My fiancé was away this past weekend and with fresh snow in the forecast I was not ready to pass up on a day of skiing just because I didn’t have anyone to go with.
I find people tend to have excuses as to why they can’t or don’t ski, such as:
- “It’s too expensive.”
- “I don’t have the time.”
- “I’m working.”
- “I don’t have anyone to go with.”
None of these excuses are acceptable.
- There are always deals on tickets, you can buy equipment for cheap off Kijiji, find someone to borrow from, or rent them directly from Calabogie Peaks
- What are you doing with your time?
- Go when you are not working
- You don’t need a partner to go skiing
I use to ski by myself a lot, before I met Mike. I tried to find people to go with but it never seemed to work out. Did I let that stop me? No. This past weekend I headed to the Peaks for some solo skiing. I was one of the first people on the chair which meant I got to enjoy having the first tracks in fresh snow. Even though I was there by myself, it didn’t feel like it. I was surrounded by people who were in love with the sport just as much as I was. Skiing alone has many advantages, like being able to set your own pace, choosing your own runs (instead of the last minute “do we go left or right? You choose. But I choose last time…” etc), using the singles line to avoid the long wait of a busy lift line and skiing your favourite run all day long. I am not going to lie, I skied Black Donald quite a bit.
Black Donald is my favourite run for two reasons.
1. It has the best view possible of Calabogie Lake.
2. It is named after a historical graphite mine.
“From 1895 to 1954, the Black Donald Graphite Mine was one of the richest in the world, located in Calabogie and the only one in North America to produce high-quality graphite suitable for lubricants. In 1901, lake waters rushed into the workings, and in 1917, fire destroyed the mill. Production ceased in 1954, and in 1967 the headpond of Ontario Hydro’s Mountain Chute dam flooded the site one last time. Today, a ghost town of some sixty buildings lies under the waters of Black Donald Lake, west of Calabogie.” (http://www.magma.ca/~rgwood/sites.html)
Given its significant historical value, the Pub upstairs at Calabogie Peaks was also named after the Black Donald mine.
One thing I love about skiing alone more than anything is the conversations with the strangers you meet on the chair lift. I have always believed that strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. The more I talk to strangers, the more I believe it. I met some amazing people on the chair this past weekend ranging from a 5 year old enjoying her first time skiing to an 80 year old who has travelled the world due to his love for the sport. I left the resort with new contacts and conversations that touched my heart. The best thing about it is that when skiing alone, everything is your choice. You can choose whether or not you want to talk to people on the chair, you can choose which run you want to go on, you can choose how fast or slow you want to go and you can choose how long you want to ski for.
Regardless of what your decisions are while there, I just hope that more people will make the decision to get out skiing even when they don’t have anyone to go with.
My only warning about solo skiing is that if you enjoy taking pictures, you will either end up taking a lot of selfies or you will end up wanting a GoPro. That is all.
