Blue Mountain | |
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Location | Blue Mountain |
Nearest city | The Blue Mountains and Collingwood, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 44°30′00″N 80°19′00″W / 44.50000°N 80.31667°WCoordinates: 44°30′00″N 80°19′00″W / 44.50000°N 80.31667°W |
Vertical | 150 m (490 ft) |
Top elevation | 220 m (720 ft) |
Base elevation | 70 m (230 ft) |
Skiable area | 147.3 ha (364 acres) |
Runs | 42 11 – Easiest 16 – More Difficult 7 – Most Difficult 8 – Expert |
Longest run | 1.6 km (1 mi) |
Lift system | 13 (5 high speed six person chairlifts, 3 Fixed grip chairlifts, 5 Magic Carpets) |
Lift capacity | 21,690 per hour |
Terrain parks | 3 |
Snowfall | 304 cm (120 in) |
Snowmaking | 94% |
Night skiing | Yes |
Website | www |
Blue Mountain is an alpine ski resort in Ontario, Canada, just northwest of Collingwood. It is situated on a section of the Niagara Escarpment about 1 km (0.6 mi.) from Nottawasaga Bay, and is a major destination for skiers from southern Ontario. On average, Blue Mountain sells more than 750,000 lift tickets per year, making it the third-busiest ski resort in Canada, after Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia and Mont Tremblant in Quebec. It is one of the largest resorts in Ontario and has been extensively built out, featuring 42 runs, 16 chairlifts and 3 freestyle terrains. Majority-owned by Intrawest since 1999, the resort has recently undergone major renovations, including new high-speed lifts and a new "village" similar to those built at Tremblant and Whistler at its base. The local area forms the newly incorporated town of The Blue Mountains, Ontario.
Jozo Weider was born in Žilina in 1908, in what was then Austria-Hungary present day Slovakia. In his twenties, he built a ski chalet in the Carpathian mountains and lived as an innkeeper, mountain guide and photographer through the 1930s. He also travelled abroad to England to promote the chalet, and was on such a trip in 1939 when World War II opened. He telegrammed his wife, Helena, who was still in Czechoslovakia to leave the country. She met Jozo in England with their son, and the family applied for political asylum. The entire family emigrated to Canada later that year, settling in Peace River, Alberta. Later that year Jozo travelled east, working a seasonal job at the Chateau Frontenac as a ski instructor. The next year he moved the entire family to Quebec, working at the Inn in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson.