Category: Day Trips

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What a fantastic season . . . if a bit shorter than we had planned!

While our 70th season ended a little more abruptly than anticipated . . .  it was memorable all the same! 

Despite weather that was a little unpredictable, HPSC Alpine Daytrips successfully ran 39 trips of which half (18) were sold out.  (Moral is to sign up early and sign up often!)  The season started off with a successful and sold out Kick Off and Test Drive trip on December 7 that resulted in a number of new members.

In February at the height of the season we had for the first time in years a fully sold out weekend starting with the equivalent of three full buses (2 full buses and 50 registered drive-ups) for the rescheduled Double Double day, as well as  sold out trips to Blue Mountain on the Sunday and Monday. 

On Saturday of Family Day weekend, we ran what is becoming an annual daytrip to Holiday Valley – a rare trip that both sold out early and had a 100% attendance rate – that is there were zero no-shows.  And at the end of February was our second successful Test Drive day!

In January and February out of the seven MSLM Saturday trips we ran, five were expended to two buses due to filling up the first bus early.  Another success was the major uptick of those registering for our Sunday trips to Blue Mountain – so a shout out to the Sunday@Blue Crew!   

And finally a big thank you to all of the volunteers who arrange and co-ordinate and run the day trips, and those on the back end who reconcile the trips and process the refunds.  Without all of you the trips would not be able to run! 

If you have any suggestions for daytrips please do not hesitate to send an email to daytrips@hpsc.ca.

Please stay safe over the summer and look forward to seeing you on the slopes next December!   

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It has been a great season so far . . . But it isn’t over yet!! Still 3 weeks left in our 70th downhill season!

It has been a great season so far . . . but it isn’t over yet!! 

However, day trips will only run if members sign up.  While buses in January and February were guaranteed to run, in March we need to ensure that trips are economically feasible.  They will be cancelled if there are not enough members registered.  And remember that if the bus doesn’t run, we do not provide lessons for drive up registrants. 

Some highlights in March: 

  • Our only trip to Beaver Valley Ski Club – home of Avalanche, Ontario’s steepest groomed run, on Wednesday March 18th. 
  • Our one and only ‘Sleep in Saturday’ on March 21st to Caledon Ski Club.  Pick up times are 45 minutes later than the usual Saturday times so you can sleep in.  We will be departing from 400/7 at 8:45. If you usually ski on the weekend, and don’t get a chance to go to the private clubs, this is your opportunity!  
  • There will also be a Skiis and Biikes demo tent at Caledon that day (please see the separate article).
  • Due to the popularity of this year’s Sundays at Blue trips, the board has approved adding in two more Sunday trips (March 15th and 29th) that were not on the original schedule. Way to go to the Sunday@Blue Crew for coming out regularly and making this possible.
  • Due to popular demand, the Davenport and Yonge pickup location has been added to all weekend daytrips in March.   

Come enjoy some spring skiing and before saying goodbye to our 70th HPSC season!

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Ski Demo Day at Caledon Ski Club during our one and only Sleep-in Saturday daytrip!

Our partner, Skiis & Biikes, will be hosting a Demo Day for HPSC members during our scheduled sleep-in Saturday daytrip to Caledon Ski Club on March 21st.  They will have a tent outside the Pro Shop, at the West Lodge, with 12-16 pairs of demo skis for guests to try.

This trip to Caledon is our one and only Sleep-In Saturday trip of the season. And is a great opportunity for those of you who usually only ski on the weekend to experience one of the private clubs in Ontario.

All pickup times will be 45 minutes later than usual with the first at 7:45 am at Bloor and Indian Rd., followed by Davenport and Yonge (8:05); Yonge and Eglinton (8:15); Yonge and York Mills (8:25), and finally 400/7 (8:45). If there are two buses we will adjust the times, but will still be leaving 400/7 at 8:45.

Why demo?

Buying new skis can be a major acquisition. All skis are different in their proportion, construction, and other features. It is always advisable to try before you buy. Even if you are not looking to buy new skis, demoing skis can tell you something about your individual style of skiing. Different skis behave differently.  If you have read a rave review of a certain ski does not mean that they would be right for you.

A few considerations on how to make the best out of a ski demo:

  • Think of what do you want in a ski. Do you want something that is good on hardpack snow or powder? Something stable or a bit more playful?
  • Talk to the Skiis & Biikes reps and find out as much as you can about the skis they have to offer. They might suggest one you haven’t thought about.
  • Know your boot sole length in millimeters, and your DIN settings.
  • Use the same terrain to test each ski. It is a good way to compare them. Some skiers prefer starting on an easier slope, and then turning up the volume on a steep run.
  • Pay attention to how the skis feel at short and long turns, tern initiation, grip, edging.
  • Don’t hesitate to try the same model in a variety of lengths. You may hate the ski in one length, and then be wowed by the next size up of the same.
  • Be mindful of the time limit that the ski shop allows you to demo a pair.
  • Don’t demo new skis during the time of your lesson. There will be plenty of time after it – our bus departs at 4:30 pm.
  • You may want to take picture of the model and length of the skis you have just tested, and to take notes if you wish!

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Spring skiing awaits!

Our March 1 trip to Wasaga. Snow and sun!

March brings spring skiing…some of our favourite skiing. Yes, conditions aren’t always great, but throw in warm temperatures and sunny days, and it feels so good to be outside in the trees.

There are plenty of opportunities to ski this March. As long as there is snow on the ground, and people willing to ski on it, we’ll send buses! Our trips up to March 15 are presently sold out, but the wait lists are generally small, so if you get yourself on the list, you probably will get on the trip.

Mar. 14 – Kawartha Nordic (guided snowshoeing). If Kawartha doesn’t have the conditions, we will find somewhere that does (likely Highlands or Scenic Caves…or maybe Arrowhead)

Mar. 15 – Hardwood Hills (Race #5)

Mar. 21 – Mystery Destination (module will open soon; destination confirmed closer to date). LAST CHANCE TO TAKE LESSONS!

Mar. 22 – Highlands Nordic (module will open soon)

After Mar. 22, we will take the weather and conditions as they come. Many members often ski until the last day of March, so if conditions warrant it and you want to go, we’ll do our best to send buses!

Please note that March skiing can bring changeable conditions – it can be icy, slushy, sunny, snowy, and everything in between. As usual, we will try and find the best conditions if our scheduled destinations don’t work out. Let’s get outside and enjoy the last bits of winter!

When it’s 3 degrees you can have a marshmallow roast! Wasaga, Mar. 1, 2020
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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.