THUNDER BAY — Downhill skiers and snowboarders in Thunder Bay have the distinction of being the first people in the province to enjoy the new season at a resort.
The Mount Baldy Ski Area opened on the weekend, thanks to what co-owner Daniel Kardas described as a lot of hard work.
"We made snow with that little opportunity that we had. It hasn't really been cold...We just took advantage of the nights that were cold, and hammered out some snow, and made it the first ski resort in Ontario to be open."
Only the bunny hill is currently ready for use.
But that was fine for skiers and snowboarders who told a Dougall Media reporter they'd been waiting since last spring to get back onto the slopes.
"It's really good. Otherwise I'd just be sitting at home on a rainy day, so it's good to get outside. They put a lot of effort into putting the rails up on the first day. Not many ski areas will do that, so it's really awesome," one snowboarder said.
Kardas said because of milder weather in the forecast this week, he's unsure when the other runs might be open.
"Generally at Mount Baldy it's a little colder, which is a bonus. We have more snow than anywhere else. Hopefully it's not going to melt. We should be good for next weekend, 100 per cent, and then we have a couple of piles that we've made, a reserve if we needed it. If it did melt this week we could push it around, make it another weekend next week. Hopefully we get some cold temps. Once we get rolling, we want to just hammer out 24 hours a day with these snowmakers."
He said the owners made a number of improvements at the resort over the summer, including a couple of new runs on the mountain, "so I think people will be stoked to check it out."
