Cars filled up the parking lot at Hallis Lake Cross-country Ski Club and flowed over, parallel parking down the road, edging on to the snowbanks so that other cars, with optimistic drivers, could get past to the parking lot. There were however, never open spots in the parking lot because Hallis Lake was hosting their annual open house.
The event offered a chance for people without equipment to take a crack at the sport without paying a single cent out of pocket.
“Our objective is to get people out here, people who aren’t familiar with the facility and aren’t familiar with skiing,” Brian Black, the president of the ski club, said.
The club offered free ski lessons, tours and rentals to anyone who dropped by on Sunday, with the whole ski rental inventory, all 120 pair of skis, being rented out during one of the early lessons.
Added to that, a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes, with strawberries and whipped cream to put on top, was on offer to hungry skiers for a toonie.
Flocks of skiers learning the sport glided up and down hills in front of the lodge, while more experienced skiers took to the trails with snowshoe-ers joining in on the fun.
Though the clouds came down to cover the sun, temperatures stayed high, hovering around zero, allowing skiers to stay out and enjoy the day without fear of frost bite chasing them back to the lodge.
The day was set to open up at 10 a.m., but Black said people showed up before 9:30 a.m. in anticipation of the busyness that would hit the trails.
With the crowd of people, around 240 showing up, and the pleasant weather, Black was happy with the event.
The open house is just one of the ways Hallis Lake volunteers are sharing their passion, they also bring in elementary school children and give them lessons, a program which they are going to expand this year.
With the crowd of hundreds renting and hundreds more students hitting the trails with their schools, plenty more people are learning to glide across the snow with elegance.
