The great outdoors beckons
Skiing becoming even more popular amid pandemic
The demand for skiing is on the rise in Nova Scotia, especially since the pandemic hit.
With Wentworth and Martock ski hills running at half capacity amid weather conditions and mechanical issues, more and more skiers are turning to back-country and cross-country.
Sarah Parolin has seen the demand first-hand since she started working as a ski boot-fitter at Aerobics First in Halifax in October. She says ski sales this season are record-breaking.
“It’s been nonstop … things are flying off the shelves,” she says.
Parolin credits the pandemic for the growing interest in skiing because “people are more excited than ever to get outside.”
Parolin skis at Wentworth on weekends and Martock on weekdays because it’s closer to Halifax. Skiers like her were waiting for snow earlier this winter, but the moment it came, the ski hills seized up.
A recent Saturday “was the first big day I had at Wentworth … and there was all of one run open,” Parolin says. The chairlift has since been fixed.
Paul Ghosn had a similar experience. He’s a skier living in Halifax and on Jan. 8. drove to Wentworth to find both the chairlift and T-bar closed.
“With the 50 centimetres of snow everyone wanted to get out there but having no way up the hill made it too difficult for most people,” he says.
Along with about 30 other keen skiers, he decided to hike up the hill to access the fresh snow. Ghosn, an urban planning thesis student at Dalhousie, believes the hills should have better plans in place for snowy days that lead to power outages, “such as a generator for the lift, or rental options for skins or snowshoes to make it accessible to get up the hill without the chairlifts,” he says.
At Aerobics First, backcountry ski equipment, such as skins for skis, has risen in popularity, which Parolin says is new for Eastern Canada. The terrain in Nova Scotia is suitable for back-country and cross-country skiing “and it is more accessible,” Parolin says.
While downhill skiers are mourning the snow they couldn’t reach, cross-country skiers are optimistic about what trails have to offer.
Catherine Caouette, communications officer for Cross Country Nova Scotia, believes cross-country skiing is beneficial to mental health, which is especially important right now.
“The pandemic has brought additional attention to our sport,” she says.
Cross-country skiing is a way to safely enjoy exercise with friends or in solitude, she says, and it’s a natural social distancing sport.
Programs like North Highlands Nordic Ski Club are filling up quickly with people of all ages. Located in Cape North, the club has become an outdoor recreational hub in northern Cape Breton.
“The club provides a strong sense of community and belonging,” Caouette says, adding “getting out on the trails to enjoy the great outdoors, it's just food for the soul.”
This season, people began buying equipment in the fall.
“Before the pandemic, equipment sales would typically start in December or after major snowstorms,” Caouette says.
In addition, Scotia XC Ski Club provides lessons and groom trail systems across HRM and western Nova Scotia. It’s a volunteer-based organization made up of cross-country skiers.
“Our club membership doubled last year from 400 to 800 members,” says Melanie MacDermid, the club’s president, who noticed a substantial increase in the number of people joining the club.
She says the sport is unique as Scotia VC Ski Club is seeing an equal balance of male and female newcomers from ages four to 70. MacDermid says the club also expanded to several Valley-based sites.
“We saw all of our youth and adult ski programming sell out last year and very few spots remain this year,” MacDermid says.
The weather and lack of snow are the biggest challenges for cross-country skiers across the province. Grooming trails increases the chances of having skiable snow though, according to Caouette.
To combat the lack of snow, Scotia XC started making human-made snow this month at the Links of Brunello, a golf course in Timberlea.
“It was finally cold enough to start up those snow-making guns,” says MacDermid.