Hitting the hill one last time

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This article was published 15/04/2018 (2929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STONY MOUNTAIN — Dozens of snowboarders and skiers strapped on their equipment to go on one last shred and rip as the local ski hill opened for its final day, Sunday.

The Stony Mountain Ski Area, which opened the season Nov. 19, was able to stay open through the miracle of snow-making machines — and the not-so-nice miracle of freezing temperatures — for its second longest season ever.

“In 1997, we stayed open until April 20,” co-owner Heather Campbell-Dewar said on Sunday.

“That was the year of the big flood and after closing we went sandbagging at (a friend’s house),” she said.

Campbell-Dewar said the ski hill was closed during March break because it was too cold.

“When it is -20 C, it is like trying to groom a skating rink,” she said. “But that’s OK because this season has been the best for us in five years.”

With a huge grey beard popping out from below his helmet, you don’t have to tell 67-year-old John Stone of Winnipeg that. He has been coming to the ski area most weekends for the whole season.

“I’ve been here on weekends and I come on bonus days by myself,” he said, brandishing a huge smile under a blue sky and bright sun.

“I got my grandson out here to ski with me, and then he was looking at the boarders and I said, ‘Let’s learn how to do that together,’ and the rest is history. That was 12 years ago. And two other grandsons will be here soon.”

Stone admits that on a day like Sunday he will stick to the regular slopes instead of joining his grandson, and numerous other young people, to ski in the annual Slush Cup. It’s a fun competition where a person skis or boards down a slope to gain enough speed at the bottom to be able to hydroplane across a 10-metre-long puddle of water about 12 cm deep.

If you don’t have enough speed, you get wet.

“I’ll let my grandson get wet. I’m old enough to know better,” Stone said with a chuckle.

Stone’s grandson, 19-year-old Justin Stone, said he was so looking forward to the last day of boarding that he was at the hill before it opened.

“I would love it if I could do this year-round,” he said.

John Stone piped up: “That’s true: Last year the three boys were pining for winter… in July!”

Nearby, 16-year-old Asa France, of Warren, admitted Sunday was ” a sad day.”

“It’s the final day for skiing. It’s sad for me because the season is ending.”

But 13-year-old Liam Berger, of Oakbank, said while he loves getting on the slopes, even for him it’s time to close the door on winter.

“It’s time to get to spring and summer,” Berger said. “I was able to get here twice this winter, but I was at Springhill almost every day.”

As Campbell-Dewar prepares to close the hill, she also is thinking of the next season.

“But it’s nice to have one more day with the sun shining. It is a beautiful day,” she said. “It is nice to have that as your final memory of the season. And then you say, that’s it, lets get the bikes out.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca