WENTWORTH – While many of us ponder how to get from our car to the supermarket without freezing our butts off, many people ski all day long at Ski Wentworth.
“We’ve had decent crowds considering how chilly it’s been,’ said Leslie Wilson, general manager at Ski Wentworth. “The conditions have been excellent and the skiing is really good.”
A ski-booted skier clunks by Wilson, confirming what she just said.
“The skiing is excellent,” he says.
Ski Wentworth opened Dec. 23.
“We made a lot of snow and continue to open more trails," said Wilson.
They’ve added more snowmaking equipment this season.
“We bought more snow vents again this summer and had them installed around the mountain, so that makes a big difference in being able to get trails open faster.”
They also bought rope and 4x4 lengths of lumber during the off season to help better organize the parking lot.
“The roping makes it less chaotic and guarantees cars don’t get blocked in,” said Wilson.
Ski Wentworth employs about 180 people in peak-season.
“That’s full and part time,” said Wilson. “There are a lot of ski instructors that work on the weekend.”
One of those ski instructors is Karl Hansen.
“This is my third season as a ski instructor,” said Hansen.
Ski school opens in the New Year but for the past month Hansen has been sharpening the edges and waxing the rental skis.
“The rentals were brand new last season. They’re good skis,” said Hansen. “They have a factory wax on them but the new wax makes them even better.”
He has also waxed and sharpened about 20 skis and snowboards people have brought in since opening day.
“It takes about 20 minutes to wax a set of skis. I want to let the wax sit for 10 to 15 minutes so it will bind to the base of the ski better,” said Hansen. “If you ski a lot, I recommend waxing to be done several times throughout the season. A good tune up does wonders. It improves the ski and makes it more enjoyable.”
For more information go to skiwentworth.ca
