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Start of ski season hindered by lockdown

Laurentian Ski Hill and other Ontario ski resorts have not been deemed an essential service by the provincial government.

This was despite a “Save Our Skiing” campaign run by the Ontario Snow Resorts Association (OSRA), which saw over 2,500 people write to their local MPP’s in an effort to get skiing deemed an essential service.

“While golf courses were supported by the Ontario Government, even during the height of the first wave of the pandemic, ski hills have been left behind,” stated Kevin Nichol, President of OSRA. “This has caused resorts to spend millions of dollars in anticipation of opening, just to be closed.”

“Thousands of resort employees are now furloughed and all Ontarians who enjoy downhill skiing won’t be able to participate and will lose out on an activity that helps their physical and mental health,” continued Nichol.

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Following Monday’s announcement of an Ontario-wide lockdown, Laurentian Ski Hill announced that it will be closed from December 25 to January 9 to adhere to the 14-day lockdown imposed for the North Bay area.

“We expect to be able to continue making snow during this time so we will open January 10th with great conditions!” the ski hill stated in a Facebook post.

Laurentian had a soft launch of its beginner hills this past weekend and plans to continue the soft launch this week before the lockdown comes into effect.

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