Snow starts blowing at Calabogie Peaks in preparation for season opening

CALABOGIE, ONT. -

Calabogie Peaks Resort started blowing artificial snow on Monday in preparation for the upcoming ski and snowboard season.

"We're making snow," says an excited Jim Hemlin, COO of Calabogie Peaks. "We've got a two-day window, then we're down again until this coming Saturday, then it looks like Mother Nature is going to give us some more run at it."

Hemlin says, in a perfect world, Calabogie Peaks will have runs open for skiers in the next two weeks.

With temperatures dropping as we near the end of November, the ski resort says they have more than 70 snow cannons that will start distributing snow across their hill. Hemlin says without real snowfall, it would take 50 days of non-stop blowing in -10 degree weather to have 100 per cent of the ski hill up and running.

"Snow from the heavens is gold to us, every snowflake counts," says the resort's COO. "But, typically, we have to run across the whole hill with our snow-making facilities. We put in maybe a metre to metre-and-a-half of man-made snow, and then, if Mother Nature tops it up, it just makes for fabulous ski conditions."

Hemlin adds that there is excitement from downhill enthusiasts for the season to start as well, with season pass sales up between five and 10 percent. With few restrictions left in place for outdoor recreation facilities, Hemlin is expecting a return to a relatively normal ski season.

"We're still going to have, outdoors if you can't keep two metres mask up, and lift lines mask up. But the fun is we don't have restrictions on lifts. So I think our line-ups are going to be minimal, if any, and people will be able to get a lot of runs on the mountain."