Plenty of action on the slopes
Regular event gets like-minded women enjoying day outdoors and on slopes
It isn’t particularly hard to explain why Ladies Days at Nakiska Ski Resort have been so popular for the last decade.
It only takes a sentence, really. “It’s getting out with likeminded, active women who want to learn or improve their skiing and just spend time outside of the city in the mountains,” said Paul Whitham, director of sales at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, the company that owns Nakiska.
And it really is that simple.
It’s a day specifically for women to get out of the city and enjoy a day of guided instruction in the mountains with other women. What’s not to like?
Nakiska has been running its Ladies Days for around a decade now in partnership with Ski Cellar Snowboard, the alpine sports shop in Calgary that has equipped so many outdoor enthusiasts for days spent ripping down the mountains.
Jean Hunt, then the Ski Cellar’s GM, wanted to share her passion with more women and, essentially, Nakiska was happy to help out.
In the 10 years since, the Kananaskis resort has been organizing monthly Ladies Days with the goal of getting women onto the mountain in a fun, supportive environment.
The skiers and snowboarders who attend can be total newcomers or experts trying to sharpen their skills.
The day begins with a bus pickup from the Ski Cellar Snowboard’s Bowness location, and when guests arrive there’s guided instruction tailored to women throughout the morning, a gourmet lunch and then more skiing in the afternoon.
“It’s not really a lesson,” said Whitham. “It’s more guided instruction and guided tours. We do have (guests) with ski instructors and they’re in smaller groups, depending on the different levels. We’ve got Level 1 (skiers and snowboarders) all the way up to Level 5.
“We’ll take them out in those groups, sometimes in one or two but up to five or six … Hopefully, by the end of the day they’ll have picked up tips and are better in their skiing.”
Nakiska — which has been hit by 244 centimetres of snow so far this season — has tried similar daylong programs with men, but Whitham said they haven’t been as popular. Ladies Days, on the other hand, have sometimes had waiting lists and have lots of women return again and again.
This year, Nakiska has already held one Ladies Day but has three more scheduled, on Feb. 27, as well as March 5 and 12. Each of the days is specifically designed so women who participate are able to be back in Calgary by 5 p.m., making it the sort of getaway that has guests enjoying a day in the mountains without having to disrupt their schedule too, too much.
“A lot (of the women who participate) are retirees or moms who stay at home or professionals who book off that one day,” Whitham said. “It’s a good way to recharge your batteries or get out of the office and just get away from the day-to-day.”