Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes takes on mild winter challenge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/01/2024 (443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anyone with skis or a toboggan can tell you, there is not much snow to play with right now. But that is not stopping Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes from churning out the snowflakes using water from Falcon Lake and even expanding its winter celebrations.

The family-owned business was bustling with skiers, snowboarders and tubing enthusiasts on its soft opening Dec. 23. The ski hill and restaurant are open every day during the holiday break, including Dec. 30 when a new family-friendly, ticketed event on the lit-up tube hill and outdoor rink starting at 6 p.m. is planned.

Not all runs were open on the first day, and the 20 km of Nordic ski trails need more snow. But the Smokey Terrain Park, tubing hill and Chickadee run were available at half price to encourage visitors to enjoy what snow there was. Lessons were running on Chickadee for the first day, with a dozen new downhillers taking advantage.

Four-year-old Anja Maroti was one of them. She sped down the tubing hill. Her dad Ivan and mom Tina made the drive out from Winnipeg for their first winter weekend trip to the Falcon Lake area.

“It’s just a perfect day,” said Ivan as he watched Anja give her backward-skiing instructor Kaitlyn Podolchuk a high-five after making it all the way down the hill like a pro.

Caleigh Christie, general manager of Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes and Falcon Trails Resort, spoke to the huge effort it took by her husband and operations manager Ryan Gemmel and his crew of two to open any runs.

“We would like 10 to 12 snowmaking days prior to opening – that’s human-made snow – and we use that to cover the base of the ski hill, to build our tubing run, to build a lot of our jumps and rails,” explained Christie.

But the snow cannons only work at minus 10 degrees, and Christie said they only got that low for five days. Gemmel and crew were out there on the nights it was cold enough to get what they could covered.

“They’ve been doing the best they can and all things considered have done an amazing job because we’ve got our tubing all set up and ready to go, people have been enjoying it.

“We also have an incredible terrain park volunteer community. A lot of the riders come out and they help design the terrain park – jumps and rails,” said Christie.

Those terrain park volunteers also grab shovels and get lift tickets and lunch for their time and putting their backs into it.

Freestyle ski lessons are starting up Jan. 6, with kids as young as six learning their jumps with instructor Mark Hood. His brother Dave Hood will be teaching alpine skiing. Their dad Gord Hood was the alpine skiing instructor back when the provincial government owned the ski hill in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

The family and community connections are deeper than the snow at Falcon Ridge, even when Mother Nature cooperates.

Craig Christie and Barb Hamilton bought the hill in 1996. The next generation now operate things, with Caleigh and her husband Ryan taking over management in 2013 and her sisters Brooke running the kitchen and Emily running the rental shop and promotions.

Over those 10 years, steady improvements have been added including a yurt, adding cross-country ski programs with the Falcon Sports Club, and the annual Snowdance Festival that started on another low-snow year in January 2012. This year, the already sold-out event runs Jan. 20 to 21.

The ski hill staff has plenty of musicians on the roster, and other local Manitoba acts make the trip. There are also plenty of talented musical artists right from the region, like those collaborating on opening day whom Christie said are members of the Whiteshell Jam Group.

There will be plenty to do along with dancing. The limited snowfall is good news for turkey curlers. Falcon Lake and the other bodies of water have thickened up with ice that look like glass.

“It’s as smooth as butter. You can go anywhere,” said Christie.

Skaters were out on the lake on opening day, and curlers using literal turkeys will be out competing during Snowdance. The prize is the bird.

Snowdance sold out the first day it went on sale ahead of opening day. Christie pointed to the strong community aspect as to why that was, along with the busy business on what were not ideal snow conditions in another El Nino season.

“Looking on the bright side, look at how many people are out enjoying the warm weather, with the ice. Look at the community that’s coming together to support us. That’s what we’re seeing and that’s a really good sign of resilience.”