Brimacombe at night

The sun has set and the lights are on, it's night skiing time here at Brimacombe.

As most folks know we welcome school groups to our slopes from a huge circle of surrounding cities and towns throughout the week. Tonight I watched a stream of eager faces arrive by bus for their first visit of the season.

The start up of our lesson programs is always a busy time. Our Snow School manager Jayne heads a dedicated group of friendly, fun and effective instructors who work with the students to determine proper lesson groups by judging skill and abilities. From here, the teaching begins, producing our future star athletes and long time members and guests.


Starting from scratch...



Just in case you haven't seen our posters or info on the "Latest News" section of our website www.brimacombe.ca I thought I would post some information about Men's Day and Ladies Day. These days are a great opportunity to spend some time with your friends while generating some much needed funds for a great cause.

MEN'S DAY 2010

On Monday, February 8, 2010 it's "boys only" at the Brim, as 94.9 The Rock presents Men's Day 2010 at Brimacombe. From 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., enjoy an exclusive, fun-filled day on the slopes all in the name of a great cause; all proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS) in Durham.
Be aware, only a limited number of tickets will be available, and these will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis only!
Tickets are on sale now in Brimacombe's East Chalet!
Your exclusive ticket is only $90, or buy 4 or more and pay only $80 each! Cash and credit will be accepted.

Your Men's Day 2010 ticket includes...
• Exclusive access to the slopes
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner with a "meat" theme
• Live entertainment
• Giveaways, demos and more!

About the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS)

The Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of skiing for persons with disabilities. This national organization has many provincial and regional programs, including CADS Durham, but each is committed to the same idea that “SKIING IS FUN FOR EVERYONE“.
To learn more about CADS, please visit disabledskiing.ca

About CADS Durham

The CADS Durham program operates out of Brimacombe seven Sundays of each season starting the second Sunday after New Year's. Each session lasts about two hours. Trained volunteers are matched with participants, providing support and helping those with who are physically and intellectually challenged learn to ski with confidence.
To learn more about CADS Ontario and CADS Durham, please visit disabledskiingontario.com


LADIES DAY 2010

Spend some time with the girls, Monday, February 22 as Brimacombe hosts the return of the Ladies' Day! From 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. enjoy an exclusive, fun-filled day on the slopes all in the name of a great cause; all proceeds will be donated to Bethesda House.
Be aware, only a limited number of tickets will be available, and these will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis only!
Tickets are now on sale in Brimacombe's East Chalet!
Your exclusive ticket is only $90, or buy 4 or more and pay only $80 each! Cash and credit will be accepted.

Your Ladies' Day 2010 ticket includes...

• Exclusive access to the slopes
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Live entertainment
• Giveaways, demos and more!


About Bethesda House

Bethesda House has provided a wide range of services to women and their families dealing with domestic abuse in Durham Region since 1995.
In partnership with our community, Bethesda House provides secure shelter and woman-centered advocacy and support to women and their children, to empower them to live free from fear, domestic abuse and oppression.

Services include;

- 24 hour telephone crisis counselling
- Secure, temporary shelter for women with and without children
- Child & Youth Worker support to shelter mothers and children
- 1:1 and group counselling to both shelter and community clients
- Community-based 1:1 and group counselling for youth (both female and male)
- Educational workshops and presentations

To learn more about Bethesda House, please visit bethesdahouse.ca.

***

Join us this SUNDAY (January 17, 2010) for our FIRST APRES SKI EVENT of the season!

APRES SKI GOES HOLLYWOOD!

Brimacombe East Chalet
3pm to 6pm
Kick back and relax after a day on the slopes. Enjoy finger foods, live music and quality time with friends and family in the warmth of Brimacombe's East Chalet!

Tickets are now on sale, buy yours from the main office in the East Chalet for just $5.00 each!

***

Well, rumour has it that Rutherford's Cut will open tomorrow if all goes well with our snowmaking efforts tonight. From here we will be closing and coming back onto individual runs that have already opened in order to build the base depth and accumulate some needed snow reserve. This is a normal process for us, though in the past two years natural snow has reduced our need to do this.

Another day of this season is behind us, but many more await,
See you on the slopes,
Cheers,
Mark

The FIRST days...

Today was another day of firsts for the 2009/2010 season here at Brimacombe.

The Brimacombe Racing Club held the first race of the season here at the Brim. Racers from all over travelled to compete for the best time down Ben's Bump. The course was firm and fast making for some great times.

Course inspection is underway for a day of racing action on Ben's Bump


It was the first SUNDAY for the 7 Week Lesson Program at the Brimacombe Snow School and the first SUNDAY for the Pee Wee Ski Camp program. The first weekend is always a busy time getting our participants to their correct groups and onto the slopes, we thank-you for having patience with our beginners...they are the future of our club!

Learning the basics on Bambi.


Melissa and her troop lining up for a lift to the top.


Doug and 2 year old grandson attending the Pee Wee Ski Camp


The Durham Chapter of the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers had their first day on the slopes for the season. The CADS program does a great job of providing assistance to those who need it, if you are interested in joining the program either as a participant or volunteer, stop by the CADS table set up in the lower area of the East Chalet every Sunday. For all the gents, don't forget to purchase your Men's Day ticket, all proceeds will be donated to CADS-DURHAM! (For more details see our website under "Latest News"..Ladies Day tickets also on sale with proceeds going to Bethesda House)

Colin "Lord of the socks" and crew getting ready to take the sit ski for a run.


Today was also the FIRST day skiing for one little girl...my 16 month old daughter Avery. We weren't sure how she would like it, but as I skied her down the Bambi run she sang merrily along. After each run down the hill we asked her if she wanted to go again and she eagerly answered "more"...after the 7th run her answer was "done".

Avery's first day enjoying the slopes of Brimacombe.


Big sister Sarah, helping her little sister learn to ski.



As I like to tell people who are interested in taking up the sport, Skiing and Snowboarding is one of the few TRUE family sports you can spend the day doing together. Families travel together to the resort, ski together, enjoy lunch together, maybe explore the resort on their own for a while, and then take home stories and memories of the fun they had together as a family on the slopes of Brimacombe. We hope you had a great weekend at Brimacombe.

The HEAD ski crew was onsite today with demos of the latest and greatest product. If you missed it today, stop into our ON SITE retail shop and try out a ski from the largest on-snow demo fleet available. We have great skis for a great price, and all proceeds go DIRECTLY back into the operation of our facility.



Is WAS another day in Paradise...
Cheers,
Mark

Another sunny day on the slopes of Brimacombe is behind us, night skiing is now underway. Our 7 Week Lesson Program and the Pee Wee Ski Camp kicked off today and it was great to see so many little faces enjoying the snow. If your lesson or camp session starts tomorrow, rest up it's going to be a fun day.

Men's and Ladies Day tickets went on sale today. Don't miss your chance to spend an "exclusive" day on the slopes with your buddies or girlfriends. Tickets are $90 each or $80 each for a group of four (when bought together). More details can be found under the "Latest News" heading of our website www.Brimacombe.ca. All proceeds of Men's Day will go to the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers Durham, Ladies Day proceeds will go to the Bethesda House. Help support our local groups by taking part in a great day at Brimacombe!

Haven't hit the slopes yet? The conditions are top notch, just ask someone who has been out! This season has been a little different than the two years we are following. The last two seasons brought us TONS of natural snow which allowed us to open all of our terrain in a short span of time, while this year we have seen very little..and I mean VERY little natural snow. The lack of natural snow however has had no effect on the CONDITIONS of our open terrain. We are experiencing one of the longest spans of deep cold temperatures that I can remember in a very long time. This span of minus double digits has been ideal for snow production which has allowed us to open 15 runs plus our two terrain parks on virtually 100% man made snow. For the unaware, man made snow is NOT a lessor quality snow, in fact it just might be a superior product to the "real thing"...but that's just my opinion.

Here's what I saw at the Brim today...

The sun rises over the Brim of our western runs


Lost? Need some information? Just ask our Snow Hosts Sarah...


or Mitch!


Our Main Park was a hot spot today....the level of talent always amazes me!













Go Matt!


If tomorrow is anything like today, load your gear in the car, set your alarm to get up early, and join us for another fantastic day on the slopes of Brimacombe!

Cheers,
Mark

Rated the BEST day of the Season!

I had the pleasure of getting some runs in today and the snow was FANTASTIC! Just about everyone I spoke to commented on the great conditions and super weather.

We've made some great progress with our snow making and plan to have the FLYER and PARK AVENUE runs open tomorrow! (Friday, January 8, 2010) The Challenger is next in cue to open, but unfortunately will not be ready for this weekend.

Blowing snow on the "out run" of the Challenger.


The SUN was shining, the temperature was PERFECT, and the skiing was SUPERB.


It WAS good to be out! Thanks!


Cheers,
Mark

The Brimacombe School Bell rings.

No, I did not take this picture today :)

The Brimacombe Snow School bell rang out tonight, marking the first night in our School visit program. We'd like to welcome all of our young guests from the many schools across the regions that surround us. We hope you have a great time with us!

Snow making is currently underway on the Flyer and Park Avenue...and Mother Nature kicked in a bit today with a light dose of new powder to mix into the surface. I didn't have my skis on today, but the slopes looked fantastic!

Have a great night,
Cheers,
Mark

BRRRRRRRrimacombe

For those of you who have followed my Blog over the past few years, you know that I like to show pictures to illustrate the kind of day we had here at Brimacombe. I think this photo of the thermometer at the top of T-bar 2 illustrates it well...keep in mind, this was taken later in the afternoon, after it had "warmed up" a bit...


Temperature and wind aside, it was a great weekend on the hill. The West side of our facility opened Saturday with the Clubhouse run, and the Promenade run opened today. A warm fire burned in our West Clubhouse for our members and guests wanting to get out of the chill and snow making was in full force for the last few days (shut down for most of today due to high wind). Our Pee Wee Ski Camp counselors received some training at the Pee Wee Ski Camp Headquarters in anticipation of next weekends program start up and the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers held their volunteer on-hill training session today in preparation for the season ahead. There is never a dull moment here at Brimacombe no matter how low the mercury dips.


Pee Wee Ski Camp Counselors reviewing lift safety information and other important matters.


"The Concentrated Snow storm" or "Flyer on fire".


Our regular season operating hours are now in effect meaning we will be CLOSED MONDAYS (unless otherwise advertised, i.e. holidays), OPEN Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for DAY SKIING 9am to 4:30pm and OPEN for NIGHT SKIING Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4:30pm to 10pm. All operational hours are weather permitting, please check our website www.brimacombe.ca or call our "snow line" (905) 983-7669 before heading out for the day for the latest conditions and information.

It was a fun day on the BRRRRrim!
Cheers,
Mark

Happy New Year 2010! from Brimacombe

As surrounding areas received rain over night Brimacombe was dusted with a light covering of new snow!

Clubhouse run, the West Chair and West Chalet open TOMORROW! (Saturday Jan 2, 2010) If the weather arrives as forecast, and all goes well with snow making we hope to add the Promenade run to the list of OPEN terrain on SUNDAY January 3, 10.


The Board of Directors, Management and Staff wish you all the best in the year to come,


See you on the slopes,
Cheers,
Mark