As the temperature starts to drop, and the forecast already calling for snow in some northern locales, outdoor winter sports enthusiasts and related businesses are starting to prepare for the season ahead.
Work at Laurentian Ski Hill in North Bay is well underway.
General Manager, Cam Graham, is looking forward to a busy year.
"We've already done quite a bit outdoors. The lift is essentially ready to go now, the chairs are on it, in fact, all three lifts are ready to go. We're still cutting some of the grass, and doing some weed whacking, so when we start making our snow, we're not putting it on top of scrub. So as much as we'd like a little snow in the air, we still have a lot of work to do outside."
Truckloads of fill are being used to prepare different parts of the hill.
"We've cut a little bit of a new run and we're modifying Omischl to be more of a freestyle run."
Work is also underway inside the lodge.
"We're trying to make our cafe up here a little more friendly. We're adding sinks with a proper hand wash station so we can serve a little more food than we have, things like chili and panini. The lower lodge is still our main restaurant. We just want an option, especially for beginners who don't go to the bottom of the hill right off the bat."
The hill just held a job fair to fill indoor and outdoor positions, from snowmaking and lift positions, to shop and sales staff.
"We end up with a staff of approximately 80 to 100. A lot of instructors are coming back, but we always lose some because they go off to college or university. We applaud that but it means we need more instructors. Our instructors limit how many programs we can run, so we're always looking for instructors."
Last year the hill opened the weekend prior to Christmas.
"Even if it's only the one run, we will start with that, but again we like to have our two major runs open right off the bat, and then we start working on making our training park go after that, and we spread out from there. To be fully open we would like for it to be in early January, last year it was about mid-January."
The hill remains popular with schools and people looking for quick day trips.
"We work with lots of different schools in town, we still have room for more schools. And Sudbury has always supported us very well. Sudbury is actually expanding their hill this year, they're getting a brand new lift at Adanac, and that should hopefully create more skiers and snowboarders to come out of Sudbury. People like to use different terrains," said Graham.
"The joy of our hill is people can come here in the evenings and on weekends. And for the local kids, it's close enough that they can hop on a city bus to get here. So that's why we've put out so many great snowboarders and skiers."
The hill has been making memories for over nine decades.
