Blue Mountain (Resort) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Blue Mountain is an alpine

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

,
just northwest of Collingwood

Collingwood, Ontario

Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay.-History:...

. It is situated on a section of the Niagara Escarpment

Niagara Escarpment

The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...

about 1 km (0.6 mi.) from Nottawasaga Bay

Nottawasaga Bay

Nottawasaga Bay is a bay of Lake Huron in Ontario, at the southernmost end of Georgian Bay. Communities on Nottawasaga Bay include Meaford, Collingwood and Wasaga Beach....

, and is a major destination for skiers from southern

Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...

Ontario. On average, Blue Mountain sells more than 750,000 lift tickets per year, making it the third-busiest ski resort in Canada, after Whistler-Blackcomb

Whistler-Blackcomb

Whistler Blackcomb is a major ski resort located 125 km north of Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. By many measures it is the largest ski resort in North America; it is 50% larger than its nearest competitor in terms of size, has the greatest uphill lift capacity, and until 2009, had...

in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

and Mont Tremblant

Mont Tremblant Resort

Mont Tremblant Ski Resort is a year-round resort in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, about 130 km northwest of Montreal. It is best known as a ski destination, but also features a lake suitable for swimming and two golf courses in the summer months...

in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. It is one of the largest resorts in Ontario and has been extensively built out, featuring 36 runs, 15 chairlift

Chairlift

An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...

s and 3 freestyle

Freestyle skiing

Freestyle skiing is form of skiing which used to encompass two disciplines: aerials, and moguls. Except the two disciplines mentioned earlier Freestyle Skiing now consists of Skicross, Half Pipe and Slope Style...

terrains. Majority-owned by Intrawest

Intrawest

Intrawest ULC is a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company...

since 1999, the resort has recently undergone major renovations, including new high-speed lifts and a new "village" similar to those built at Tremblant and Whistler at its base. The local area forms the newly incorporated town of The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, Ontario

The Blue Mountains is a town in Grey County, southwestern Ontario, Canada, located where the Beaver River flows into Nottawasaga Bay. It is named for the Blue Mountains, and hence the economy of the town is centered around tourism, particularly on the Blue Mountain ski resort and the private...

, Ontario.

History

Jozo Weider was born in Žilina

Žilina

Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a...

in 1908, in what was then Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

present day Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. In his twenties, he built a ski chalet in the Carpathian mountains

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

and lived as an innkeeper, mountain guide and photographer through the 1930s. He also travelled abroad to England to promote the chalet, and was on such a trip in 1939 when World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

opened. He telegrammed his wife, Helena, who was still in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

to leave the country. She met Jozo in England with their son, and the family applied for political asylum. The entire family emigrated to Canada later that year, settling in Peace River, Alberta

Peace River, Alberta

Peace River is a town in northwestern Alberta, Canada, situated along the banks of the Peace River, at its confluence with the Smoky River, the Heart River and Pat's Creek. It is located northwest of Edmonton, and northeast of Grande Prairie, along Highway 2. The Peace River townsite is nearly ...

. Later that year Jozo travelled east, working a seasonal job at the Chateau Frontenac

Château Frontenac

The Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...

as a ski instructor. The next year he moved the entire family to Quebec

Quebec

, working at the Alpine Inn in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson.

While working there he met Peter Campbell who was involved in developing ski areas in Collingwood, and the two started a partnership to develop Blue Mountain. Development started in 1941, with the Weider family moving into an existing farm at the base of the escarpment. The family farmed the fields around the base of the hill during the summers. Weider built a small chalet at what is now the north end of the hill, the "Blue Mountain Lodge", and started clearing trails by hand. A single lift consisted of two sleds pulled up the hill by a cable running on the ground and powered by a truck engine, serving three runs, "Schuss", "Granny" and "Kandahar'. At the time Collingwood was primarily a shipbuilding and apple growing region, and had limited tourist access via road, so the first skiers arrived via train at the nearby Craigleith station.

In 1948 Weider signed an agreement with the Toronto Ski Club and the Blue Mountain Ski club, giving them a 999 year lease for chalet areas just south of the Lodge. Later that year he purchased another 150 acre (0.607029 km²) farm to the south, opening that area as the Apple Bowl. The next year the barn on the new land was turned into "The Ski Barn", and became the hill's primary day lodge, drawing the centre of the hill to the south. Weider later sold the Lodge, using the money to fund the purchase of a poma lift which replaced the original sleds between Schuss and Granny in 1955. In 1959 the "Old South Chair" opened at the extreme south end of the hill, the first chair lift in Ontario. The skiable area now covered the entire two and half mile frontage the hill still has to this day, although the most southern 50 acres (202,343 m²) have been closed for extended periods. During development Weider noticed that the soil was mostly clay, and started a hobby making ceramics, which later developed into Blue Mountain Pottery

Blue Mountain Pottery

Blue Mountain Pottery was a Canadian pottery company located in Collingwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1947 by Jozo Wieder and closed in 2004. Originally producing hand painted ski motifs on purchased blanks, production of the red clay items started in 1953-1954. It went on to produce various...

.

Improving economics combined with dramatically improved ski equipment turned skiing into a major sport for the first time in the 1960s. To serve the growing market, a new twenty room Inn was opened near the Ski Barn. In 1966 Weider sold Blue Mountain Pottery and used the money to fund a major expansion, adding three double chairs and replacing the Barn with the new "Central Base Lodge". Weider died in 1971, before the mountain was fully developed. After his death control passed to his son, George. George later became Chairman, and passed day-to-day management to Jozo's son-in-law, Gordon Canning.

The 1970s were a period of major expansion. In 1973 a major snowmaking system was installed, and a ski rental/repair facility was added to the Base Lodge, while a new South Base Lodge was built to spread out the facilities. By the end of the decade there were 17 lifts serving the hill; 3 triple chairs, 5 double chairs, 6 pomas, one T-bar and a rope tow.

In 1977 they added the Blue Mountain Slide Ride ("Alpine Slide Ride" in recent documents) in order to provide summer income. The Slide Ride consisted of a 2000 feet (609.6 m) long mini-bobsled track with sleds on Teflon runners or a single wheel. Riders used the Inn Triple lift to bring themselves and their sled to the top of the hill, selecting one of two tracks to run back down. Speed was controlled with a lever that pressed the wheel down onto the track, doing so lifted the nose off the Teflon runners and increased speed. The Alpine Slide Ride was retired after the 1998-99 winter season.

In 1979 lighting was added on the "Big Baby" and "O-Hill" runs for night skiing, which has since been expanded to major portions of the hill. In 1980 the resort added the Slipper Dipper Water Slide, intertwined with the Slide Ride, and this was expanded again in 1984 with a tube ride

Tubing (recreation)

Tubing is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donuts" or "biscuits" due to their shape.-Water:Tubing on water generally consists of two forms: towed and free-floating, also...

. The tube ride was replaced in 1997 with the Raft Rider, a similar waterslide.

In 1980, Blue Mountain purchased Georgian Peaks Club

Georgian Peaks Club

Georgian Peaks is a private alpine ski resort located on the Niagara Escarpment just outside Thornbury, Ontario. It has the highest vertical drop of any resort in Ontario, at 820 feet , enough to allow it to host official FIS-standard slalom races...

, a smaller ski club just northwest of Blue Mountain that had the highest vertical drop in Ontario. Consisting mostly of advanced terrain, the Peaks is the only ski area in Ontario with enough vertical to host a full-sized international Slalom

Slalom skiing

Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...

course. Shuttle buses were available to move between the two base areas, and a single lift ticket was good at both hills. This experiment was apparently unsuccessful, and the Peaks went fully private again on 29 June 1987.

In 1981 attention moved to the north end of the hill again with the completion of the Blue Mountain Inn, a major new development near the original Lodge. The central Base Lodge underwent a major facelift in 1988, and the South Base Lodge was similarly upgraded around this time. Through the 1980s and 90s the resort retained this basic layout, with Inn being a major focus of activity at the north end of the hill. The "Coors Silver Bullet" high-speed four-person chairlift was added at the Base Lodge area to improve congestion during peak times, but lift lines remained long over much of the hill and were indicated by delay boards at the base of the lifts.

Recent developments

In 1999 Intrawest Corporation

Intrawest

Intrawest ULC is a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company...

purchased a 50% interest in the ownership of Blue Mountain, sparking off a major expansion process. Drawing development to the middle area again, four high speed six-passenger chairlifts have been installed, one of these replacing the original Silver Bullet, and the other three spread out over the hill. Uphill capacity was dramatically increased with these expansions, and congestion in the lift lines has been greatly reduced. The ski runs north of Happy Valley are owned by the Toronto Ski Club rather than Blue Mountain Resorts, but are managed by Blue Mountain for the TSC.

More dramatic is the development of the Blue Mountain Village area at the Base Lodge. Once again drawing the focus of the hill southward, the Village contains a number of condominiums, hotels, a conference centre, restaurants and other shops and services. Based on a European ski resort theme, the Village is similar to the expansions Intrawest has carried out at its other ski destinations, modelled on the original development at Whistler-Blackcomb

Whistler-Blackcomb

.

Blue Mountain also offers downhill mountain biking in the summer months, with bikes and riders taken up hill in gondolas and racks mounted on the Silver Bullet Express. The riders can then choose from 15 different trails which will take them back down to the base of the hill. In the summer months Blue Mountain also maintains a climbing wall

Climbing wall

A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors as well. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used is a thick multiplex board with holes drilled...

, hiking trails, a private beach, a small water park and has also begun construction on a miniature golf course at the base of the hill scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2011.

In 2009, Blue Mountain started construction on the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster, Ontario's first Alpine Coaster and the latest year-round addition to the Resort's seasonal attraction plan. The coaster is located in the central area of the resort, near the Silver Bullet Express chairlift. The Ridge Runner officially opened on weekends beginning March 18, 2011 after months of anticipation from resort guests, staff and management. Members of the media and the first 200 guests to arrive were invited to ride the Ridge Runner for free at the Grand Opening on June 10, 2011.

Capable of achieving speeds up to 42 km/h, the 1,085m Alpine Coaster track slides over bumps, twists through corkscrews and zigzags through the trees of the Niagara Escarpment

Niagara Escarpment

The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...

covering 475 vertical metres. The carts are capable of holding two people at a time, and riders can use a manual brake to control their speed as they descend the track.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Recent developments

See also

External links