Posts

Posted on

2024 Cross-Country Long Trips

We’ve got lots of great choices for our Cross-Country and Snowshoe members this coming year!

Featured Charter

  • Silver Star, BC – Cross-Country/Downhill Combo, Vance Creek Condos: March 4 to 11. This HPSC favourite has 105 km of XC ski trails where you can ski from the door. Snowshoeing and ice skating are also available.

Overnight Bus Trips

  • Ottawa-Gatineau – Holiday Inn: February 16 to 19 – Enjoy 200 kms of ski trails by daily HPSC coach or skate the Rideau Canal.
  • Tremblant, Combo trip – Holiday Inn: February 4-9 – Enjoy cross-country skiing at: Tremblant resort (12km), Domain St. Bernard, (32 km), P’tit Train du Nord (29 km), Tremblant National Park (43 km).
  • Quebec City, Combo trip – Stay at the lovely Manoir Victoria: March 10-15 (March Break) and enjoy the cross-country ski areas of Mt Ste. Anne (176 km), Le Massif (32 km), and Camp Mercier (70 km).

Other Charter trips where XC skiing is available:

You can sign up on any of the following downhill trips by choosing the ‘No Lifts’ option.

Note: Since they are not featured as XC trips, there may be no other cross-country skiers on these trips. These locations are best suited for members who are comfortable skiing on their own, in a small group, or plan to enjoy both downhill and cross-country skiing. Trail passes must be purchased by the member.

  • Red Mountain, BC – January 20-27 – 50 km of trails within a 25 minute walk from hotel, local shuttle available on some days (TBD)
  • Sun Peaks, BC 1 – January 27- February 3 – 30 km of ski trails, ski from the door and take the lift to the start of the cross-country trails
  • Winter Park Hotel Colorado, USA – February 3-10 – 200 km of ski trails at Snow Mountain Ranch and 120 km at Devil’s Thumb Ranch. Note that these locations are a 20 – 40 minute drive away and would require a vehicle rental.
  • Banff, AB 1 – February 10 -17 – 13 km accessible from town of Banff. Rent a vehicle for other trails.

Posted on

Calling All Prospective Trip Leaders for the2023-2024 Snow Season!

The Long Trips Committee is looking for members interested in being considered for leadership positions on the long trips scheduled from January to April 2024. 

Over the past 7 decades, HPSC has refined the trip running process and experienced Trip Leaders (TLs)  will train and mentor new TLs. TLs receive partial compensation for their trip after all of their post-trip responsibilities are completed.

Successful TLs are members who have been on at least a few HPSC long trips and have an interest in leading a long trip. They are basically proficient in MS Word and Excel, have good attention to detail, are organized and communicate well. The TL is the face of HPSC and as an ambassador, performs a key function that helps define and maintain the HPSC brand.

Interested members should indicate their interest in an email sent to longtrips@hpsc.ca with a copy to ephraim.fernandez@gmail.com

The Long Trips Committee thanks all those members who consider leading a long trip and particularly all those members who apply this year.

Posted on

President’s Message – Only 65 days!

Hi all!

While the fall seems so far away, for your Board of Directors it is actually very close. Membership renewal opens in just 65 days! The summer is the time we do a lot of planning and discussion for the coming season. And it’s the time we work on the budget for next year. Thinking about what we can do to add value or better serve our members. 

On that note, I would like to thank all of you who have responded to our Members Survey that was sent out last week. If you do not recall seeing the email, please check your junk folder or just click on this link. Your feedback is very valuable to the club. The survey is open until Thursday, July 13. As an added incentive, in addition to a draw for a free membership, we will also draw for one long trip/charter trip Front of the Line (FOTL), which allows the holder to pre-book one of the charter or long trips (along with a travel partner). I will provide some of the highlights of the research results later in the summer in SnoBiz and at the AGM in September.

One item that comes up regularly is the desire for more overnight and charter trips. This year we have attempted to provide for just that. However, one of the constraints to running more trips is having qualified and experienced leaders. During COVID a number of regular leaders chose to step back or retire from the club, and we only had a few members step forward. If you are interested in being a trip leader or train as a trip leader for the future, please read the article below.  

Just as a reminder, the final deadline to register for the upcoming Frank Lloyd Wright day trip to Buffalo on July 22 is TOMORROW (July 6).  There are still about a dozen spots available. I have to confirm the numbers and pay for our tour tickets on Friday. Please ensure your passport is up to date with at least 6 months remaining on it. We will do a passport check before leaving Toronto but will not be able to delay departure from Toronto.   

On a personal note, for those who have asked, I received great news from my surgeon last week.  He said, barring any unexpected findings from a final ultrasound on my knee, there is no reason I will not be able to ski this coming season!!  As well, he cleared me to start riding my bicycle in the next week or so. I want to thank all of you who have reached out and supported me over the last 18 months since I initially tore my quad tendon. 

Looking forward to seeing many of you at our pub night this Friday at Pauper’s on Bloor!

Cheers!

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club

Posted on

Special Frank Lloyd Wright Day Trip: Deadline to register is July 6

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the 20th century’s premier architects, designing such iconic buildings as Fallingwater near Pittsburgh and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. While those are absolute must sees for any architecture buff, they are, unfortunately, a far distance from our homes here in Toronto, while two of his landmarks are just a few hours away in the Buffalo area.

For all of you HPSC architecture buffs who have not seen FLW’s Buffalo masterpieces, this is your chance to do so. HPSC has arranged for a day trip on Saturday, July 22 to visit and tour both the Darwin Martin House complex and Graycliff just outside of Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie.

The cost of this day trip is only $145 Canadian (which covers the club for the ticket costs and exchange rate as well as our credit card fees) and also includes a boxed lunch provided by the café on the grounds of the Darwin Martin House.

Attridge Coachlines, our bus company, is providing the bus free of charge as a thank you to HPSC as a loyal client, so there are is no minimum number of participants to achieve. Therefore the trip is guaranteed to run. 

Since we have to confirm the numbers with the Martin House on July 7, the hard deadline to register is Thursday, July 6.  This trip is open to non-members and guests, so if you know anybody who would be interested please let them know. 

For full details and to register please click here

Posted on

Long Trips Announcement!

Start planning now to sign up for our exciting 2024 season!  This year, to minimize charter trip waiting lists on the most popular weeks and destinations, there are multiple options.  For overnight bus trips, we have a mix of weekend and midweek overnight trips, with something to please everyone. 

A trip to Japan is also in the works.  Please stay tuned for an early sign-up date once the trip details are finalized.

2024 Charter Trips 

Japan (Tokyo and Niseko)  – Jan 11-21 (TBC)
Peisey Vallandry, France – Club Med – (Les Arcs/La Plagne Paradiski) –
Jan 20-28
Red Mountain, BC – Josie Hotel – Jan 20-27
Sun Peaks, BC – Cahilty Lodge (hotel + kitchenette units) – Jan 27-Feb 3
Panorama, BC – Approach Hotel (new) – Feb 3-10
Winter Park, Colorado, USA – Vintage Hotel – Feb 3-10
Banff, AB – Banff Aspen Lodge – Feb 10-17
Sun Peaks, BC – Grand Hotel – March 3-10
SilverStar, BC Cross Country or Downhill – Vance Creek Condos –
March 4-11
Banff, AB – Banff Aspen Lodge – MARCH BREAK – March 9-16

2024 Overnight Bus Trips

Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – Dec 15-17, 2023
Holiday Valley, NY, USA – Microtel – Jan 12-14
Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – Feb 4-9
Quebec City, QC – Manoir Victoria (ski Mont Ste Anne, Le Massif and Stoneham) – MARCH BREAK – March 10-15
Killington, VT, USA – Killington Grand – studio kitchenettes and hotel –
March 17-22
Mont Tremblant, QC – Holiday Inn – March 22-24
Le Massif, QC – Club Med Charlevoix – March 24-29

Trip Sign-up Nights will be as follows:

Thursday, August 24 – Club Med Europe and Charlevoix
Thursday, Sepember 28 – Charters
Thursday, October 26 – Overnight bus trips

Posted on

Summer Social Events

Historic East End Walk

On June 17 from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm, join your HPSC friends for some fun in the sun viewing murals and places of historic interest in the end end with a lunch stop at Messini Greek Restaurant on the Danforth. Lunch is at your own cost. The walk will be approximately 2.5 to 3 hours and will be led by Dave Flowers. Register here.

Pub Night at Paupers Pub

On July 7, drop in anytime from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm to join your HPSC friends for a casual pub night at Paupers Pub! Food and drinks are at your own cost. Guests are more than welcome. If you have an HPSC shirt, we recommend wearing it so you can help fellow members locate the HPSC group. In order to accommodate numbers, please register here.

Posted on

President’s Message – Enjoying the Summer!

It seems like just yesterday we were at the National Yacht Club for election night. But that was almost six weeks ago! While we took a short break in May from SnoBiz, your Board has been busy in other ways. We are currently working on a variety of things for next season and on ways to attract even more members. 

One item that I am personally working on is a Members’ survey to help with planning for next year – please look for the survey invite sometime later this month. Your responses are of great value to the club. 

Over the summer while you are enjoying other activities, we are hoping that you will still want to keep in touch with your fellow HPSC members. In the next month we are having a holding a couple of social events including a historic walk of the Danforth area (June 17), as well as a drop-in pub night at Paupers Pub (Bloor/Bathurst area) on July 7. In addition, there is the special Frank Lloyd Wright day trip to Buffalo (July 22).

Please read the articles in today’s SnoBiz to get further information on what the club is up to during the summer. 

Cheers!

Justin Graham

President, High Park Ski Club

Posted on

HPSC Summer Outing – Day trip to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House and Graycliff

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the 20th century’s premier architects, designing such iconic buildings as Fallingwater near Pittsburgh and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. While those are absolute must sees for any architecture buff, they are, unfortunately, a far distance from our homes here in Toronto.  However, two of his landmarks are just a few hours away in the Buffalo area.

For all of you HPSC architecture buffs who have not seen FLW’s Buffalo masterpieces, this is your chance to do so. HPSC has arranged for a day trip on Saturday July 22 to visit and tour both the Darwin Martin House complex and Graycliff just outside of Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie. The cost of this day trip is $145 which includes a boxed lunch provided by the café on the grounds of the Darwin Martin House as well as roundtrip transportation. 

Non-members and guests are also welcome.

For full details and to register please click here.

Posted on

Ikon Pass Group Sale Extended!

Good news for any Ikon Pass procrastinators! Our Group Sale agreement (with our partner Skican) has been extended to May 5th!

If you are hesitant because you are recovering from an injury, or because you are worried you may not otherwise be able to use the pass next year, Ikon has a few different types of insurance:

Adventure Assurance lets you defer the value of your pass to the following year, so long as you defer before December 14, 2023. And it’s free and included with your pass purchase!

Pass Protection and Injury Insurance are also available. See link here for details.

Insurance is not available directly through the Group Sale. The Spot Insurance will need to be purchased directly with Ikon by calling their Customer Support Center at 888-365-IKON after you’ve purchased your pass through Skican. This can be done anytime before October 31 2023.

For further information or to participate in the Group Sale, contact Russ Harding at ikon@hpsc.ca.

Posted on

Long Trips News

The season is over, but members are already rushing to pick up Ikon passes before the price increases for our Group Sale program on May 5th. Next season promises to have more Ikon pass trips including two trips to Banff, two to Sun Peaks, the new Approach hotel in Panorama, and the lovely slope side Josie hotel, a Colorado trip and three overnight bus trips to Mont Tremblant. Other club favorites such as Club Med Europe trip, the popular new Club Med in Charlevoix, a March Break trip to Quebec City, and Holiday Valley in New York are planned. We’re also working on some overnight bus trips to the USA. Stay tuned to SnoBiz as we will announce sign up dates soon.