- Beginners Day At MSLM
January 14, 2017
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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It's Beginners day!!
Want to try out the sports of skiing or snowboarding in a fun inclusive environment? Â This trip is your chance!!
Winter in Canada can be cold and long. Getting out and enjoying winter is a great way to contribute to a healthy lifestyle by being active and getting out of hibernation and connecting socially.
Find out what all the fuss is about, and experience the enjoyment of skiing or snowboarding for yourself.
For Beginners
Mount St Louis has one of the best intro to skiing or snowboarding programs in the area, that's why we always hold our beginners day at MSLM.
We help coordinate carpooling to get you up to the resort. Â So if you don't have a car, you need not worry.
What to expect
OUTSLOPES Toronto volunteers will be there to greet you at the resort and help you through the process of getting your rental equipment, and figuring out how to get it all on.
Then we'll help you find your way to the lesson meetup spot where certified instructors from MSLM's ski school will take you as a group out for a 1.5 hour lesson.
Manage your expectations: you will NOT become an expert skier/rider in 1.5 hours. Â That just doesn't happen. The lesson gives you some of the basic fundamentals to get a taste of the sport.
By this point, we'll be breaking for lunch. Â Give you a bit of a break, and fuel up for an afternoon of practicing.
Other OUTSLOPES Toronto members that have more experience will take some time hanging out and skiing with you in the afternoon while you practice and develop your skills.
Dressing for Outdoor Winter Activity
You're going to be outside all day. And you're going to be playing in the snow, and (just being honest here), spending a lot of time sitting (falling) on your ass in the snow. Dress appropriately.
Dress in layers - toss on those long-johns, layer up with a pair of track pants or something else that allows for unrestricted mobility, then top it off with a pair of snowpants. Â Don't forget to layer your top too; a long-sleeved tee, hoodie/sweater, and a ski jacket. Â You can always take layers off if you get too hot, but not having enough will make you cold and reduce your enjoyment. Bundle up!!
Don't forget the gloves!!!
Also, if you have or can borrow some ski goggles that's best, they stay on better and help with your vision, but if you don't, then bring a pair of sunglasses. Â Often overlooked in the winter, being outside the snow is very reflective and even on overcast days can make seeing hard. If you don't need them you can always put them in your pocket.
Ok... now you can groan "Yes Mom".
Your Trip Registration
We've got you all covered. When you register as a beginner you're getting the full package.
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Ski Package
Ski Rentals
Boot Rentals
Pole Rentals
Helmet Rental
1.5 hour group lesson
Beginner's Lift Ticket
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Snowboard Package
Snowboard Rentals
Boot Rentals
Helmet Rental
1.5 hour group lesson
Beginner's Lift Ticket
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For Experienced Members
This trip is a little different. For one, you will collect your lift ticket from the trip leader, DO NOT go to the office to get your ticket.
We ask that you offer up some time in the morning to help our beginners get geared up, and in the afternoon that you spend some time with them to help encourage them along.
Venue: Mount St. Louis Moonstone
Venue Website: https://mountstlouis.com/
Address:
Description:
OUTSLOPES Toronto Home Hill
LIVE Webcam
Mount St. Louis Base Webcam
Located right off the 400 highway about a 1 hour 45 minute drive (weather/traffic dependant) MSLM is one of the easier hills to get to, and is located in a unique position where it’s in the snow belt, and somewhat sheltered. Coupled with a killer snowmaking system, this gives the hill some of the best snow conditions in southern Ontario.
With 36 runs across 170 acres of skiable terrain over two unique peaks (Mount St Louis and Mount Moonstone), there is lots of space and variety of runs to really fill out an enjoyable day on the slopes.
How Trips to MSLM Work
Being a public hill, and our home hill, OUTSLOPES Toronto does regular trips to MSLM throughout the season, which are open to all Blue Square Members and above (regardless of your home club, if you’re in Toronto area, you can join the trip as long as you are at least a Blue Square Member).
Register for the trip on the event page of the day you want to go. Registration for trips to MSLM typical involve a charge. This charge includes special OUTSLOPES Member pricing for lift tickets which you will receive upon arrival.
Carpooling
Spots for trips to MSLM are limited based on the number of carpooling seats we are able to make available. Upon registration you will be asked how you are getting there with 3 options:
I will be making my own way there – if you plan to drive yourself and are not able to accommodate offering up any seats to help get other members to the hill.
I will be driving and have seats available – this lets our trip leader know that you have a vehicle and have seats available to help get others there. The trip leader will base your pickups on your starting location to keep things as close and easy as possible. One or two nights before the trip leader will contact you by email to let you know who you are picking up, where to find them, and provide you with their contact information so you can find each other.
I need a ride – we will do our best to match you up with someone who has seats available and is in your general area. One or two nights before the trip leader will contact you by email to let you know who you will be riding with, and provide you with their contact information so you can coordinate a specific pickup location and time.
Arriving
As you come off the 400 at Mount St Louis Rd West exit, you will come to an intersection with a sign for MSLM with two arrows pointing in different directions to the two bases. Process straight ahead to the Mount St Louis Base. We always base ourselves from the Mount St Louis Base. The parking lot is large. It’s often very busy on weekends, but never has there ever been a problem getting a parking spot at this base. Sometimes it may be a little bit of a walk, but you’ll get a spot.
On Arrival
Get your lift ticket. Different weeks have different numbers and different coordination. If we have an on-site trip leader that week they will have your lift ticket for you. If we don’t, you will need to pick it up from the general ticket sales window which is located at the Mount St Louis side base lodge, outside, between the rental office and the front lodge entry. Some may be used to years gone by where we went into the office. DO NOT DO THIS anymore please.
Show up ready to ski!! If you need rentals be sure to allow enough time to swing by the rental department and get your gear for the day.
Gear up and make your way to the back slopes side of the Mount St Louis base lodge.
Meet up
Mount St Louis Base – Under the Clock Tower
10AM
We meet under the clock tower at 10am. If you arrive earlier feel free to do a few runs on your own, just be sure to make your way back to the meetup point for 10am so we can check everyone in and hit the slopes together.
Generally we’ll make a group consensus at this time to decide when we’ll be meeting up for lunch. This way if anyone gets separated from the group during the morning we have an easy time and place to reconnect.
We always do lunch at the Mount St Louis base lodge. You can buy food from the cafeteria (the food at MSLM is pretty good and reasonably priced) or you can bring your own bagged lunch.
Generally we start coming off the slopes around 4 – 4:30pm and start meeting back up in the Mount St Louis base lodge. But your OUTSLOPES Group Lift Ticket will be good for night skiing too when available (not available early and late season), so if those in your carpool want to stick around longer you are more than welcome to do so.
Have Fun!!
A day out on the slopes with OUTSLOPES is all about having fun, being social, and enjoying time with friends new and old. Support and encourage each other. We are all out for healthy recreational skiing and riding, we aren’t a competitive club.
A Little MSLM Story
Owned by the Huter family, Mount St Louis Moonstone (MSLM) is one of the very few public ski hills that haven’t been gobbled up by big corporations. The personal passion of the family can be seen in the development and care of the resort.
Founded in the early 60s by Josl Huter, an Austrian ski racer, MSLM first opened for business on December 16, 1964, with only a couple of trails, and two T-bars. The two T-bars is the core key to this family’s approach to the operation of MSLM. They were side by side because Josl didn’t want to have to shut down if one of them broke down.
That passion has continued over the years seeing many expansions and improvements to the resort, including some of the best snowmaking equipment in the east. When coupled with the geographic position of MSLM in the snowbelt area, this gives the resort one of the longest seasons in Ontario.
One of the drawbacks of MSLM used to be the 4:30pm closure of the lifts due to the stupidly short number of daylight hours in the winter. To enhance the skier experience, and extend the day, in 2014 MSLM added lights across 80% of the terrain. But the family tradition of excellence continued, instead of small pools of light down a slope from traditional floodlights attached to wooden poles, MSLM went with a state of the art MUSCO LED Lighting system, which provides nice even light across more of the run, allowing better visibility and more enjoyable and safer riding at night, extending lift operation hours to 9pm.
OUTSLOPES & MSLM
The Toronto Ski & Snowboard Club (TGSC) have enjoyed MSLM as one of their favourite local hills for over a decade. But it wasn’t until December of 2013 where the relationship became much more formal, through total chance.
TGSC has for years sponsored a ski day for the youth of the Sherbourne Health Centre’s SOY Program. In 2014 as part of a growing relationship with GayWhistler, the organizers of then called “Winter Pride”, now known as “Whistler Pride & Ski Festival“, TGSC ran a Toronto Launch Party for Whistler Pride with proceeds going towards fundraising efforts for the SOY Ski Day. As part of the raffle for the event, TGSC organizers contacted MSLM asking for a couple of lift tickets to include. The relationship took an abrupt turn, for the good.
As had been typical for the LGBT community, TGSC had been operating fairly under the radar, not fully disclosing who they were, staying a wee bit closeted. But as soon as MSLM learned that we had been skiing their hill for years, and hosting the SOY ski day there for years, they immediately wanted to be much more heavily involved with both the day, and the club.
In 2016 TGSC became a local member club of OUTSLOPES, and rebranded as OUTSLOPES Toronto. That relationship with MSLM continues to grow as MSLM continues to be (the now official) home hill of OUTSLOPES Toronto, and a club favourite.
Mountain Stats
Number of Runs: 36
(35 percent for beginners, 50 percent for intermediates, and 15 percent for the expert)
Ski-able Terrain: 170 acres
Vertical Drop: 550 ft
Longest Run: 2 km
Night Skiing: YES
Average Season: December to March
Snowmaking Coverage: 100%
Lifts: 12
- Uphill Capacity – 23,600 people per hour
- 4 Six Express Chair Lifts
- 3 Quad Chair Lifts
- 2 Triple Chair Lifts
- 3 Magic Carpets.
Terrain Parks: 3
- SkooL YaRd Grom Terrain Park for learning
- Junkyard Progression Park for entry level rider
- Outback Super Park for the advanced rider)
Half Pipes: 2
(groomed by Zaugg super pipe machine)