Manitoba steeped in skiing tradition, promise

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This article was published 15/01/2025 (246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s fair to not think of Manitoba as a destination for ski enthusiasts or a region to produce Olympic-level downhill athletes.

After all, it’s not like we have plenty of hills to descend.

But while you might not think of mountainous terrain and hitting the slopes here in Manitoba, there is, and for decades has been, a thriving scene that continues to evolve today.

Some resorts have come and gone while others have stood the test of time.

It’s true that ski hills in southwestern Manitoba are valleys, not mountains, but the two worlds are meeting and continuing to shape the future of competitive skiing.

The sport continues to evolve with the support of local hills, provincial sport organizations (PSOs), and a British Columbia based company that is helping create and educate.

HISTORY OF HOLIDAY MOUNTAIN

Manitoba, despite its terrain, has a long history of skiing.

To many, it’s an outdoor recreational activity to help pass the cold winter months living on the prairies.

That’s timeless, but for others it’s a passion that is ingrained from a young age.

Now you see long lines at hills with modern technology effecting everything from the riders and the gear they use to snowmaking and maintaining the hills themselves, but also more adventurous with growth in terrain parks.

This is where Holiday Mountain has been a leader, dating back to when the hill first opened in 1959 and to where it is today.

What started as a spur off the main rail line that ran through the Pembina Valley near La Riviere to drop off visitors who were looking for adventure, the north-facing banks of the valley provided a perfect opportunity to climb the hills and slide back down, as the early days of the area brought enthusiasts that both downhill and cross country skied through the natural trails.

The area grew, eventually becoming a fully-fledged resort complete with lodging, dining, a full rental shop, multiple lifts, and even competitive events and youth programming with high-level coaching.

When the little resort area was first opened it wasn’t much more than a place for winter enthusiasts to get outdoors.

Noel Later was looking for more than that. Later was a visionary who competed in his first ski race at six years old and is widely considered the father of skiing in Manitoba.

On top of his many accomplishments in sport he was instrumental in creating the Holiday Mountain resort that draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.

He died in 2009, and according to his obituary, he purchased the La Riviere ski hill at the age of 23 with just $13 in his pocket. He was instrumental in the creation of Canada’s accredited Ski School Program, was the first to introduce snowmaking in Canada and is widely considered the father of skiing in Manitoba.

Catherine Jordan is the Snow School Director at Holiday Mountain, responsible for ski instruction, school program bookings, and performance ski coaching.

Her father, the late George Lovell, grew up nearby and fell in love with skiing in the year Holiday Mountain first opened, coincidentally when he was 15.

While he started even before the hill was officially a ski resort, racing around the trails on his most prized childhood possession: a pair of old wood skis he made more than good use of.

That love of skiing rolled downhill, as Catherine oversees all ski-related activities at the hill today, and credits her father for igniting the passion in her.

And she still has his original wood skis.

“When he passed away a few years ago it really just floored my passion to really push it forward,” said Jordan.

Lovell died in 2022, but the ski bug had already infected Jordan, who has since passed the passion for the outdoors on to her own kids as well.

“I always had that passion. He started me on skis when I was two, and he used to always point out how the ski industry was so hit and miss, which is true. You’re weather dependant, like anybody especially farmers here in our area, but he just instilled that passion into me and now that he’s gone, part of me wants to push it further to get that passion for the sport in others.”

THE FUTURE OF FREESTYLE

Jordan grew up on the hill before becoming a certified ski instructor, starting to teach and coach others at age 15.

Her work in the sport has taken her all over western Canada with stops at Alberta’s Lake Louise and other resorts in the mountains before returning to Manitoba to work at Asessippi.

She also worked for the Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance for five years and currently sits on the board of the provincial sport organization Snowboard Manitoba.

Today, her work keeps her on the slopes of Holiday Mountain most days, but rarely for her own recreation. The proximity to Winnipeg makes it the most accessible location for those in the city, which keeps the hill, and Jordan, as busy as ever.

But it’s the frequent users from neighbouring communities, especially youth, that make the hill feel like home for Jordan.

“We’ve got a beautiful picturesque view of town (La Riviere) when you’re up top. It’s a neat little community. It’s a small town, family-oriented area and it’s great when people recognize each other’s kids and it has that community feel. I call them the ‘Pack Rats’ when they’re on the hill because they’re all together moving around and having fun,” said Jordan.

“I’ve skied at Ski Valley and seen it there as well. There is a tight-knit community within the hill that is there to support each other, welcoming families and most of all having fun.”

The level of instruction ranges from people strapping into skis or a snowboard for the first time to coaching high performance athletes that have aspirations of competing at professional levels.

With the recent addition of programming like the Freestyle FUNdamentalz, a new program in which Holiday Mountain and Freestyle Manitoba have partnered aimed at training the next generation of Olympic hopefuls.

This past weekend marked the first of nine Saturdays in a row where kids aged 6-12 receive high level coaching on how to launch, twist, and eventually even flip on skis.

“Way back in the day we had a lot of great ski racers come out of La Riviere and I would like to see that happen again with both racing and freestyle,” Jordan adds.

“Freestyle seems to be what the kids are into right now and it’s starting to get a lot of traction here, so I’m really hoping that continues to take off.”

Freestyle Manitoba is the PSO that oversees the sport and partners with Sport Manitoba to access funding, coach development, and facilities like terrain parks to grow the sport here in our mostly flat province.

The addition of increased money and efforts to grow the terrain park is welcoming new adventure seekers.

Freestyle Manitoba and Snowboard Manitoba have partnered with Asessippi and Holiday Mountain to invest in terrain parks by bringing out Arena Snowparks, a company out of B.C. that specializes in the creation and maintenance of such parks.

This past weekend was a perfect example. The hill was busy while crews worked furiously to finish the terrain park. A big part of the park is not only the creation of jumps, but creating them to be as user-friendly and safe as possible.

It also included having technicians that specialize in the design of the parks work with local operators on how to build and maintain the features.

That’s how Freestyle Manitoba and Snowboard Manitoba stand to benefit. They have the goal of training elite, high performance athletes through partnering to benefit all involved.

The goal of which is the goal of Freestyle Ski president Dave Parnell.

“Time on the snow is what is going to pay off. High level athletes go from places like Whistler to Quebec to Switzerland to Asia and spend 200 days a year on the snow. We in Manitoba are lucky if we get 80. It’s like any sport, the more time training and competing leads to results,” said Parnell.

“We want to keep people engaged in skiing, cross country, snowboarding, you name it. Our hope is to get the most of these places right here in Manitoba.”

» See Friday’s Sun for Part 2 of this series on efforts to grow and sustain freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Manitoba.

» mpackwood@brandonsun.com