Neighbours are important

I'm in my 70s. Everyone knows I have a failing heart. Yesterday my snowblower failed. A failing heart and a failed snowblower. Not a good combination.

 

Last night it snowed. This morning my next door neighbour plowed my drive. It snowed more today. This afternoon my neighbour from down the street plowed my driveway.

 

I love neighbours. Don't believe the stories you read about the coldness of the suburbs in Canada and the States. Trust me, suburbs are not always cold, not even in the winter. My wife and I find our suburb a very warm, and welcoming, place. Even in the winter.

For these boys the threat is sledding and not covid-19.

 

For these five boys, covid-19 was the last thing on their minds. Surviving a long slide down the Byron tobogganing hill took their total concentration. They managed to keep their sleds linked for more than half the distance down the long, somewhat steep slope. 

Watching all these people doing dangerous stuff as they were sliding down the crowded slope, made me recall the movie On The Beach. Out-of-control covid-19 isn't exactly the same as nuclear war but both seem to encourage folk to take chances they previously wouldn't have taken.

Winter scene recalls well-loved paintings

Not quite enough folk to make a modern day Currier and Ives but it still recalls many paintings of people out enjoying winter. 

My neighbourhood hill has never attracted so many folk and on a Tuesday no less. I'm sure it's not only the attraction of the hill but also the promise of a brief escape by families desperate to get out of the house. The province is in shutdown and cabin fever is beginning to take hold.

Bent up demand crowds sledding hill

Up and down the long sloping hill one could see kids with toboggans, sleds, saucers, snowboards and even skis out enjoying the big, snow-covered hill in Byron, London's southwest neighbourhood.

I  estimate that at a very minimum there were 150 kids and adults crowding the hill. It was the busiest I have seen that hill in twenty years. Why so much interest? My guess is covid-19. People are aching for something to do. Almost everything is closed. A simple, hill deep with fresh snow was simply irresistible.

Despite the shutdown, snowmaking continues

 

With one of the three quad chairlifts sitting quiet in the background at the idled Boler Mountain ski hill, a large snowmaking machine continues to pump out snow in anticipation of a February opening. 

If the Boler Mountain snowmaking crews have their way, the slopes will open with one incredibly thick base. The hill is clearly trying to position itself for having the most successful spring skiing season on record. I hope Mother Nature cooperates.

Support our ski hill

We must support our ski hill.

A year after the end of the Second World War, a group of mainly Londoners gathered at the top of Reservoir Hill to enjoy a new sport they had learned while serving overseas: downhill skiing.

By 1949 the group was large enough to incorporate as the London Ski Club, a not for profit organization. They found a good-sized hill near Byron, purchased it, and carved a variety of trails into the hill to accommodate skiiers from beginner to advanced.

Governed by a volunteer board of directors and operated by a combination of volunteers and paid employees, the annual surplus income was plowed back into the operation to maintain and expand the ski hill.

At first skiers used rope tows to get to the summit. These were replaced by T-bars in 1968 and 1970. Then in 2003 the T-bars were replaced by a Quad chair lift. Today there are three quad lifts, a moving carpet on the beginners' hill and another moving carpet serves the tubing area.

In the '60s Thames Valley Childrens’ Centre worked with volunteers from the London Ski Club to provide skiing opportunities for the blind and disabled. Today there 250 volunteer instructors serving over 120 disabled skiers each season.

The little hill just keeps expanding. It spends its limited money very wisely. Boler Mountain is a big plus for the city. Now, after some seventy some years of operation, covid-19 threatens the survival of the hill. I'm trying to start a movement to allow the ski operation to keep all the money paid for lessons that were not supplied because of the virus. The hill needs the  money more than I do. It's loss was in my budget.

We must support our ski hill. (Originally I wrote "save" but that may overstate the situation.)

Covid-19 closed hill but snowmaking continues.

Boler Mountain is closed and not slated to open until, at the earliest, February 12th. Despite being closed, the snow-making team at the small hill is busy readying the slopes.

I'm retired and in my 70s. I am not rich. Yet, I put the cost of ski lessons for two of my granddaughters into my budget. It is money well spent. At least, it was until this year. This year, so far, neither girls has had even one lesson. The ski hill has been kept closed by the provincial government fighting covid-19.

How the little ski hill will survive this financial disaster has me concerned. I'm trying to convince those who are out money for prepaid services and activities to not request a refund. Everyone budgets for skiing. The money is not missed. The skiing is missed but not the money. No one will suffer if the money is not refunded but the ski hill will suffer if everyone demands a refund.

I say support our local ski hill. "Do not ask for a refund!"