The locals rip! Halaina Poldmaa-Rask dropping a knee.
Ski & Snowboard The Soo words & photos by Colin Field Dropping in, we flow through the trees in kneedeep snow. The locals ride and ski through the woods like water down a stream: effortlessly. Their movements are beautiful to watch. We’re all whooping with joy; it’s impossible not to. We absolutely nailed the conditions today: blower Lake Superior-affected powder. And lots of it. We reach the bottom and without even speaking I ski through the non-existent lift line and hop right back on the chair. Glorious. Friends be damned, it’s a powder day. With a vertical drop of 700 feet and an average snowfall of 132 inches, Searchmont Resort is the underdog of Ontario’s ski resorts. There’s no Starbucks at the base lodge. You can’t buy
a Canada Goose jacket in the pro shop and
Not only that, the owners that took over in
there are no waterslides or amusement parks.
2018 have invested in a new restaurant called
But that’s part of its charm. It’s a ski hill. You
the Kiln and the new Caribou Cafe, and their
come here to ski (or snowboard obviously).
villas are being completely rebuilt, both inside
And that’s what everyone is here to do.
and out. Hopefully they’re ready for this season. And perhaps most importantly, they’ve
While Searchmont didn’t open in the winter of
upgraded their snowmaking capability.
2020/21, they’re stoked to fire up the chairlifts and get those bull wheels turning again
“In 2019 we had our earliest start ever, on
in 2021/22.
December 7. It was partly because of those new snowmakers. Hopefully the weather co-
“There’s a lot going on,” says media coordi-
operates so we can have a good start to the
nator Darren Sanderson. “We’re replacing our
season this year too.”
old double lift with a new triple and we are building a brand new triple, which will also
Amen to that. Come on Ullr!
feed into two new runs. Our goal is to make it so there’s more of a transition between our
If you’re up in the Soo on a day when Search-
learning centre and the main runs.”
mont isn’t open (they’re open Wednesday