  If they don’t pay, the spot will be cancelled.  The bottom line is to ensure you get on the trip, you need to sign up early and often.  And if the trip is full, add your name to the waitlist.   

If you are interested in going on daytrip – even if it is in few weeks or next month, please register as soon as you can.  This guarantees you don’t miss out on a day on the slopes you want to go on, it also lets us know that there may be enough interest for additional buses. 

All trips until the beginning of March are open for registration.   So sign up early and sign up often.

https://hpsc.ca/downhill-trip-registration-page

Justin Graham, Assistant Director of Downhill Daytrips

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New resort – Kawartha Nordic

We’re back!

HPSC used to visit Kawartha Nordic years ago, be we probably haven’t been in over 10 years. That changes this year!

We’re got two trips on the schedule, and our first one is Jan. 26. Forecast looks promising!

Kawartha is a lovely ski area. The terrain is rolling hills, so it’s a great place for beginners. There’s combo trails for both skate and classic and some nice narrower classic only trails. The trails are all two-way, which is different than most of the resorts we visit.

They have a big chalet with places to store bags and there are warming cabins with wood stoves through the trail network – perfect for grabbing a snack. Just be careful of the chickadees!

Check out the photos below to see what to expect!

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Backcountry advenutures at Kolapore!

Every year we schedule one trip to the Kolapore Uplands (combined with a trip to Highlands Nordic). When conditions are good, it’s a magical place! This year’s trip is Feb. 8. There’s a wait list, and if there are enough people on it, we’ll add a second bus.

If you’ve never been to Kolapore, here is what you may expect:

  • No tracks! Backcountry skiing is on ungroomed, narrow trails. Thus, it can be more challenging than skiing at resorts with tracks. We do not recommend Kolapore for beginners.
  • No facilities! Be sure to use the washroom on the bus before you leave. And you’ll be eating on the trails.
  • No rentals! You need your own gear, or need to rent in the city and bring it with you. While backcountry skis are preferable, you can ski with your normal skis.
  • Guided skiing! Likely two guided groups will be heading out of varying difficulties. Choose your own adventure.
  • Fun! Check out the photos below.