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| If you were wondering what was sparkling at MSLM last weekend… it wasn’t the freshly fallen snow, our instructors new goggles, or the smile of our Director, Laura Shepherd, excited to train with Level 4, Jason Young. No, that sparkle would have come from your instructors’ brand new uniforms, featuring our new HPSC logo! Not unlike our very popular previous uniform, it keeps the basic brand colours with a snazzy touch! We might be even more visible on the hills!! This new uniform is the result of an incredible effort from design to distribution! Kudos and thanks go to Apolonija Battiston, Kathleen McCabe, David Manning, Rocco Romeo, and Mike Romano for such a great uniform, another one which will make us proud! |
Cross-Country Ski School special programming is back
New to cross-country skiing? Our classic beginners series might be for you. Join instructor Vera (or Liora, depending on demand) for three consecutive weeks of beginner classes designed for new skiers. You will have the same instructor and classmates and learn to get moving on your skis. You must be available all three dates (January 7, 14, 21) and email crosscountry@hpsc.ca to register. If you can’t join the series, you can participate in our regular beginner lessons.
We are also offering special hill clinics that will give you more practice time than in a regular lesson. Our beginner hill clinic on January 20 will teach you to get up and down hills safely. For more advanced skiers who want to play around going faster (step turns anyone?), we are offering an intermediate/advanced hill clinic on February 4 (TBD as to whether it’s classic or skate). Sign up online during trip registration.
Also for more intermediate/advanced skiers, we are offering a classic trail handling clinic on February 24. Learn how to transition between techniques on the trail to ski smarter and faster. You will need some facility with all the main techniques – diagonal stride, double poling, one step double pole in particular. Sign up online during trip registration.
And for those who just want to get tips for a specific technique, we are offering two dates of skate and classic tips and tricks (February 10 & 24). Book 15-20 minutes with an instructor to work something specific – whatever you want! Sign up online during trip registration.
Please note that on the days we offer intermediate + clinics, we will not be offering any other intermediate/advanced lessons. We may schedule more clinics for later in the season as we assess how its going. If there is something in particular you would like a clinic on, let us know at crosscountry@hpsc.ca.
Spots on Long Trips Still Available!
March is a wonderful month to ski! Days are longer and temperatures start to warm up especially in Quebec. You can’t beat dining in Quebec City, with gourmet meals or hearty local Quebecois specialties. It’s not just a great ski vacation to Mont Ste Anne, Le Massif and Stoneham, but a wonderful dining and cultural experience.
Killington is known as the ‘The Beast of the East’ and this year the group will be together in the popular Killington Grand hotel and suites. Enjoy après-ski in the hot pools with unbeatable views of the mountain.
A very limited number of spots are still available at the Club Med Charlevoix at the end of March and for SilverStar in BC. Known as a mecca for cross-country, downhillers are also welcome for a ski in/out experience in the legendary BC interior snow.
Downhill Day Trips
| Registration for day trips on December 16th and 17th are now open! Please register at: https://hpsc.ca/downhill-trip-registration-page There will be NO LESSONS on both days. All instructors are training in Mont Tremblant that weekend. January day trips will be open for registration before the holidays. Exact date will be announced on the next SnowBiz. Our awesome volunteer, Lisa Zielger, is creating each and every registration module. For just the month of January, there are 64 registration modules! Please be patient, the day trips team will open registrations as soon as we can. We also can’t wait to register for day trips in snowy January! |
President’s Message – Go!!!
HPSC Friends,
It has finally arrived!! The day we have been looking towards since last March!
The first downhill day trip is this coming weekend! For those venturing out this weekend, please enjoy but take care and remember you likely haven’t been on your skis since last season. There is no reason to push yourself too far on your first day. I won’t be able to join you this weekend but hope to in the New Year! For our cross-country members, registration for the special New Year’s celebration at Scenic Caves on December 30 will be opening soon.
As we begin the season, please make sure to read all of the communications we send out to ensure that you have the most up to date instructions and procedures.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the First Tracks social this coming Friday!
Cheers!
Justin Graham
President, High Park Ski Club
Join cross-country skiers on long trips
There are a couple options for fun overnight ski trips for cross-country participants.
Our cross-country only February long weekend trip is headed to Ottawa and there are still spots left! Ski in beautiful Gatineau Park, participate in the loppett if you want to torture yourself, and skate on the canal! Still spots left.
There are cross-country skiers going on the Quebec City trip on March break. There aren’t many of us, so you may not have groups to ski with (just to manage expectations), but you won’t be getting dropped off and picked up alone! We are skiing at three beautiful trail systems, and you get to hang out in Quebec City in the evening. Best of both worlds! Still spots available.
Cross-country Schedule is Posted
The provisional schedule for cross-country is now posted online! It may change a bit (as it always does), but this will give you a good sense of where we are headed for the season. We begin December 30 and will end whenever the snow decides to leave us.
We have guided snowshoeing on almost every trip (thanks to our volunteer guides) and we are happy to bring back some of our special ski school programs this year. All this is indicated on the schedule.
Our awesome volunteers are starting to work on creating the registration modules. They will appear on the website as they are created (please be patient…it’s a lot of work). Registration does not open usually until a just a couple weeks before the trip (sometimes less) to give us flexibility in dealing with the weather. The first few trips will open for registration on December 18 at 9pm (if it looks like the weather is cooperating…if not, we may delay registration).
Heather Steel, Director of Cross-Country Skiing & Snowshoeing
Downhill Day Trips Schedule Posted
This season we have scheduled 52 downhill day trips and a special Family Day trip to an Ontario ski hill. Please see the full schedule on our club website: https://hpsc.ca/Downhill-Day-Trips-Schedule
Please note:
- December trips registration will open on a weekly basis prior to the trip. Each weekend trip will be dependent on weather conditions and if the ski hill is open to the public.
- January day trips registration will be posted mid-December.
- February and March day trips registration will be posted mid-January.
- For Wednesday trips to private clubs, locations may change due to ski resort operations. The registration information on the Downhill Registration Page will be most up to date.
Amy Lam, Director of Day Trips
Long Trips – What’s Available?
I was able to meet with many new and prospective members at the club’s Information Night this past Friday. There was lots of interest in our long trips so please don’t hesitate to sign up now! New members are snapping up the open spots. For some of our other trips, the due date is coming when we must release unfilled spots back to the tour operator.
Check out the trips on the HPSC website and contact the trip leader for specific questions on the trip. There is still limited space on Red Mountain, SilverStar (XC or downhill), Ottawa XC, Quebec City ski around (March break Downhill or XC), Killington Vermont, and Club Med Charlevoix /Le Massif. Join the waitlist (at no cost) if your desired trip is full. Spots can open up closer to the deadline. Kindly remove your name from any waitlists that you are no longer interested in so that those looking for a spot can get a realistic sense of how many others are ahead of them on the waitlist. When specific roommates (male or female) are needed, this will be posted on Facebook.
For those who have already paid their $100 deposit and have snagged a spot on a trip, be sure to watch for emails from your trip leader with instructions on how to pay the next deposit and final balances which may be to a tour operator or directly on the HPSC website, depending on the trip. Don’t lose your spot on a trip by missing these important notices and taking the required payment actions.
Kim Wiebe, Director of Long Trips
Cross-country ski school special programming is back
| New to cross-country skiing? Our classic beginners series might be for you. Join instructor Vera (or Liora, depending on demand) for three consecutive weeks of beginner classes designed for new skiers. You will have the same instructor and classmates and learn to get moving on your skis. You must be available all three dates (January 7, 14, 21) and email crosscountry@hpsc.ca to register. If you can’t join the series, you can participate in our regular beginner lessons. We are also offering special hill clinics that will give you more practice time than in a regular lesson. Our beginner hill clinic on January 20 will teach you to get up and down hills safely. For more advanced skiers who want to play around going faster (step turns anyone?), we are offering an intermediate/advanced hill clinic on February 4 (TBD as to whether it’s classic or skate). Sign up online during trip registration. Also for more intermediate/advanced skiers, we are offering a classic trail handling clinic on February 24. Learn how to transition between techniques on the trail to ski smarter and faster. You will need some facility with all the main techniques – diagonal stride, double poling, one step double pole in particular. Sign up online during trip registration. And for those who just want to get tips for a specific technique, we are offering two dates of skate and classic tips and tricks (February 10 & 24). Book 15-20 minutes with an instructor to work something specific – whatever you want! Sign up online during trip registration.Please note that on the days we offer intermediate + clinics, we will not be offering any other intermediate/advanced lessons. We may schedule more clinics for later in the season as we assess how its going. If there is something in particular you would like a clinic on, let us know at crosscountry@hpsc.ca.  |