Friday, February 5, 2021
Hi All,
The natural snow today is making the hill look amazing. It would be perfect if there were a bunch of smiling faces on the slopes enjoying the pow. Soon!!!!! The news that students are going back to in-person learning is encouraging for many people and businesses in Ontario. It means that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we can actually see the light. I am not saying it is super bright but it is visible.
The State of Emergency and Stay at Home Order expire on Tuesday, February 9th, 2021. What will happen on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, is not certain but there is hope that some businesses will be re-opened. We are crossing our fingers that ski hills will be included in the list of businesses. If this is the case, we will get our lifts turning on Friday, February 12 so people can get on our slopes to have some fun. It is not clear what will happen if/when these two Orders are lifted. Will we go back to the regional colour zone restrictions? In which colour will Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) be classified? Will the presence of the different variants of COVID in Barrie affect all of SMDHU? Will there be new restrictions or regulations put in place by the Province or SMDHU? Unfortunately, there are still a lot of questions but it feels like the answers are actually coming.
We had a great 6 days of snow-making last week and there is enough snow to open every run except the 2 natural snow trails (The Glades and Pucker-up). Our team will be pushing the snow-making whales around early next week so that our slopes will be excellent if we can re-open next week. Once we are open, we will announce our hours of operation. We will definitely operate at least the same hours we typically operated and it is anticipated that we will operate into April as long as Mother Nature allows us to do this. The main priority is to get the lifts spinning and then we can clarify the finer details.
If February 12 is not our re-opening date, we will be looking at Friday, February 19 as the next possible date. Please continue to do your part by staying home whenever possible and do not have any parties, large or small. We miss having all of you playing on our slopes and really hope that we will see all of you very soon.
Andrew Rusynyk
General Manager
Muskoka Ski Club
Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area Inc.
O 705 789 1773 Ext 28
F 705 789 7140
www.skihiddenvalley.ca
Update – January 14th – Stay home, stay safe!