Wednesday, 30 January 2019

Tawatinaw Valley Ski Resort

My family and I decided to swing by the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Resort on January 26, 2019. Thais, Kieran and Taran are really getting into skiing so we decided to take advantage of the good weather at this time of year. Little did I know that there was a grand reopening event planned for that day.

Evidently, the resort was taken over by a non- profit and kept alive, as it was previously scheduled to close. In operations since around 1968, this ski hill has a lot of value to the nearby residents. During some of the speeches given during the presentation, some people had actually given their accounts of how they had come to the hill during the sixties.

A view of the resort.
Colin Piquette and Mick Sahib
We had the chance to meet a lady by the name of Wendy Batog, who is the President of the non-profit group in charge of running the ski hill. A very nice and accommodating lady. Actually, all of the staff we met were quite pleasant. Some of the notable guests included our MLA for Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater, Colin Piquette. I must say that Colin was one of the nicest down-to-earth type of politicians I have ever met.



Anyhow, I really can't believe how nice the ski hill was. There were quite a few runs for all style of skiing and snowboarding. What I found really surprising was the fact that some of the runs even catered to cross country (nordic) skiing. Fantastic.

Family and I had a great time and the kids really enjoyed coming here. We'll be regulars here since it's so close to our house. Here's the link for the website which also has directions https://tawatinawvalley.ca/


View from the top (L to R) Thais, Taran, Shauna, Mick and Kieran Sahib 
Fantastic Cake for the Celebration!

 One of the best parts of the celebration was the cake, which took on the design of the ski hill. With all the people, we lucked out by getting a piece of this homemade cake.


Kieran Sahib and Shauna deVarennes


T-bar going up the hill

 The Chalet was quite nice as well. Everything seemed to be brand new and it was quite spacious. There is an area for customers to place their shoes and equipment as well as a seating area to chill out with a view of the hill

A big advantage is that the parking lot is very close to the chalet so you don't need to walk very far to pack up or unload your ski equipment.

The indoor seating area also has a very nice restaurant, termed the Billy Goat Diner, which is run by volunteers. The food was excellent, and my kids couldn't stop ordering the poutines. A shot of the menu is below.