By Lawrence Loiseau
Mt. Timothy Ski Area is well prepared for the 2016/17 winter season.
Slopes are scheduled to open Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. and will run to around 3:30 p.m. daily.
Ski Area general manager Caroline Sherrer says everything on the hill is going excellently for opening day.
“The snow is awesome right now. People don't realize that as soon as you turn off of Mt. Timothy Road, the snow really accumulates at a much higher rate.”
“So we're looking really good. We have a couple of feet up top and I don't think we're going to have any problems on opening day.”
The hill's readiness derives largely from its summer preparation, its renewed easy-to-navigate website and a new fundraising campaign.
“We've had a really aggressive slope brushing program this summer – an all-volunteer effort. We probably got over a 1,000 volunteer work hours on slope brushing alone.
“So, the runs are looking a lot better than they have in a long time. This also allowed us to open much earlier.”
Mt. Timothy's revamped fundraising program is called the “My Mt. Timothy Sponsorship Program.”
“Our season pass holders and our season pass revenue are almost double [from last year].
“We take our donations through the National Sport Trust Fund, and the national sport trust fund is great to donate through because they provide a charitable receipt.”
Anyone interested in donating or viewing its sponsorship program in more depth can visit: http://www.skitimothy.com/explore-timothy/support-us/.
Such fundraising prowess has helped smooth the way for many additional improvements, having a new Internet system installed.
“We got new Internet set up here through CP Electronics because our satellite Internet did not allow us to have webcams.
“That was one of our problems last year as we were trying to overcome a lot of, I guess, rumors that the conditions were not good on the hill. So, I really felt web cams would be the best way to deal with that.”
The webcams allow for live time weather reports.
In other news, Mt. Timothy is scheduled to host its first Nancy Greene Ski Race on Jan. 15 – World Snow Day. While details have to be finalized, the race will include participation from neighbouring hills and it will be managed mostly by volunteers.
Mt. Timothy offers both ski and snowboard instruction lessons during its opening week. The lessons train individuals to teach Level 1 skiing and snowboarding. At the time of this article, both courses still had openings available.
Snowboard instruction lessons via the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors (CASI) will take place on Dec. 16-18.
It will be followed by three days of instruction by Canadian Ski Instructors Association (CSIA) on Dec. 19-21.
Registration can be attained through the Mt. Timothy's online calendar. These will direct you to the CASI and CSIA links respectively.
For more information on this upcoming season, Mt. Timothy's website is www.skitimothy.com.