Local ski resorts got the best Christmas present they could ask for yesterday — about 15 centimetres of fresh snow.
With the children on holidays and many parents taking the rest of the week off, the traffic at Snow Valley, Horseshoe and Mount St. Louis Moonstone is expected to reach a fevered pitch by week’s end, with skiers, snowboarders and other winter sport enthusiasts set to take advantage of the excellent conditions.
“This is the best day of the year for us here at the resort,” said Amber Currie, Horseshoe Resort’s director of sales, as Michael Buble’s Christmas hits filled the air next to the chalet. “Here it is, Christmas Eve, and we’re heading into one of the best holiday seasons I think we’ve had in the past couple of years at least.”
Horseshoe Resort, located about 20 minutes north of Barrie, has the majority of its runs open for both day and night use. The resort also offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snow tubing.
Mount St. Louis Moonstone, about five minutes north of Horseshoe on Highway 400, has all but one run open for day use.
Snow Valley, which is located about 10 minutes northwest of Barrie, has about half of its runs open. Like Horseshoe, Snow Valley offers snowshoeing and snow tubing in addition to skiing and snowboarding.
Horseshoe Resort is the only local resort open on Christmas Day, but all three will be open for business starting at 9 a.m. Thursday.
“It’s shaping up to be a good year,” said Karen Hoffman, Horseshoe’s snow school manager. “Our lessons over Christmas are filling up and we’ve got lots of kids in camps next week.
“We’ve been making snow for the past week and we got great natural snow last night, so we’re excited," she added.
John Ball, the general manager at Snow Valley, shares that excitement. He says the best part of the recent snowfall was that it hit Toronto.
“One of the keys to a successful year is if you have snow on the ground in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as it sparks interest,” Ball said early Tuesday morning as the parking lot at Snow Valley continued to fill up. “When you spark the interest, they’re going to come up.”
Ball is hoping folks arrive in droves — a definite change from the past couple of years.
“There are peaks and valleys and we’re coming out of the adjustment that everyone made in 2021-2022 with COVID(-19),” he said. “The numbers are there.”
Snowboarders Jay and Brittany Brownless are among them. The Barrie couple bought season passes at Horseshoe Resort.
On Tuesday morning, they were out bright and early, looking to carve up the resort’s runs with a pal.
“We bought our passes in the summer and we’ve been itching to get out since then,” said Brittany.
She was hoping the conditions on Tuesday were as good as, or better, than Monday when she hit the slopes for a few quick runs.
“It was awesome yesterday,” Brittany said. “We try to get out a few times a week and do a little bit of both daytime and night boarding.”
“It’s been pretty rare to be able to ski in Ontario at Christmas,” Jay said. “This is awesome.”
