If you are doing the same things for a while – it’s time to try something new. Life is a constant change management. In any change – there are always new opportunities. Downhillers and boarders went to snowshoe and cross country skiing last weekend for our Annual traditional cross over day. Oh what fun! Snowshoeing is the fastest growing winter sport. It’s a very peaceful and the least expensive winter sport activity.
We are at the peak of the season right now, our overnight trips are departing, we are glad to see our members happy pictures posted on Facebook group. Our day trips are busy. Life is good with High Park Ski Club! Keep calm and ski or ride or snow shoe on!
Cancelling from a trip is no fun. You miss out on a great time and have to stay at home to deal with your injury, illness or whatever. Our cancellation policies have not changed in many years but they might not be familiar to new members. The policies were set up to be fair to all members and respect the financial responsibilities of the club.
The first step in cancelling is to notify the Trip Leader
in writing as soon as you decide. You must get a reply back from the TL
acknowledging your cancellation. This sets the ball rolling to find a replacement
for your seat and the amount of refund you’ll receive.
In all cases, the non-refundable $100 deposit is
non-refundable. This is the deposit you initially make to register for a trip.
Refund For Overnight Trips
The refund you’ll receive depends on the date you cancel.
If you cancel any time before 45 days from departure, you’ll get a full refund
of the Stage-2 payment. Between 45 and 8 days, the refund amount is the Stage-2
payment less $100… provided a replacement is found for your seat. Without a replacement
there is no refund. But it is rare that a replacement is not found because the very
next member to register becomes your replacement. So the earlier you cancel the
greater the likelihood of a replacement. Within 7 days, there is no refund at
all. Even if you are replaced in the last week there is no refund of any
amount. The policy is on the website click here
and applies to everybody without exception. Refunds will be returned to the
card used for payment and could take 2-3 weeks depending on the speed of your
own bank to credit it.
Refund For Charter Trips
Refund policies are set by the tour operators and not by
HPSC. Generally here is how they work. The first deposit of around $500 when
you registered is not refundable. Plus if you purchased cancellation insurance
from the tour operator, that payment is also not refundable. A cancellation after
the date for the balance payment, then the total amount of the trip is not
refundable. Each trip will have a different cancellation policy as listed in
the detailed description pages.
Insurance
HPSC has always strongly recommended that you have trip
insurance. Members are responsible for arranging their own trip cancellation and
medical insurance as the club cannot do it for you. Some members purchase an
annual policy, some purchase just for one trip and some rely on their credit
card benefits. Some members don’t buy any insurance feeling that they can
assume all the risk themselves.
Cancellation insurance allows you to be reimbursed if you
get sick or injured before the trip. Medical insurance covers if you get
injured during the trip. Keep in mind that the Ontario Government has stopped
paying for out of Province medical. If you are on a US trip, it is foolhardy to
go without insurance as a minor injury will be expensive, but a major injury will
cost thousands.
If you have to make an insurance claim, you can retrieve
your invoices from the website to attach to your claim form. Login, click on
your name, click on ‘Invoices and Payments’ and scroll down. If your insurance
company requires a letter from HPSC to justify the claim, just ask the TL and
it will be provided. All insurance claims must be made by the participant to their
own insurance company.
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!
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.
With the growth in our membership, our trips are extremely popular and have been selling out early – even earlier than last year!
We are using wait lists this year. This accomplishes two things:
There are often cancellations up to Wednesday 8pm before the trip. If someone cancels, the first first person on the waitlist will be moved onto the trip to fill the spot. There are often many cancellations and many members get on trips this way.
This allows the Director to evaluate if there is enough interest to pay for a second bus. If yes, we’ll add it! Usually a decision on a second bus is made early in the week before the trip, or earlier if enough people are on the wait list.
How does the wait list work?
Click “join wait list” on the registration page.
Fill out all your information. You will not be charged for the trip at this time.
You will receive a confirmation email that outlines what happens when you are offered a spot.
When you are moved onto the trip, you will be sent a registration pending payment email stating that you have 24 hours to pay or you will be deleted. You do not have a seat until you pay! Given the popularity of our trips, we are strict about the 24 hour time frame.
Log in to your account at hpsc.ca and pay the invoice. Welcome to the trip!
IMPORTANT: On Thursday morning before the trip, all payment pending registrations as well as the wait list will be deleted. Any open spots will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
If you are on the wait list, be sure to pay right away to avoid disappointment. We thank our members for their cooperation; this system we feel is both fair to members and minimizes the work of our wonderful volunteers.
See you on the trails!
Pay right away if you want to be on fun day trips!
Our members know how well our club is run. They see it on every day trip. That’s because we have awesome volunteers dedicated to making sure our trips go on without a hitch!
You’ll find bus captain Paul on duty on Sundays.
We’re seeing big growth in our cross-country community, and we have so many members keen to ski every weekend that we’re able to send two bus trips more often. This is amazing, but with two bus trips, we need two bus captains on a trip.
We have a dedicated group of bus captains, but we could use a few more to help spread out the work.
Bus captains act as the group leader of a trip. Responsibilities include:
Taking attendance on the bus and noting changes in people’s registrations
Making announcements on the bus
Ensuring that everyone who came up comes back
Buying and distributing the trail passes
Completing trip paperwork and submitting to the auditor
Being “on call” during the day – if members need help, do your best to provide it (within reason)
To be a bus captains requires only a few things from you:
Bus captain Andrew bought skate ski gear last year!
Access to a computer with internet and an ability to open Word and Excel documents
Time before the trip to organize the paperwork that is sent to you (you should be able to print off a number of documents)
Ideally a cell phone (although we can work around this)
A friendly attitude!
A willingness to pay for the trail passes on a credit card (which will be reimbursed to you after the trip)
Bus captain Anna is always a friendly face on the trails!
We value our volunteers and, as a thank you, bus captains receive complimentary bus and trail fees on the trip they are working.
If you are interested, please let us know at crosscountry@hpsc.ca. Don’t worry – we will provide you with training materials and have you shadow an experienced bus captain before you do a solo trip.
Double Double is our annual tradition with lessons in the morning and in the afternoon
After the extreme weather conditions, and day trips cancellations last weekend with safety of our members being the top priority for the club, we are announcing a new date for our Annual Tradition: Double Double with lessons in the morning and in the afternoon. New date is Saturday February 8 at MSLM. Register early, we will have double double buses and drive up spots available based on your interest.
Ski trip is the closest emotionally to the trip back to careless childhood, when we could spend the whole day in the snow and show up just for dinner – soaking wet, with sleds or skis, mittens or scarf lost & fond… although we were so happy, with the eyes sparkling and the cheeks blushing & shining like McIntosh Red apples. And after the dinner (that tasted the most delicious) always followed equally delicious deep sleep until alarm for the next snow play day.
This is how we felt during Jasper trip. Riding to the Marmot mountain in the yellow school bus, via narrow snowy roads among the tall trees and big mountains, that made us feel very small, playing in the fresh fluffy snow – it was a true joy. We were blessed with mild temperature for Alberta, with sunshine, stunning views of the mountains, people around us, with our friendship, with being in the club, living in Canada.
View from the hot tub in Jasper Fairmont Lodge
While we had 6 days lift tickets to ski, we also gave ourselves licence to chill, to take mindfulness walks in the mountains, on the trails, to connect with nature, with wilderness of the National Park. At some point we’ve counted over 30 elks, patiently waiting for the CN trail to pass. Mindfulness walks on the last and first days of the year and the decade were spiritual experience – to take our time reconnect with ourselves. We are adventures ready, bring them on – 2020!
Stella, HPSC Volunteer Jasper Trip Leader & Iuliana, HPSC Volunteer Social Director
First of all thank you for joining our club. We realize that there are many procedures and
policies that are new to you, so hopefully this list will answer a number of
your more common questions.
TRIP REGISTRATION: Trips available for registration are found on the calendar (or list if you prefer list mode) on the Downhill Daytrips Registration page (Link below). The upcoming trips will also be listed at the bottom of the HPSC homepage.
BUS vs. DRIVE UP: There are two “Events” listed per trip. One will have the word BUS in the title; the other will have the words DRIVE UP. If you want to take the bus, register in the BUS module. If you prefer to drive up you can, but to participate in our free HPSC Ski School lessons you MUST register in the Drive Up module (and you have to purchase your own lift ticket).
MUST BE LOGGED IN: You must be logged into the website to register for trips and to view all of the available trips.
REGISTRATION DEADLINES: Deadlines to sign up for daytrips – Thursday by 6pm for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday trips. Sunday by 6pm for Wednesday trips.
CANCELLATION DEADLINES: If you need to cancel a trip (even if you have registered as a Drive Up) you need to send an email to cancellations@hpsc.ca by 8pm Wednesday for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday trips; 8pm Sunday for Wednesday trips. Please include the trip number in subject line. Trip number is found on the registration page for each trip. Downhill daytrips will start with A (e.g. A1901), while the cross-country trips will start with an N (N1901). (Please see link below for Cancellation policy and procedure).
REFUNDS: When you cancel a trip by the deadline, a full refund will be processed.
BRING A GUEST TRIPS: On most of our daytrips we allow you to bring up to three guests. However, you must register these guests and yourself at the same time on the Wednesday and Thursday (prior to 6pm) for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday trips; and Sunday and Monday (up to 6pm) for Wednesday trips. There is a $20 per guest fee in addition to the trip costs. Guests can participate in the HPSC free lessons. But this program is only available when coming on the bus. Guests cannot be Drive-ups.
PICK UP LOCATIONS: You can get on the bus at any of the pick-up locations available for that trip. You do not have to get on at the one you registered for. For most trips the pick locations are Bloor/Indian Rd.; Yonge & Eglinton; Yonge & York Mills; 400/7. (Please see link below for all pick up locations).
ADDITIONAL PICK UP LOCATIONS ON 2 BUS TRIPS: On trips where we have added a second bus (after we have enough registrants for one bus) we also add in two additional pick up locations (Queens Quay; Liberty Village). Once again if you have registered early at one of the other pick up locations, but we have added a second bus (and the additional pick ups) and either of these is more convenient, you can get on at one of these two. Descriptions of all pickup locations are described on the website under the Our Trips page. The exact locations are also pinned to a Google map on page. (Please see link below for all pick up locations).
READ THE TRIP STATUS EMAIL YOU RECIEVE: After registering for a trip you will receive an email confirming your registration. It will include the information that is on the Trip description page where you registered. A few days prior to the trip you will also receive a Trip Status email. It is important to read this message. It will indicate if the trip is a go or cancelled. It will also provide information on the pick up times and locations being used for that trip, as well as information regarding lessons. In some instances, there may be a change (for example extreme weather) when a trip maybe cancelled after you have already received the trip status. In that instance you will receive a revised Trip Status. It is also good to check the Trip Status page on the website the night before your schedule trip. A link to the Trip Status page is located on the Downhill Daytrips Registration page (Link to Trip Status Page is below).
NO LESSONS IF TRIP IS CANCELLED: If the bus trip does not run, there are no lessons even for drive-ups
SHOW UP EARLY AT YOUR PICK UP LOCATION: Please arrive at your pick up location at least 5-10 minutes prior to the listed time. And be prepared to board the bus when it arrives. The bus drivers, and HPSC volunteer bus captains, will check to see if anyone is rushing to get to the bus at the scheduled departure time and wait, but they need to stick to the schedule as close as possible. Especially at the Yonge/Eglinton stop since due to the ongoing LRT construction, our bus stops in a TTC bus stop location, and we need to load and leave as quick as possible to our scheduled time.
WHEN ARE WALK ONSALLOWED: If there are seats left on the bus you can “walk on” if the trip status states Walk Ons are allowed and at what pick up locations. There is a Walk On fee of $10.
MUST REGISTER FOR LESSONS: Ski school plans for the number of students based on the number of registrations for the bus and drive-ups at the time of the deadline (Thursday or Monday night). If you are not registered for a lesson you will not be able to participate in a lesson.
MUST WEAR A HELMET IN LESSONS: When taking one of the HPSC Ski School lessons you MUST wear a helmet.
LINE UP FOR LESSONS: Line up for lessons is 10 minute prior to the start of lessons. This allows the Ski School to arrange the classes. You must be ready to start at the time of the lesson.
You might have heard about the fun on our Wednesday trips to private ski clubs but haven’t had a chance to experience it since instruction is usually restricted to intermediate and advanced skiers only. However, as a special event for HPSC members newer to the sport we have opened up registration for the Wednesday trip on February 12th to Mansfield Ski Club to all levels and will be providing instruction for all STEPs.
If you are just a beginner and want to experience what a private club is like, this is your opportunity to play hooky for the day and join the Wednesday HPSC crowd. Remember to bring a health snack to share on the ride home! Register here:
