Category: Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding

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Welcome More New Instructors!


Joe Saliba
 I joined HPSC many years ago as a step 3. After a few years of amazing lessons, I made it all the way to step 9. I left the club when I got married and had kids. I got my Level 1 and taught at Glen Eden for many years. I later got my Level 2 and eventually my Level 3. I am now a returning member.

I really love skiing and as such, would like to share my passion with others and help them improve their skiing. I’ve done many amazing ski trips with the club and have been able to ski in some exciting destinations around the world. I met many people in the club whom I’m still friends with after all these years.
Ephraim Fernandez
My life changed during my first Frosh week – I discovered the U of T Ski Club, joined it and got hooked forever. I learned to ski with minimal instruction but skied with a patroller friend and picked up what I could. Over the years, I refined my style and perfected my bad habits. Kids and work made skiing a minor part of winter for many years, but youthful strong abs and quads allowed for lots of fun, mostly with family. About 15 years ago when my kids left the nest, I joined HPSC and started over. I unlearned my ski style and High Park’s wonderful instructors taught me how to use my new shaped skis from Step 3 up. It’s now time to give back by teaching those who want to learn how to have fun in Winter.  From Breckenridge to Mt. Ste. Anne and Killington, Chamonix and Zermatt to Innsbruck – so many memories, for so many years skiing bareheaded except for the coldest days. Now always helmeted. I look forward to skiing with many of you this winter and those following. Thinking snow!

Herbert Hoff
I joined the Club in 1984 and participated in several social committees up until I took Instructor Training on skis in 1987. I successfully passed my first CSIA level 1 course in March of 1988 and achieved my Level 2 two years later.

I have the honor of being the first person to have ever put a snowboard into a bus bin for a HPSC trip on the way up to Mount St. Louis. If looks could kill, then I was a dead man several times over.
 
It all worked out in the end as Ron Dean and I became the first Certified Snowboard Instructors in the winter season of 1994-1995, the first year that CASI officially organized. I was the first Snowboard Instructor to reach a Level 2 and 3 and Level 1 Course Conductor status as a HPSC member. I stayed on as a member for 17 years then became a Dad which kiboshed opportunities to continue teaching with the Club.

I had the pleasure of serving on the Executive for several years including a couple of seasons as the Director of Skiing for the club. I also organized and ran the High Park Inline Skate Club with as many as 130 members who enjoyed the summer season riding local trails and destinations such as Niagara Falls and the Kingston/Gananoque area.

For the interim years, when not with HPSC, I taught skiing and snowboarding at Earl Bales Ski Centre primarily focusing on the adaptive and integrated program for challenged children.

My favourite ski/snowboard destinations are surprisingly not the big mega resorts; rather, I rank Sutton and Stoneham as great spots for all around good times – the glades, night skiing, the food, accommodations and ambiance.
Looking forward to “Good Times” on the snow with HPSC again this coming season!
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Downhill Day Trips News

February Day Trips
All February trips are now open for registration. Please register early to avoid disappointment. February day trips are popular, since winter conditions will be amazing during the height of the winter season. If a day trip is full, please register for the waitlist. If there is enough interest, there will be a second bus added. 

Bring-a-friend policy
You are allowed to bring up to 3 friends on any downhill bus trip this season. However, to prioritize registration for members, guest registration will open 48 hours before the closing of trip registration. Space for guests will depend on the remaining availability of the trip.Guests may only come on ONE trip per season (even if they know multiple club members). If they like skiing with the club, encourage them to join. Our club can only run because we have a membership based structure. Guests must be 21 years of age or older, and the member must accompany their guest on the day trip. Guests are only allowed on the bus. If drive ups bring guests, they cannot participate in any lessons. Guests on the bus are allowed to participate in a lesson. The sponsoring member must help your guests register for a lesson or assessment. There is a $25 fee per guest plus the standard costs of a day trip (bus fare, lift ticket, rentals).
A Note About Bus Vouchers
If you receive a bus voucher and want to use it for a trip, please remember to bring the physical voucher on the bus and hand it in to the bus captain. If you don’t, your account will be invoiced for the bus trip (but you can use the voucher for another trip). We need the physical vouchers – no exceptions!If you have signed up for a trip using a voucher, and do not show up for the trip, your account will be invoiced for your bus seat. The voucher can be used for another trip. In order to provide buses for all our trips, the club needs to ensure that the bus cost is adequately covered.The above applies to both downhill and cross-country day trips.
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President’s Message – Time to Have Fun!!

Dear HPSC Friends,

It has finally happened – we are back to our regular schedule!! 

This past Saturday we held our traditional Double Double day with lessons both in the morning and afternoon at Mount St. Louis.  And we were finally, after a number of weeks of disappointment, able to run cross-country trips due to the recent snowfall in resort country. Thank you to Heather for all her work in juggling the cross-country schedule to get the first trips run. This coming weekend our initial charter trips of the season leave for Jackson Hole and for France. I hope everyone has a fantastic time!

Just a reminder, for those who haven’t been on our day trips in a few seasons:  Last year we had to adjust our registration deadlines due to our change in bus company.  For weekend trips (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) the deadline is now on the Tuesday prior at 6 pm. The deadline for Wednesday trips is the previous Thursday at 6 pm. To avoid disappointment please sign up early. If the trip is full, please sign up on the waitlist. If there is enough interest, we will add a second bus (which also means using our two additional pick-up locations of Queen’s Quay and Liberty Village).

Regarding cross-country day trips, please make sure to read the trip descriptions carefully and follow updated posts on our Facebook group, regarding when trips open for registration. Due to the uncertainty of conditions, at least so far this season, registration is being opened when we are sure the resort conditions will allow us to run trips. This is to avoid having to process a large number of refunds which costs the club in credit cards fees.

Also as a reminder, if you need to cancel a day trip you have registered for, please send a message to cancellations@hpsc.ca.

To end on a personal note, I am very disappointed that I will once again miss skiing and snowshoeing this season. According to an MRI I had just before Christmas, I have re-ruptured my quad tendon and I needed to have surgery repeated on January 11. I am currently in a full leg cast for the next 5 weeks and will then start physio once again. However, I will try to be at as many club events as possible while I recover. 

Cheers!

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club

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Long Trips – Important Announcements!

We join clubs because we want to be around other people but have learned over the past couple of years that we have to work together to keep each other healthy!  As announced last summer, masks will be required on the bus portion of all long trips. While no one really likes wearing masks, we’ve gotten used to it. A number of respiratory viruses have already made their appearance this winter. Let’s continue to work together and adhere to our club’s mask wearing policy and keep each other healthy.

Don’t forget that cancellations do occur, so don’t hesitate to add your name to the waitlist for a trip. Once a spot opens up, that matches your needs, the trip leader will contact you. You can then make a Go/No Go decision. The $100 HPSC deposit will be needed to secure your spot. On most trips, the balance will also be due within the next 24 hours.
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Welcome More New Instructors!

The Downhill Snow School would like to welcome 7 New Instructors to the team this season!  Check out who they are and what their favourite things to do are. Keep your eyes out as we introduce you over the next several weeks. Today we introduce Jackson Huang, Ski Instructor and Carmen Lopez, Snowboard Instructor.

Jackson Huang

Why I became an instructor – My drug of choice is white powder. Ski instructing provides the goods and those to share it with.

Why I love the club – It’s full of addicts like me.

Ski memory: The final run of sensational week of backcountry skiing at Fairy Meadow, before the helicopter flight back to reality in Golden…a perfect run in pristine white.

Carmen Lopez

Hi everyone, my name is Carmen, and I am back with High Park Snow Club as a member and a snowboard instructor for the much anticipated 2022-2023 snow season!  My first-time setting foot on a board was in 2000 in Ottawa; shortly after, I gave up my skis to surf the solid slopes. My two most memorable snowboard experiences were with Selkirk Powder outback guided tours at Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho, and split-boarding at Bridger Bowl, Montana.

I have been a certified instructor since 2005, and have enjoyed instructing children, adolescents, and adults, when I have had the time between work, school and travel. This year I have made the commitment to HPSC because they are the friendliest and longest running organized snow club in Toronto, who encourage and expect only the highest standards from their instructors, and who also know how to have a great time! I’m looking forward to meeting the new and returning snowboard enthusiasts, and working alongside the amazing HPSC ski, snowboard and cross-country instructors to make this post-pandemic winter season epic! 

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Welcome New Instructors!

Bob Casson

Hello, I am a returning instructor at HPSC.  I initially joined HPSC in 2001 as my ski buddies were raising families and were not available to do the week long ski trip with the ‘boys’. I started taking lessons to meet fellow skiers and realized that I was not a good technical skier. Over the first few seasons I became friends with many fellow skiers and continued my skill development. With encouragement from the trainers, I took my Level 1. My goal was to have more exposure to improve on my skiing, but initially I did not have the desire to teach. However, once I started teaching, I found that I enjoyed the satisfaction of helping improve one’s ability and the enjoyment of skiing on more challenging terrain regardless of their ability.

I taught for 3 seasons with HPSC, getting my Level 2. An opportunity arose and I was hired to teach at Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna BC. Skiing on a mountain the size of Big White and the expanse of terrain available and the “Okanagan Champagne Powder ” challenged you, especially the daily training sessions helped develop your skill and the number of lessons taught helped fine tune your teaching/skiing.

During my first season, a fellow instructor commented that ‘You should go to Australia’ to which I replied, ‘They have snow there?’. It was often noted that if you want to teach, go to Australia, if you want to ski, go to New Zealand. Wanting to continue working on my teaching, I spent the next 4 seasons at Mt. Hotham in Australia. It is an inverted ski resort with the village at the top of the mountain. The last 2 seasons, I taught 1448 and 1500 students and over 220 lessons per season.

I continued to be involved with various programs at Big White for the next few years. After my 4th season, Josh Foster, the Ski & Board School Director asked me to be his Assistant Director to the Adult side of the Ski & Board School which  I continued for the next 11 seasons, before I retired. After 15 seasons, the transient life made my decision to return to Ontario. I had the opportunity to work for one of the best instructors in Canada and my staff made working a joy.  With Covid during my last season, I was able to teach more than a handful of lessons a season and it reinforced my enjoyment of teaching.

I look forward to renewing friendships and teaching again to see the smile on their face when they take the next step.

Cheers! Bob

Jay Son

I have been snowboarding for more than 20 years (I can’t believe it has been that long!) and an instructor for about 3 years. I love snowboarding because it makes me fully focused and forget everything else in life while snowboarding. What I like about HPSC is how it has allowed me to meet great people with different backgrounds from the city I live in. By meeting and interacting with other HPSC instructors and members, I feel I have matured as a person and learned how to be respectful to others. 🙂 My favourite ski memory is riding down a slope covered with a lot of powder at Revelstoke Mountain, which felt like riding on silk.

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Basic Information About Concussion

We love to ski! The twists and turns, the pivoting and edging, the thrill of the next hill and run, the fresh outdoors, the thrill of the ride!  While we take precautions to ski safely, unfortunately, accidents sometimes do happen.  It is good to have some basic information about concussion awareness.  We minimize the impact of the severity of any head injury by wearing helmets. 

Of note, loss of consciousness is not necessary for a person to have sustained a concussion.  While there has been controversy in the scientific community regarding criteria for traumatic brain injury and concussion, what is now commonly accepted is that among several criteria is some alteration in awareness associated with biomechanical forces to the head sufficient to cause neuropathological changes to the brain.

The good news is that for cases of mild concussion/mild traumatic brain injury, the physiological disruptions to the brain (and associated impairments in attention, memory, and information processing speed)  generally resolve for the majority of individuals within days or weeks.   

 Symptoms associated with concussion include (but are not limited to):  headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness.  As well, there may be impairments in orientation, short term memory, and information processing speed.

As first line responders, ski patrol may ask some basic questions about a person’s awareness and orientation.  For example, asking the person’s name, day of the week, birthdate, etc.  This information may be of subsequent benefit if further cognitive testing is conducted.  The following link shows some of the questions on a standardized assessment of concussion.

https://newburghschools.org/files/departments/athletics/ConcussionTestForm.pdf

Given that loss of consciousness is not a requirement for a determination for sustaining a concussion, it is always good to speak to ski patrol if you have had a fall and hit your head with any sufficient force which you think might be of concern.  Remember:  in the vast majority of cases, the natural course of events is for the brain to fully heal when there have been minor physiological disruptions.

Jonathan Siegel

HPSC Instructor

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2022/23 Downhill Day Trips Schedule

We are happy to announce the downhill day trips schedule for the upcoming season!

The coming season has 50 downhill day trips scheduled including a special Family Day trip to Beaver Valley. As in the past we will be following our usual schedule of trips on Saturday to Mount St. Louis (MSLM), Sunday and Monday to Blue Mountain, and Wednesday to the various private clubs. 

The first scheduled trips are December 10 to Mount St. Louis and December 11 to Blue Mountain.  The first Monday trip is January 9.  The Wednesday trips start on January 11.  There are three Wednesday trips to Alpine, and two each to Osler and Craigleith, and one to Devil’s Glen and one to Blue Mountain. Later in the season we have a number of TBD Wednesday trips since the private clubs cannot guarantee they will be open. 

Final prices for the day trips will be confirmed in the next number of weeks.

Hoping you have a fantastic season! 

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Honouring Our HPSC Volunteers!

Without our volunteers HPSC could not function!

On September 29th we were very happy to host our volunteers at the reinstated Volunteer Dinner at The Hot House Café.  The purpose of the event is to honour our volunteers as well as build excitement for the upcoming season. 

As part of the evening I was very please and excited to present our Volunteer of the Year awards to the following members:

Rookie

Sheila Moshomas – For taking on the role of Monday daytrip co-ordinator

Bronze level

Apolonija Battiston – For work on the Long Trips Committee (LTC) and leading the Snow School Instructor uniform committee

Fran Burgess – For work as the Wednesday Daytrip co-ordinator during a difficult season

Paul Dover – For extensive work for the Cross-country portfolio during a difficult season

Caroline Thompson – For work as the Downhill daytrips Bus Captain co-ordinator

Silver level

Michael Hardke – For work as the Sunday downhill Daytrips co-ordinator and for training Sheila as the new Monday daytrips co-ordinator

Lisa Philpott -For work as the bus company co-ordinator

Lisa Ziegler – For work programming the downhill daytrip events and making on-going changes as procedures were revised

Gold level

Christine Bellerose – For work as liaison between Snow School and the Downhill daytrips team

Linda Lavallee – For work as the long-term head of the HPSC New Member Ambassador program

Monica Sauer – For work within the cross-country team and as the cross-country representative on the Long Trips Committee

Special Projects

Kevin Chabot – For work on finding a new east end parking location for long trips

Ephraim Fernandez – For extensive work creating a Long Trips COVID protocol

Russ Harding – For work researching COVID testing options on long trips to fulfill the Canadian government’s requirement of a PCR test prior to returning to Canada. And for work investigating the co-ordinating our Ikon group sales program.

Jeff Stainsby – For extensive work as part of the cross-country team

Lifetime Achievement

Bishu Basuroy – For his long time contributions to the club in a multiple roles over the years

Catherine Basuroy – For her long time contribution in responding to emails to Downhill daytrips portfolio

Bill Bates – For his long time role as Director of Long Trips.

In addition to a certificate each winner also receives a dollar credit on their HPSC account in appreciation of all of their work.

Congratulations and thank you to all of the winners!

And again thank you to all of our volunteers! 

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club

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Long Trips Still Available!

Our members want to travel!  The August sign up night was a success. I am happy to say that within a few days of selling out the first trip to Club Med Serre Chevalier in France, we were able to add a new trip the week before the first trip.  Members on the waitlist were given first choice on the trip and this trip is also now full.  For the Whistler trip, our tour operator opened an online payment portal to simplify the payment process and keep your data secure.  HPSC worked with the tour operator to test out this new process.  Adding a new trip with Merit Travel and implementing a new payment portal for Skican trips would not have been possible without the close partnerships we have with our tour operators. 

Don’t miss the upcoming dates for sign up:

Open now – Jackson Hole, Whistler, and Club Med Charlevoix, Quebec – some spots still available.   Look on the website for the detailed descriptions of these awesome destinations. 

Thursday, September 22 – 8 pm – Registration opens for charter trips to Banff, Sun Peaks and Jasper

Thursday, October 13 – 8 pm – Registration opens for bus trips to Tremblant (3 trips), Holiday Valley, Killington, Orford, and Jay Peak.

Once trips are open for registration, they will stay open until they are full or until the space must be released.  Sign up early so you don’t miss your chance to enjoy your mountain adventure! 

Reminder – to register for any trip you need to be a current member of the club.  If you registered for one of the trips in the first sign up in August, if you have not done so yet you MUST renew your club membership by tomorrow, September 15, to retain your spot on the trip. After September 15 if you have not renewed your club membership your spot may be released and you will lose your deposit. Do You Have a Ski Pass?

The ski pass world that has evolved over the past few years has resulted in higher demand for some destinations and unfortunately high lift ticket prices.  The good news is that requiring registration for some destinations and increasing the lift ticket prices, will result in a better experience on the slopes without huge crowds.  

If you already have a ski pass that covers the destination, you do not have to pay for lift tickets.  With the lift ticket component removed, below is a quick comparison of our remaining HPSC charter trips, all in CAD$ (including all taxes and fees).  

Trip costs without lift tickets (Lift ticket costs and Land only options available) 

Jackson Hole: $1,705 (Single supplement add $515)

Whistler:        $2,060 (Single supplement add $1,160)

Sun Peaks:    $1,920 (Single supplement add $615)

Banff:             $1,555 (Single supplement add $749)

Jasper:           $1,740 (Single supplement add $595) 

Full prices including lifts tickets, and land only pricing are available on the website. 

COVID update – If you sign up for a long trip (charter or bus) you will be required to meet the government guidelines in effect at the time of travel in Canada and at your destination country.  This may mean providing proof of vaccination and booster status.  Masks will be required on the bus portion of trips.  HPSC recommends that you ensure you have adequate medical and cancellation insurance and carefully review the dates and limitations on refunds.

Kim Wiebe

Director of Long Trips