| Snow piling up to record heights |
| By Raymond Bowe |
| Enterprise-Bulletin (Tue, January 2, 2000) |
| The fluffy white stuff is a welcome sight to winter sports
enthusiasts. However, before you can bolt down those slippery
slopes, across long stretches of back wood trails or take a leisurely
skate around the rink, you have to be able to get out of your driveway. |
| And for those who couldn't even reach the end of the lane,
a snowmobile would have come in handy. There's nothing like being
barely able to set foot outside your front door without hearing the
roaring howl of a snowmobile flying by the window. |
| "Everybody's out riding and coming in to keep their
(trail) permits updated," said Ken Ferguson, owner of Ken Ferguson
Enterprises in Nottawa. |
| Ferguson reckons that trail permits are approaching 400 for
the Collingwood snowmobile club alone, and up 30 per cent from last year
overall. |
| His business also operates three trail groomers across the
region which are on the beaten track night and day. Other activities
related to the snowfall is servicing n sleds to keep them operational. |
| "(The recent snowfall)" has made it take a whole
lot longer to clear the ice, but the cold weather helps," said
Stefanie Bond, an employee at Oakview outdoor skating rink in Wasaga
Beach. The rink has underground pipes which can keep the ice hard
and cool despite the sun beating down on it during shorter and shorter
daylight hours. |
| She added that cold temperatures do not deter people from
coming out to the rink, whether it be for a pick-up game of shinny hockey,
or practicing their figure skating pirouettes or breaking in a new pair of
skates they got over the holidays. |
| Environment Canada reports that snowfall in December, as
tallied at Wiarton and Keppel District Airport, was 175cm. The
average for December is 109 cm. But don't fret, this is nothing
according to the government office's record book, set in 1989 when frozen
precipitation rocketed to 254 cm. |
| "With our members, everyone is amazed with the
conditions," said Owen Johnston, general manger of the Toronto Ski
Club. "Sure it's been cold, but that comes with snow," he
joked. |
| "This is one of the better starts to a season,"
added Johnston, comparing this year to the past 10 years he has been
associated with the club. |
| And not only are the alpine skiers attaining nirvana, but
the cross-country skiers are too. |
| "It certainly hasn't been this good for at least four
seasons," said Nordic highlands owner Larry Sinclair.
"Conditions are tremendous. January-style skiing in December is
great, and it's enhanced people's desire to ski." |
| Talisman Mountain resort couldn't be happier with this
month's flurries. The resort is averaging a 105-cm base over various
runs, with a mixture of natural and man-made snow. According to
measurements taken at the mountain, December snowfall exceeded 90 cm. |
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